Continued from
part 1...
Marketers instinctively sense this need for "emotional
connection" and "story," mining so-called trends and the cultural
zeitgeist to identify that magical hook that will make consumers
care about their business. We're forever seeking out the latest,
the hottest, the stuff of the future. But what is equally important
is the provenance, development and heritage that defines who people
are, how we behave, and why we have come to value the things we do
and created the world in the way that we have.
Brands and content that get under people's skin are those that
tap into more than the latest pop trend-they absorb and refashion
culture at every level to create their own mythology. The world of
Apple is also that of DaVinci and Einstein, where quirk of genius
triumphs over the dead weight of convention, both through the
visionary himself and his body of work. Hipster culture is affluent
urban America's millennial response to over-education, cultural
fragmentation, and consumption fatigue-the latest delicate
footsteps in the nonchalant wanderings of the centuries-old dandy.
A film like The Matrix was seminal at the time of its
release because it fused age-old ideas and existing conventions
into novel form. Threading philosophies from the likes of of Zhuang
Zi and Deleuze through a blend of cyber-kung fu-action movie
conventions, The Matrix created a heck of a sexy
partnering of existentialism and cyberpunk, plugging into
turn-of-the-millennium preoccupations with technology and
entertainment redefining our experience of content and reality.
Ultimately, the distinction between art, commerce, and life is
blurry to me. Economy, society, and culture are all threads in the
patchwork of human experience. Is the Mona Lisa about grace, Da
Vinci's reputation, the art market, or the history of art? Is a
Tweet an act of sharing, self-promotion, business exchange, or
technological pioneering? In the marketing and communications
industry, we're forever searching for the next big term-are brands
about ideas, ideals, stories, conversations, experiences, or
actions? I think brands are about enriching culture, understanding
how creativity and enterprise can build on existing heritage to
reframe the cultural context in intriguing new ways.