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Posted Sunday, April 01 2012 by Karen | 0 comments |
Last week’s issue of Newsweek paid homage to the 60s, in honor of Mad Men’s 5th season. For the most part, they did a wonderful job of covering the changes in politics, women in the workplace, and advertising. Advertisers even got to try their hand at retro Doyle Dane Bernbach-style print ads (although not even coming close to the great work of Helmut Krone and others of the day). Some of the images were fun, some disturbing; especially those reminding me how much differently my career might have gone had I started at DDB in the 60s instead of the 80s.
In one article, speaking on the new power social media gives the consumer to get engaged and react to brand messages, Nick Summers says, “If motivated, they can seize a brand and reshape its image at a pace that obliterates even the best-planned marketing strategy. For the first time, companies are no longer the sole owners of their own brands.”
I agree, up until the phrase, “for the first time.” I’d argue that by its very definition a ‘brand’ is something owned by your customers, shareholders, stakeholders, employees and vendors. The company falls way behind these audiences. We can help shape brands, and show them in their best possible light to connect with consumers, but anyone who ignores the consumer’s power is acting a little like the male characters on Mad Men: avoiding the inevitable.
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