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    Douglas B Holt How Brands Become Icons T

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    Yugvi Paliwal

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    ill THE PRINCIPLES OF CULTURAL BRANDING DOUGLAS B. HOLT CSV AR BUSINESS NEWS We Diess CHAPTER 1 What Is an Iconic Brand? Fr NeLson ManpeELa To Ronatp REAGAN, from Steve Jobs to Sam Walton, from Oprah Winfrey to Martha Stewart, from Michael Jordan to Muhammad Ali, from Andy Warhol to Bruce Springsteen, from John Wayne to Woody Allen, cultural icons dominate our world. These icons can be fictional characters as well as real people: Li’l Abner, Archie Bunker, Superman, and Rambo have all been American icons. Moreover, cultural icons needn’t be human. Companies like Disney and Apple, non- governmental organizations (NGOs) like Greenpeace and Amnesty Inter- national, and universities like Harvard and Oxford have been cultural icons. Objects can also fit the bill. For example, the Jeep, the Zippo lighter, and Coke became cultural icons during World War II. Places often be- come cultural icons as well, consider Paris, Harlem, the Statue of Liberty, and Silicon Valley. People identify strongly with cultural icons and often rely on these symbols in their everyday lives. Icons serve as society’s foundational com- Pass points—anchors of meaning continually referenced in entertainment, journalism, politics, and advertising. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a cultural icon as “a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol, especially of a culture or a move- ment; a person or an institution considered worthy of admiration or re- spect [italics added].”! More generally, cultural icons are exemplary symbols that people accept as a shorthand to represent important ideas. The crux of iconicity is that the person or the thing is widely regarded as the most compelling symbol of a set of ideas or values that a society deems important. James Dean was the quintessential 1950s American rebel. More than anyone else, he represented the idea that men should live an au- tonomous life, following their own whims rather than succumbing to the Postwar nuclear plan of corporate work and suburban family. CONS HOW BRANDS BECOME | How xplanation. The dictionary Provides a useful definition but not an exp! E55 jl 2 To addr valued ideals? dowe come to accept cultural icons as symbols for val this question, we must first acknowle isolate what these icons do exactly to Cultural icons are as old as civiliz . nd then -dge where icons originate arn earn their hallowed place i ane ation, but their mode of pro has changed dramatically since the mid-nineteenth ce times, storytelling icons (mostly religious) gradually diffused through a traditions and Scarce written documents, With modern whe nineteenth ‘ons beginning with books, Magazines, and newspapers in vnereasinglY inhaby 2” flmsin the 9305, and television inne ors haebecomeacet” inhabi ich the circulation of cultural icons has bec e le valu at peo| 'y. The market gravitates to produce what ae jour- . ision, Most. Today, the culture industries—such as film, music, televi nalism, magaz ‘Ports, books, advertising, an and Monetizing these icons, ntury, In premodern are id public relations: ass culture—anthropology, ae Tass “ommunications, and film criticism—have analyze tural icons take ©n such inte ese studi rs. 1eons eir most enthusiastic consumers. society especially nee, nd they Perform it Personal life arismaticaly. Ja ‘buted to ay a Of style, an Untimely death enigmatic Story about Pushing against Society’s mores. ble ds have deve pen states ea FY Of the world’s most valual i Sn become jeg Pee *CORding ty les. Since not all bran fT Kinds of brands that ! Fs ical ds at a given cee mes Dean’s film wo . 01 in a car crash all ¢ Similar Princip! let me first Citcumseri book, mscribe the *s just introduced? Although 980, unique Packaging, and per WHAT IS AN ICONIC BRAND? haps other unique design features—all aspects that we intuitively think of as the brand—the brand does not yet truly exist. Names, logos, and designs are the material markers of the brand. Because the product does not yet have a history, however, these markers are empty. They are devoid of meaning. Now, think of famous brands. They have markers, also: a name (McDonald’s, IBM), a logo (the Nike swoosh, the Travelers umbrella), a distinctive product design feature (Harley's engine sound), or any other design element that is uniquely associated with the product. The difference is that these markers have been filled with customer experiences. Adver- tisements, films, and sporting events use the brand as a prop. Magazines and newspaper articles evaluate the brand, and people talk about the brand in conversation. Over time, ideas about the product accumulate and fill the brand markers with meaning. A brand is formed. A brand emerges as various “authors” tell stories that involve the brand, Four primary types of authors are involved: companies, the culture industries, intermediaries (such as critics and retail salespeople), and cus- tomers (particularly when they form communities). The relative influence of these authors varies considerably across product categories. Brand stories have plots and characters, and they rely heavily on metaphor to communicate and to spur our imaginations. As these stories Collide in everyday social life, conventions eventually form. Sometimes a single common story emerges as a consensus view. Most often, though, Several different stories circulate widely in society. A brand emerges when these collective understandings become firmly established. Marketers often like to think of brands as a psychological phenome- Ton which stems from the perceptions of individual consumers. But what makes a brand powerful is the collective nature of these perceptions; the stories have become conventional and so are continually reinforced be- Cause they are treated as truths in everyday interactions.’ Identity Value and Iconic Brands Customers value some products as much for what they symbolize as for what they do, For brands like Coke, Budweiser, Nike, and Jack Daniel's, cus- tomers value the brand’s stories largely for their identity value. Acting as vessels of self-expression, the brands are imbued with stories that consumers find valuable in constructing their identities. Consumers flock to brands ICONS come 7 NDS BEC HOW BRA Flaure 4, ws Bruce Springsteen, Ma 8 Harley, ‘Apple, Nike, entity ‘conic Brands —\, WW, Coke, Bud Value Coors, k, Pepsi, Saab, era See "dentity Brands that embody th, the ideals they admire, brands Want to be, Th © Most SUCCessful of these Joining the ar ” Of cultural icons, the held dear 1). ¥ some members of g society ee Matters less for brands in low-invol al cate- cal servicg delivery, ang highly ae in the en in these Cases, identity value can Play a crucial rol brand’s CCE a5 Opi ; n for IBM ivy & Mather’s al advertising campaigi 3On’s Public Telations eff A have forts for Virgin Airways they who that help them express (one € brands become iconic = ey become consensus expr tress = branding Models largely ignore how brands bu dentiti Mager, YPically yj is idea t s ially a “ew identity value superfici Consumer. tion of th, S Use Tands Peers, to ols a8 status symbs And Ne-size-fitg, ll "ands into 4 oe porsultants and academics Sof all models th ste OBether all type vi's *utB framewor cma atAlists group brands like Le x "4 Chanel, hs M ate driven fy identity va ® with brands like Clore = (su, na Airlines, Consumers Value for pnuitely different re Petceiveg 124 reliabitin gn a mig, * Wdentity 4, ids, He cust, PS oF bande so . nis hae Ck of specificatio! “tomer vay, MUst be Mana, er * differently than do oth *4 differently as well, WHAT IS AN ICONIC BRAND? Which Products Need Cultural 8randing? In this book, I develop a new branding model—cultural branding—which I derive from the best-in-class identity brands, the brands that have spun such compelling myths that they have become cultural icons. We needn't jentity brands, how- limit these principles to the most obvious kinds of ever. Cultural branding applies particularly to categories in which people tend to value products as a means of self-expression, such as clothing, home decor, beauty, leisure, entertainment, automotive, food, and bever- age. Marketers usually refer to these categories as lifestyle, image, badge, or ego-expressive products. In these groups, competition to create advantages derived from other bases of customer value (quality reputation, trust, dis- tinctive benefits) is fierce and typically limited to incremental and often Momentary gains. But competitors cannot easily replicate the brand’s myth embedded in these products. The ability to build valued myths into the product often distinguishes success from mediocrity in these lifestyle categories’ Cultural branding also applies to other marketed entities that people rely on to express their identity. The most obvious examples are other cul- icians, heroes ture industry products, such as film and television stars, mu: in novels and on screen, and even cartoon characters. In addition, NGOs, tourist destinations, other places (nations, cities, neighborhoods), social Movements, and politicians are all prime candidates for cultural branding. ics, no hard and fast line sepa- Despite their distinguishing character rates products susceptible to cultural branding. Generally, managers can apply the lessons of cultural branding to any market offering that people regularly use, or else idealize as a means to improve their lives. While not all brands should mimic Nike or Budweiser, most consumer brands need a cultural strategy as part of their branding tool kits. Often enough, brands require hybrid strategies. For instance, in the auto indus- try, successful makes like BMW combine a conventional focus on benefits and quality reputation with cultural branding. For fashion industry brands, such as Polo, Levi’s, and Diesel, the challenge is to combine cul- tural branding with the viral techniques typical of that industry. In this book, however, I set aside the question of hybrid branding models and focus on how cultural branding works. Icons OW BRANDS BECOME 4 e domi- n the y results from J our i directly res panne i identity brands ‘hich have inc spin ey ating influence of basic assur li kM mptions regarding how brands worl disciplines have helped man, rands build reputati 0. r m these els derived re " mpor! sof brands— ions f cts of b " derstand j tant aspect oe or gual and how brands come “ but isciplinary focus lias als° i disciplinary To explain how ‘Conic brands evolye an PD My academic tg, Ng in socio. istoricalreseg i Axioms of Cultural Branding ime, 1 draw d are sustained over ih ysterati Cultural analysis. I conducte research> rican iconic brands, From this -iples—the discovered that these ands have followed a set of tacit Seen cultural branding model st ate enticely different from the found in nal Pending frameivorke ON several ch on n and i ine here ar axioms, which I outline he the tail uild on these axioms to d 00) Sultural brand 8 (figure 1.2) 6 ny S Addres A brang i 5S “te Contradictions in Society address exdnary identity value because oe iden sites of g nation.” We experience 0 rsonal Self-un SPitations—as. intensely ot ues, p fee tS amine 8 Sumer identities in the neni sc msieties Linked ve identity are ae es Faction of g Tation’s Citizens. These similarities re "ical change? He re thi identi Me, Bag UeMEE the because 4 me his- a "eS in response to the si eNtire Dation, 08 in the 19 «brand agin Bt became the most desirable beer in the 4 and ay aresseg one $Y Working : el ere Voked 4, etica’s the ions of * cute contradictions he in- Y Ronald ©2gan’s battle cry as er myth ig "store the o ight- ic mig! untry’s economic mi 6 WHAT IS AN ICONIC BRAND? FIGURE 1.2 Cultural Branding Principles i What is an iconic brand? i Why do customers value iconic brands? Chapters What rote does the company play? | | 8nd? What role does the customer play? ‘Axioms —f Targeting | Postoning | Brand equity Chapters 3 Brand loyalty | tmovans Cobranaing Communications Strategy The country’s economic and political meltdown in the 1970s, along with the increasing independence of women, had left them feeling emasculated. Reagan’s call to arms gave these workers hope that they would soon regain their lost manhood. These same men, however, were beginning to realize that their vocations as skilled manual laborers, their primary source of Masculine identity, were becoming obsolete as these jobs were replaced by technology and outsourced overseas. Budweiser targeted this acute tension between the revived American ideals of manhood and the economic reali- ties that made these ideals nearly unattainable for many men. Iconic Brands Perform Identity Myths That Address These Desires and Anxieties Most iconic brands have been built through the mass media, usually with television advertising. For decades, managers have assumed that they can build identity brands by associating the brand with aspirational figures: the 800d-looking, wealthy, and charming guy who happens to drink Heine- ken, wear Tommy Bahama, or drive a Mercedes. While many so-so brands employ these sorts of straightforward status appeals, iconic brands do not. HOW BRANDS BECOME ICONS Consider three iconic of Mountain Dew’s breaktl leaping off a casino, For old African American m; Comeback in the late 19 kk. One he bool ill di later in U ead that I will discuss eee 1 cal reaes the Vegas croonet s hobbling a featured a hobb ae vagen, a seminal spot » Budweis scape ‘an breal eee sera . commi ical lizards ¢ fas two mechanical ered asp 90s was led by an gona branch in a Swamp. None of these ads could be Je fie ‘ s: simp! hen they perform identity a worlds 5 , imagina ir tions that address cultural anxieties from afar, fom encounter in th 2 rather than from the Worlds that consumers regular! er are an imagin Tt/day lives. The aspiration, expressed in these myt tive, rather than literal, . . i identity- » &*Pression of the audience’s aspired Identity Myths are uy: Wise damagin, lives, smooth 1 anxieties, Myths ae cer © Create purpose in their lives identity in place When itis under stress, “Monstrated th: Products has b Alger’s TagS-to-tiches hitley 7, ‘mple’ War W, eal of at the extraordinary ual en due to their myth nevcenth dime novels of the nine post @ films, to John Wayne’s films Ovels, to the action-adventure way "Iconic brands work the same in the Brand, Which Consumers Petience and Shar, Via Ritual Action Over time, as the bran, Performs j SES that the 'S myth, the the brang’, ements), he by Ment of the 7 ally pe audience See OO its name, loge S markers (eg., its nam abodi- HTS 2 symbol, a raterial et the cea bit ops: 8 UStomerg drink, Stive, or wear the produc! tue als that tpg isis oP secular example of the But sting , ciety. Tather than pete ite get human so ms “Societies the Most influential myt nic bran, WHAT 18 AN ICONIC BRAND? Great myths provide their consumers with little epiphanies—moments of recognition that put images, sounds, and feelings on barely perceptible de- sires. Customers who make use of the brand’s myth for their identities forge tight emotional connections to the brand. These Identity Myths Are Set in Populist Worlds Identity myths are usually set in populist worlds: places separated not only from everyday life but also from the realms of commerce and elite control. The people living in populist worlds share a distinctive ethos that provides intrinsic motivation for their actions. Often populist worlds exist at the margins of society. But what unites people in a populist world is that they act the way they do because they want to, not because they are being paid or because they seek status or power. Marlboro’s populist world was the Western frontier, Corona beer re- lied on the Mexican beach, Harley drew from outlaw bikers, Nike bor- rowed from the African American ghetto, and Mountain Dew sifted from tural Appalachia. The myths performed by iconic brands draw from pop- ulist worlds as source materials to create credibility that the myth has au- thenticity, that it is grounded in the lives of real people whose lives are Buided by these beliefs. Iconic Brands Perform as Activists, Leading Culture Iconic brands function like cultural activists, encouraging people to think differently about themselves. The most powerful iconic brands are pre- Scient, addressing the leading edges of cultural change. These brands don’t simply evoke benefits, personalities, or emotions. Rather, their myths prod People to reconsider accepted ideas about themselves. The value of a par- ticular myth resides not in the myth itself, but in its alignment with soci- ety’s incipient identity desires. Easy Rider became an iconic film when it was released in 1969 because this “hippie-fied” Western provided young American men with a seduc- tive new recipe for manhood at a time when the masculine models of the Postwar era were in shambles. Five years earlier, the film would have been incomprehensible; five years later, it would have been redundant. Like- Wise, the identity value created by a brand’s myth depends entirely on how well it fits a Particular historical context. 5 1cON BRANDS BECOME HOW BRAN n1CeS, erformai ic Brands Rely on Breakthrough = ; ie mee . ~~ ther Than Consistent Commu fe eee _ : resul as. The i as the és. ly desirable unigués. Tes le tremendous! - a i sal terful performance: mMmercial media to weave a Renate re ic col 7 brands typically use ications are forgetta 's performal ture. In the main, most communi ike, the brand’s p me, ieee ‘dinary track tecords, like a eae ee ee i 10) Usually work as filler, as, incremental extensii the turns the : try, wha! ka What gels in the collective imagination of the one When Coke tock i icon, is a handful of great performances, ren rand into “o a eee hillside full of eau di- e tiful Young people and ti overcome th i derst me together to Americans un ide table od that they must co, t beachside ble Visive war effort. And whena Tagging beeper rattling 7 ae ee ot flung into the water like a skipping rock, Coron: arene a People’s exasperation with the HOnstop stress of the jority of ads wit : hours Work life of the 19905. People forget the vast major decades late Weeks after they ar Bers, years and even A ‘at get the myth Just rig! Tconic Brands Enjoy Cultural Halo Effect When a brand del ual in ce Aetivers power "myth that customers find usef ther identities tg identity value 2 * STeat myths o: nefits, and Us f a cts 0! asts ahalo on Paneer ion, dis hance the brand’s quality oon wards” ad » When Budweiser’s “Liz drinkers M2" 8 captivating new myth, Bud ™Uch better, Ue. For example, edded in, Budwei Teported that the Deer ta OrB2nization of the Book m chapter 2, develop these axioms furthe taken-for. Nted assy, ti Models, the ; to T by comparing them inant my ndergitd today’s three aia 7 nae **Motional, ang viral branding a OF the reader 9 entions ab froy on- ™ today’s eel ‘he unfamiliar world of cul WHAT IS AN ICONIC BRAND? Glossary of Key Terms: brand genealogy: ahistorical method for understanding how brands cre- ate identity value (see appendix) cultural branding: the set of axioms and strategic principles that guide the building of brands into cultural icons cultural halo effect: the positive impact of high levels of identity value on conventional brand metrics, such as perceived quality and association with key category benefits cultural icon: a person or thing regarded as a symbol, especially of a cul- ture or movement; a person, institution, and so forth, considered worthy of admiration or respect Senealogical mind-set: the managerial worldview necessary for the man- agement of identity brands iconic brand: an identity brand that approaches the identity value of a cultural icon identity myth: a simple story that resolves cultural contradictions; a pre- identity value: the aspect of a brand’s value that derives from the brand’s contribu ns to self-expression identity brand: a brand whose value to consumers (and, thus, its brand equity) derives primarily from identity value Populist worlds: autonomous places where people’s actions are per- ceived to be guided by intrinsic values, not by money or power; populist Worlds serve as the cultural raw materials from which identity myths are constructed ritual action: the process through which the consumers of an icon experi- ence the identity myth that the icon contains u COME ICONS HOW BRANDS BECOME 1 that nec- rguments branding, Along the way, Ialso respond to thecouncrar ee eee : : =" en when one challenges the status quo. I ws aeons Benealogies—of Coke, Corona, and Snapple—to make te i brand stral ‘The remainder of the book develops the implications for 8y that flow from these axioms ( the strategic principles that led t Dew, Volkswagen, Budweiser, E tective work because cultural by Working against brand strategi ferent, ad agency creatives hay has occasionally produced ic terranean practices and or iconic brands form, ineer figure 1-2). To do so, 1 ee entalt ‘0 the successes of five brands: ‘i don de- SPN, and Harley-Davidson. I relie ractice: randing has been until now a tacit pute dif ies that told them to do usm which 've employed in-the-trenches gut a sub- onic brands. In this book, | analyze ‘n San ganize them into a systematic model In chapter 3, } tackle the fi and targeting. I use a case sti jon : segmentatio! st stage of any brand strategy: seg iconic brands operate not j t te thal 'udy of Mountain Dew to ee i N product markets, but in myth mar’ chapter 4,1 ‘se Volkswagen he ach tot aSa case to develop a cultural approac! conventional Positioning ief, 1 use Statement, what I call the cultural brief which Budweiser in, chapter 5 to present a cultural view of brand equity, arises from the brand’s cul at the conventional explanations ee Weiser to dig into gh orreet Chapter g Tevisits Mountain Dew and coe 8 into y tY-gritty of Managing a brand's myth on an eaen 8 Out an agenda for firms that want to bui a Aealogical mi ae wes et ¥8 t0 so) ing and yal . Je ialize readers into the 8 W of brands a. : Pends on h, Fension in sog 5 ‘ oe an- S historical entities whose me: w the brand Ward thi ‘cular Send, the poe MVE addresses a particull end, Ba Stdies, al) gp cn the b Method that 7 iled Ok consists Of a series of detaile ‘ Ww Sloped f a rely on rand genealogies, a ne Pe Sr this research and de, Scribe in the appendix. 12 CHAPTER 2 How Is Cultural Branding Different? [oe BRANDS HAVE BEEN GUIDED by a set of tacit strategic Principles that I call the cultural branding model. These principles dif- fer entirely from those advanced by conventional branding schemes. In fact, cultural branding upends many verities by which managers have Sworn for decades. To learn how cultural branding works requires setting aside conventional thinking and developing a new mind-set. To seed this mind-set, | begin with three short case studies in which I contrast cul- ‘ural branding with the three branding models that dominate business Practice today, Since the 1970s, managers have overwhelmingly relied on a cognitive Model of branding—what | call mind-share branding. In the 1990s, some &Perts expanded the mind-share model, which they believed ignored the émotional and relational aspects of branding, These writers pushed for ‘what I call emotional branding. With the recent rise of the Internet, another shallenger has become popular as well: viral branding. Together, these three branding models account for virtually every con- sumer branding initiative today undertaken by brand owners, ad agencies, end brand consultancies. When managers seek to build the identity value °F their brands, they draw on some combination of these three approaches. able 2-1 compares the key characteristics of these three models with the Sultural branding model. fog MY esearch indicates that, while these conventional models may work °F other types of branding, they do not build iconic brands. In this chap- X85 develop short genealogies of brands often used as exemplars of con- {entional strategies—Corona (mind share), Coke (emotional), and Snapple (Viral) —to demonstrate that implicit cultural branding strategies have built ea . Ch of these iconic brands. CONS HOW BRANDS BECOME ICO TABLE 24 of Axioms Across Faur aaah Comparison of Axioms Across Four Branding Models i Viral Cultural Mind-Share Emotional Branding Branding Branding Branding = ' ket ity, Stealth mar KeyWords Culturalicons, DNA, brand Brand Dee ing. cooinunt Tonle brands essence, genetic experiential meme, 9285 | code, USP ‘ranging, Brand yee infections: benefits, onion religion, experience ee ting, conta: model economy gion, buzz mnmuni- Datation — PEROMEr ot and A set of abstract Araationship — Acomme Definition ‘Container for, an associations Partner CA identity mit jin Branding Pertorming Owning Iteraeting with Spreading Definition myths *ssociations and building See relationships cust with customers . jatio Required tor Performing a Consis Broad circu! onsistent Deep rus Steet shat SxPreSSion of interpersonal Ce sree associations connection Contradiction in society Most ‘ent Shion, ‘Appropriate Soe Functional Services, retailers, Now fas oly Applications ‘Categories, ‘Specialty goods new te W-involvement 8 Categories, complicated Products Sompanys pvt 1. t Role, _ Steward: uppe' Good f Hidden puppet, ess wd le mata ease ot the ight activites mers overtime Sevocate for ad Source of Cee Buttressir po Value ‘entity dee Relationship Being cool, a with the brand fashionabl onset Role *fertonalng cere . ebrENdS mah tng that * Interaction = "Discovering ‘oftingviaue tS become das the) Boge Salen wesc? wih bang brand as Rivne Petition * Building a owns Srberence Wo * Prceivn Personal ++ Word of "yth when efits when ‘lationship mouth SB Prete buying ag 89g product 14 HOW IS CULTURAL BRANDING DIFFERENT? From Mind-Share Branding to Cultural Branding We can trace the roots of mind share to the unique selling proposition— the principle, advocated by hard-sell advertisers in the 1950s, that each prod- uct must tirelessly communicate a single distinctive benefit to its consumers. The idea really took flight in the early 1970s, when Al Ries and Jack Trout Published their famous exposition on positioning in the trade magazine Ad Age, They later expanded the idea in their best-selling book Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind.' Their argument was simple: For a brand to suc- ceed in a society whose volume of mass communication far exceeds what Consumers can manage, the brand must own a simple, focused position in the prospect's mind, usually a benefit associated with the product category. Since the 1970s, this provocative image—of brands contesting for scarce Mental real estate in consumers’ minds—has been the most influential idea in branding? Academics and consultants have taught an entire gener- 4Non of marketers that all brands work according to these principles. Everyone who’s taken a marketing course has seen the ubiquitous Onion model of the brand. The hard, durable, objective reality of the mar- Ket offering—the product or service—resides in the nucleus. Attached to the core are various subjective associations that consumers attribute to the Product: product benefits, user attributes, emotions, personality attrib- tes, and the like. The power of the brand lies in these abstract associations ‘hat one finds when one “ladders” up from basic functional properties of ihe product to these softer values, thoughts, and feelings that consumers link to the brand, The mind-share view is today perpetuated by leading ac- ademics (such as in books by Kotler, Aaker, Zaltman, and Keller) as well by leading consultants such as Sergio Zyman.* Mind share is familiar to anyone who has read famous stories about Ow Procter & Gamble used dentists’ recommendations to convince Ameri- pans that Crest has distinctive cavity-fighting ingredients, or how Unilever — po Soap into a premium mainstay by telling consumers time Gs at Dove is gentle on sensitive skin because each bar contains 0 Wuarter cleansing cream. Many successful and durable brands have been “lt by the compulsive reiteration of the distinctive benefit (cavity fight- NB, gentleness) supported with rational arguments (dentists’ recommen- lati ae "On, one-quarter cleansing cream) and emotional appeals. 15 DNS ME TCC 7 DS BECO: HOW BRAN y strategy found in virtually ee ae Some variation of mind share is today fo vat tranche The ala document used for the world’s a a reference virt wally i rand times chan, 3¢S—other popular ters 3 netic code, idesincade bandcaen DNA, brand identity, on a the 9708 ihe Soul—but the idea has temained remarkably i ae identifying he Brand strategy, in the mind-share model, begi concepts in the a inctive constellation of these abstract c d essence is CO ee nds Managers must ensure that this a poe remains ed in every activity that carries the bran eee) Over time, Experts encourage managers to ac eles identity, sumer’s mij tently evok Consistent brand’s ti AShort Genealogy °f Corona Beer The Mexican beer ¢, Ma Was one of oro brands oF the iggog Now the leading na en hay can iconie he most successful aarp State imported beer in the ve import JOYS sales that Ve far outpaced the number tw Heineken he company a hae ay associ” TUS fits stake out « Sistinctive claim for an important vent deliver tion, one that So ““Ptured, and then consistently d se steps: this brand essence ever time, Yet Coro executed neither of the gos an Otona’ mb 0 iconic status came in the ae ers in At the time, Corona was one of the ee © the Price by, the large lexican, brewery Cerveceria : 88 mostly limiteg Ticans tend i lexical to the Southwest, where i ‘Anglo “here Mexican Culture influenced Inth . ion had caught istic Spring-break vacation media- “ i a radically differen quixotic script about a ra company, one run by a how large compan thetic to marketin, other sophisticat ard -.m tow’ » cynicism towat’ s‘ cynil tomers ed their cust 'mateurs who shar as anti- did was mpany d Everything the co: es were managed. Every B as practiced by ~o, a0 epsiCoril The Coca Cola Company, ree grocer! : king 10 Bau ed marketing aa Instead of proausint rs . ed its ; chains and fast-food franchises, eer, For en . Fou Seis street carts, ana mom-and-pop groce Il-conceived ae for founders continually rolled out odd and seemingly il alous custom ‘ation few of which becai ey relied on their most ze: imo prods Kaging ideas, Tushing oddball oe Ralph Oro ie Without so much 4a focus group, For example, Sn adrink anes affinity for melons inspired Ralph's Cantaloupe Cockta these weird ‘ured Ralph's face on the label, Customers loved to uy even the a 2 least the 7 with Mich offered surprises compared tor Processes of corporate marketing. OF advertisi the company hi, © ads were so Sorly Produ, ine the growin MB legion of Ny, >less-thanschars me hits, Th, Product and pag af Id a Fi d coul red “celebrities” it liked ant clas- cult ¢ e cul iced and odd that they became lew le» xamP” ork Snapple groupies. au ae ac i ac Player ivan Lendl, with eaPtnounced the aa : Richie Sam feature” ®"Schnahpple.” Another ee guitarist a, the ro, id Boy Jovi’s only sort-of-famou! k Use one oy, Twas a fan, jock” Especially critic 10 Snapple’s rise W3s the hiring of “shock j coo ip Penalties Sh Limbaug and Howard stern as spokesp h ved teal afecr, reateoUs page he air j Would b rem” ink ex apple and Bave the drinl Tin Additio, S410 ick ty, SelEtighteoug yo t hips: ‘0 the paid-for ener i © more differe advocates: ed wing «1S Voice of the rea, ti 7 A fal follo iberal oY White me “ho calleg th me a aoe (ding a Rae the oe ® Of Washin tot ads” to orite tarB and stem ti Tinton was a fav .d, was “*'S™, On the other hand, 30 HOW 1s CULTURAL BRANDING DIFFERENT? comedic and paranoid voice of slutty anarchy. He thrived on a nihilist atti- tude that involved celebrating whatever polite society considered tasteless, and dissing whatever it considered important. Stern loved to call the bluff on America’s puritanical tendencies by stuffing as much sexual innuendo into his program as possible. But, while diametrically at odds in terms of Politics and tastes, the two radio jocks were united in that they were Amer- 'ca’s most provocative populist voices denouncing the priorities and tastes of American elites, Snapple had ultimate credibility as an amateurish company because its three entrepreneurs knew nothing about professional marketing, Nor did they have any interest in learning. They ran the company according to What made sense and seemed like fun. Snapple’s customers knew as much and loved them for it, When private investors bought majority interest from the entrepre- Reurs in hopes of expanding the Snapple magic to Americans across the pouty: they faced a huge risk: How could they apply professional mar- keting to a brand that attracted legions of devoted followers for Snapple’s amateurism? By hiring a young ad agency copywriter to run the marketing department, the new owners avoided brand management orthodoxy. The CoPywriter, in turn, hired an upstart New York ad agency, Kirshenbaum & nd, to create a national branding platform for Snapple. This unorthodox brand team did not attempt to reduce Snapple to a of brand essence adjectives, seek out deep consumer truths, or plumb naPPle devotees’ emotional connections to the brand. Rather, they Searched for Ways to further extend Snapple’s odd, amateurish perform- ances. At the time, Snapple’s followers were so touched by the brand that at looded Snapple’s small office with fan nail, Over two Cea S 5.2 Week poured in, not to mention original videos, songs, artwork, a Posty, all odes to Snapple. ; * team found a promising story in Wendy, 4 oe for Snapple. Wendy ad taken it upon herself to respond Ey ima Jette, SMe could, The brand team cast “Wendy, the Snapple Lady T re hind goat in dozens of TV ads. The ads opened with Wendy seated be- ‘out throwing out an unselfcon- : ¢ that the set a woman who did cleri- ; Feal-life Snapp ist’s desk, ‘ pple receptionis Seay friendly “Hi from Snapple!” Viewers could clearly se the Wout, 24 Plump Wendy was the real thing, not a Hollywood actor She Na then read a letter from a customer witha fussy question 2 31 FONS EB 1¢ com SDS BEC BRAND How 5 adevo- Se gaan estion that could only pense tou anes “ tena ea othe question, the ad a es to capture : often left tee. After Wendy oe in the customers oe were ae shooting documentary style ee varius ae et i the film, at ae Not only a natural Product, bi Wransparent company ru y was any company WS De ene ll-meaning amateurs. oe for fr i , m by well-me sreurs "ric People who shared their custome, unby eccentric h The founders had an identity my) ily wil d ofoun! ‘ted so pri apple connec ™erican public, op atew vg amater esa mm must place nape ee we Lavi ions thal MNCs in the Context of social tensions Bacute in th, Carly rg995, During the 1980s, had signed o, R ly « wlarly ticle t Americans, part mos Onald Reagan's call S Of the w, Stature, Wj; ike nm, aga! sical sto get tough pati toarm: cand POM 0 revive the country’s snes paces + ines BUNE-ho "ttepreneurs, tougher busine Peinful but neces ary reorganizations, R States woulg lead the World agai been fa h U tte nad ©agan promised s economy Was considered by ™ fo! of tracted a hardy a a ommunity, But ee d a cess ng *USes. Snapple earn identi nd pusheg 4 compelling new list # * championed a fantastic poP uz, . even att “sional Sq 34 HOW IS CULTURAL BRANDING DIFFERENT? ternative to the growing disgust with the new-economy labor market and the elites in government and business who were installing it. Consumers loved Snapple for acting this way, talked about the brand, considered it ahead of its time compared with conventional soft drinks, and even en- joyed gathering sporadically with people who felt the same. ; The buzz that Snapple generated was the consequence of the power of Hs myth. Simply getting people to talk about something—say, repeat a atch phrase from an ad—is not a particularly noteworthy event. Most Such talk quickly fades from memory and, regardless, becomes detached from the meaning of the story. What sticks are stories that affect how peo- Ple think about themselves in the world. The problem with the viral model 'S that it assumes that any communication is good as long as it’s retold. Much more important, however, is what people remember and use sym- bolically in their everyday lives. Snapple didn’t just get people talking. In- Stead, the brand served as a role model, a rather absurd one, which Provided a silly but meaningful critique of corporate life in the early 1990s. The Path to Cultural Branding All iconic brands enjoy the characteristics of strong brands described by the Conventional models: They have distinctive and favorable associations, they generate buzz, and they have core consumers with deep emotional at- tachments, But these observed characteristics are the consequence of suc- cessful mythmaking, not the cause. The identity myth embedded in the brand leek customers to associate the product with category benefits, to Spread the myth by word of mouth, to emote, and to gather together. Hence, while these measures serve as useful metrics for appraising identity Value, they offer ele strategic help in directing how companies should Uild iconic brands.4 Rather, managers can build iconic brands only if they apply the tacit ‘ural strategies that supported the success of brands like Corona, Coke, and Goan Initially, a company may have difficulty assimilating these Principles because they differ so much from conventional branding ideas. ° introduce the next chapters of the book, which will develop cultural Fanding Strategy in considerably more detail, let me reprise three of e most dite shifts in mind-set evident from the three case studies in this chapter, culty q 35 7 con Y BRANDS BECOME 1 How From Pers kin, m Persuasion to Mythmaki ig Conventional bran com> rand view of bi \ding models hold an instrumental vie mMunications, These . toin- ising is divertising models assume that the Purpose of a ied to ions tied € brand (e.g, associations 1 he bran ee x and aspirational user ee job of per ; he be! a Se whatever creative content will do aes that a ultimately, this content is instrumental 1 ae in itself, Customers presumably etial once th i turns this @PProach to communic: » SOmmunications ar the Product to ¢xPerien simply a con, Lit through Which custome the brand tells. Wy ashe ionson its io ner valu he center of een i ce i stories. The stories the *S can experience the they a "consumers SIP a Coke, Mote than eVerage, Rather, they 1M these drinks, An Product, that i creates @ 5 effective Cultural strategy ci res (marks ” 8 Product that has distinctive branded featui “BM. et.) ‘hrough which Custom, i ity myths. °S experience identity my Om Abstract Corona, or ee myths einen ied are imbibing i _ ove : ions f “Ociations 19 Cultural Expressi of aset© 7 consists J = Pranding mo 's Propose that the brand cons he coneeP abstract *SSOciations 25 nsequently, Managers obsess over t in whic! thatthe Brana Should own, Strategy Meetings extend for months prackin8 wahegers ich adjectives St suit the pomeeean peat Meticulously east te the T measure whet associa With the brand, ther Sonsumers an the th 7 ides 7 is SPecifics of rel OMS, the brand's value tara conten Ultural ¢ ion: the particular cultur nts int © Patticula “Pression of these aaa oe ; - \e thing's paso Coro, » the bra ®xists in the Mexican 0s # Bs PPening» tle of 7 Soke in the 197 the existe then ° i Wertising. Eo, Coke in ined Peace an, "cial, that the hippy SOunterculture eee " a as ce boudsmom a *eaPPle, the brand wos c din batbeq Stories apple drinkers ani se cule Hes he: of Howard and Rush, Abstracting th 36 HOW [8 CULTURAL BRANDING DIFFERENT? tural expressions to the generic qualities of relaxation, friendship, and uirkiness, respectively, strips these brands of their most valuable assets. It’s impossible to build an iconic brand with mind-share principles. Mind share demands intensive abstraction. Managers systematically cleanse their Strategies to rid the brand of the messiness of society and history in Search of its purified essence. Endless haggling between brand managers, ad planners, and market researchers yield strategy documents consisting of Montages of generic phrases. Mind share is driven by a logic of quantifica- Hon—the drive to simplify the world so that it can be contained through Measurement. The memorability of adjectives, unlike culturally specific Stories, can be quantified and examined via benchmarks. The distilled strategies of mind share, however, disable identity brands because they deny the brand a role as a historical actor in society. In their Sontinuous effort to lodge a transcendental brand essence in consumers Minds, mind-share strategies fail to recognize that identity value is created and transformed in particular historical contexts. To create identity value, rand Managers must instead detail the brand’s stakes in the transforma On of culture and society and the particular cultural expressions the Tand uses to Tic achieve these transformations. From Consistency to Historical Fit Conventional models assume that managing a brand is the art of insisting °M consistency in the face of organizational and competitive pressures that Rat £0" zigging and zagging, Brand management is about stewardship: nding the brand's true essence and maintaining this compass point, come Pellor high water, . tial beg soTOR# and Coke both succeeded by moving away ee ing ¢. i™8—their supposed brand essence at the time—to eras wien ems in American society. Of the icon brands that Ive a cant gna ties extending more than a decade, all have had to ma shifts to a) because, ‘he challe Umphs lo remain iconic, These revisions ofthe brand's myth are neces” for a myth to generate identity value, it must direc engi ging social issues of the day. Coke celebrated America alt : a1 etinst Nazi Germany in World War Il shifted to cramatie was te arated Strife around war in the early 1970s, and a ae thal pepeas” ial divisions in the early 1980s. Corona, orig lees "Presented collegiate hedonism, later evolved to become & 37 HOW BRANDS BECOME 1coNS -agent antidote to the compression and anxieties of the networked free-a8 work that came toa head in the 1990s, Mi tal . . istory, as transcen- ind share assumes that brands exist outside of history, as dental en tities, Managing a mind-share brand thus requires Cue “Ving above the fray of changes in eulnone and society. Iconic ae apply precisely the opposite Philosophy: The brand is a historical oe whose desirability comes from myths that address the most importan 7 = . how Gil tensions of the nation, For identity brands, success depends on well the: brand’s myth adjusts to histori istency cal exigencies, not by its consi Inthe face of historical change 38 CHAPTER 3 Targeting Myth Markets [peste BRANDS compere in myth markets, not product mar- Kets For managers, s well as economists this concept is hard to grap, Srkets usually form around concrete, material product characteristics. “Onomists think of markets in terms of substitutability: A market consists tone © Products that consumers view as substitutes based on their a to fae A television competes with other televisions based on its a ry wera sharp picture, its reliability, its features, and so on. “entity brands are different. They compete with other cultural prod- — *© Perform myths that resolve cultural contradictions. Identity a music it myth markets, competing and collaborating with films, N° television, sports, and books / * First task of any brand strategy is to pinpoint the appropriate target catego, brand within a given market. In mind-share branding a Which >’ S¢8mented according to benefits or user Esta oe i entify poet is chosen. In cultural branding, managers 7 © Most appropriate myth market. ; stang Sting myth mae can be a complicated task, ior they don! : “Uptign 'n fact, myth markets are routinely destabilized ven ral di exis) MOdlic earthquakes pulse through society, a the vale Only ta, 8 M¥ths and spurring the creation of new ones. sca SFt the most appropriate myth market; they are also s cae Cessfy) . -StUPtions, shifting their target when opportunity ses ve ing the soni brands leap nimbly across cultural dsapin: by decipher 4 larger Myth markets created by the disruption and homing doy SP eciy agile conic bran has been Mountain Dew. The ine Bet Of the cola wars, this brand has built sales faster au “onated-soft-drink competitor during the decades of the 19 soft-drink competit 39 NS HOW BRANDS BECOME 1Co iquid every Today PepsiCo sells $4.7 billion of the sweet ae i eps, Dr ae dog, Mountain Dene leapfrogged 7 UP, Die Pee Spd Daca a a Fo oe But along this march, the brand hardly staye sta ee ws twice reinvented in the face of major cultural ae ce teans: new myth markets as they: emerged in American mass 7 formations were the key to the brand's stunning growth, The Hillbilly Myth ulled . as then PI Mountain Dew was first introduced in the late i94os and wa from the market b In ibutors. a ict with its distributor ecause of a Competitive conflict with its dist: 1960, a small Tennessee com ve know it Pany rolled out the product as we ki today, initially in the Middle ly direct! Atlantic states, Though competing with the likes of Coke and Pep: are si, Mountain Dew nonetheless ae ao : and Bional success out ofthe blocks, leading PepsiCo to buy the bran etait Dew owed its quick ; , They Popularity to the founder’s at one of the Used the soft drink to Create an identity myth that addressed on ‘mightiest contradictiong ofthe day, National Ideology, Scie tific Bureaucracy BY Of the 19505 ang 19608 was deep} Warland the colg War. Us, Military success St00d to be sion o American ideo} 1d yinftuenced by Worl hich Americans eet f the military with its anaes ability fnew Us, nese etucuseaaeere Te Lhe War effort; and the massive ormde the race to develop the atom bomb— de bine me. The natgnal atopy ha ad- Ureaucratic ereanization, Large, urea the eat8ed bureaucracies weld unleas! that Would create fantasy eo Cultur Suge een eee fantas The Unite States now had the Sts and defend thy fee world against the See about rugged individualism had on beat. On thes, thee co ia CYeVORC had to step to ae or Prove who wa Mature enough to subsume . der the Umbrella of “tporate wisdom was prais 40 towin TARGETING MYTH MARKETS Outside the work place, these ideals found potent expression in the new Modern living sold by Hollywood and Madison Avenue and practiced by uclear families in planned suburbs, Americans saw suburbia reproduced ©N television Programs and in ads that portrayed men who appreciated the Synchronized Foutines of the new lifestyle. Paternal figures were expected to . a Keep their emotions and impulses on a tight leash. Cultural Contradiction: Conformity Erases Rugged Individualism This new ideology produced litany of contradictions for men and heme Ment cuneate coercive and emasculating when these ables Were measured against America’s historical rugged individual 7 0Oks like William Whyte's Organization Man and David Riesman’s Pees ACOs borite MH NCI eeTania et coronte teu etica, became best-sellers, Soon a myth market sprang up to ease these eNsions, mH queen Mass culture draws upon populist worlds to tell stories Pa count nS (affirmative myths) and challenge (myths oo the t rough ideology. In the period lasting roughly from the mip 2nated p the Mid-1960s, the country’s most powerful pera eee World of. L¥€ Populist worlds—the cowboy’s Western fone he ne ier af ek and-roll; the Beats’ bohemia; the subculture of the o} "2nd the hillbilly way of life. Asthey The Hillbilly Myth Market ae tively setted States rapidly industrialized, the pockets that seu by the pea hed, particularly in Appalachia and the South, were pec Dickman! AMetica as blights. These Appalachian famile—peorate Tural lite Hillbillies in those days—were portrayed as ving toad a natio Asa result, many urban metro Americans perceive’ pi And eye al embarrassment that must be removed, but also as rel vs ” dangerous figures. The urbanites projected onto these peop! . na rate world Mate animal qualities, qualities off limits to the een of: Vations oy feteg a he Such potent cultural power, the symbol of the “ellent source ma for mythmaking. ae ‘ce materials for mythma and chal lenge Hillbilly was used to create myths that both buttresse: e “back- ard jp’ hatonal ideology, Affirmative myths made fan of ms tape Ife o| country people, the life that the United States was not ; 4 v8 HOW BRANDS BECOME 1CON The hillbilly i |. The hil to leave behind as the nation came to dominate the worl 0 also b iscussion. istic policy disc ecame the center of an earnest and Paternalistic policy i ere Destitute mining communities of Appalachia w Mich: el Harrington's best-selling 1962 Policy book, Th Harri » in “discovered . e Other America. ” that @ : idden “blight” tha ngien Framed for the nation a previously hidden “lig ly rich nation couldn’t tolerate, But for the urban m: they perceived Hartin, ibe of bac Bton to be reporting on a mysterious a on to ward people who lived Outside of time and who hadn’t yet cai . ing or instant coffee, 0 pusl " a images of illbilies were also used asa populist eae oe against the emerging ideology, To make biting social eaitea Bs of civility whi th pride ani ara e tbama,” which spoke wit — ne Sweet Home pee a tough, hard-living machismo, er bean — w television series, The Dukes of Haz ded a wg fie a major metros. The Dukes were an sence “Gener poses : 4 Luke built a hot rod, the "Gene ; . Hunk cousins Bo an ; its top. Bo aa ed parts and painted a confederate fago mein ii Ueda rea ie spent most a ei oe Car chests, taking death-defying jumps as they a ere 1s toc ; emselve Perilous excitement—rather than dedicate th Pany jobs—were sexy and heroic. Mountain Dew’s Redneck Myth PepsiCo and BBDO 608 tO a the 191 ‘tooled Mountain Dew’s hillbilly a a brand ier. k deliver a redneck perspective on Reagan’s Wall Street from arly the Dukes ‘sam borrowed directly from other redneck myths, partic resented afi of Hazzard, For example, an ad called “Rope Toss” (1981) p ly don = esse! inlush, hilly terrain, sinewy young man di and runni formal teen outing in brief shorts » he execu and rippling as he release first Tope to. Wer bank. The enthusiastic Sreeted him wit] with the action, ig rite girls cheered his We saw the her tle of cold Dew. it cu bouncing. ee ‘Oin close-ups, soaking wet, oe pint “Wo he spots end, heg Polished off the entire en jor without Coming up for air, Shaking the water from his hair like a fetriever, he faced the « film The eyes shut but mouth wide open. ted, “Ahi th excited, Pogo-stick aria” "Mad after ad, Mountain Dew performed ‘ ft hot oP eT the wild mare hich the centerpiece 8 girls Cra Wetering hole. The ace volved around boys peacocking ion DY taking exciting, wat Plunges whose thitst-quenching connotal Ould easily be redirected bY viewers in More libidinous directions. 48 TARGETING MYTH MARKETS When corporate executives donned cowboy gear as fashion in the mid-i980s, Mountain Dew responded even more assertively with a new

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