*Photo by Kristen Eisenhauer, featured on Huffington Post
TED talks about the power of branding.
If you’ve ever visited our blog before, you know by now that we’re big fans of lots of great podcasts, including the TED Radio Hour. We were listening to a great one the other day about branding and the crafting of the movie, “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.” We can’t listen to a TED podcast without taking copious notes so we thought we would share some of the highlights we captured here on the blog.
Branding excerpts
Brands help us assign value to the things we buy.
When it came to pitching the movie, “The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” no one wanted to put their brand in the movie. Ban deodorant was the first one who said ‘yes’ after 9 months of cold calls. (As a branding agency, this doesn’t surprise us.) Over 500 brands said ‘no’ because they would have no control over their brand in the movie—but 17 brand partners were willing to relinquish their control.
We value things for their utility, their history, their name brand, their origins—we get pleasure from knowing what something is and the story behind it.
The experience economy
As children, if we believe we’re eating food from McDonalds, we believe it tastes better. As adults, if we believe we’re drinking fine wine from a nice bottle, we believe it tastes better. The same way having a Mac book makes you just feel smarter. Research has proven this to be true with consumer research. It’s not so much about brand as it can be about experience—we call these “marketing experiences.” Marketing experiences are what we perceive to be “authentic” experiences. With the “experience economy”, you have to render authenticity. Like Starbucks—the brand says if you want to know who we are, you have to come into our store and experience our brand. You smell the beans, you hold the beans in your hands, the colors and textures and even the fonts evoke the earth—you smell the aroma, you hear the coffee grinders and the chatter. It’s a brand experience that captures all your senses.
Three rules on authenticity when it comes to brands
1. Don’t say you’re authentic if you’re not
2. It’s easier to be authentic if you don’t say you are
3. If you say you are authentic, you better be authentic
Disney is a fake reality. It’s not really “the magic kingdom.” But it is wonderfully true to itself. They have managed everything to give you a particular set of impressions. You go in there knowing that this is manufactured, controlled and made for you. You know that is what Disney is about. Authenticity is a “sympathetic vibration.” An offering and you. You don’t have to think about it, you just feel it.
You can listen to the entire podcast here.
Are you looking for a strategic brand partner? We invite you to brand fiercely with us. Reach out today at beckie.manley@hellofierce.com.
