Branded Content

Today I updated my marketing/retail/fashion knowledge by exploring the concept of “branded content” as presented by Mashable, my favorite Facebook social media feed. What in the world is “branded content” you ask? The answer is a blog or website sponsored by a retail brand that does not necessarily sell a product but rather sells a lifestyle; the lifestyle of the sponsoring brand.  It is subtle advertising that sells by using all the power of available to the marketing gurus. It is seductive, effective and somewhat disturbing. I love it and hate it because I know how powerful this form of marketing can be.

I am listening to the music that accompanies Burberrys, Art Of The Trench website. The site contains photos of people in trench coats. Viewers can comment on these images. I am not sure if you have to photograph a Burberry trench to be included but if you are part of the “global creative community” submit your photo and if Burberrys likes it they will display it on their website. If you need a stronger personal branding experience take a peek at the Louis Vuitton sponsored site, NOWNESS .Go online in the privacy of your home and see what is new and important in the Louis Vuitton world. Discover what music to listen to, where to travel and what your interests should be if you are a Louis Vuitton kind of person.  No direct selling of handbags, please!!!!! This is a branded content lifestyle site.

When I hear guitar accompanied folksy songs I wonder if I will think “Burberrys?”  Will I see an ostentatious display of wealth next time I see a Louis Vuitton bag or will I think there goes a cultured person who sees the world as I do. Louis Vuitton is hoping the latter.  Lifestyle branding creates an image of a brand and an image of its customers.  Branded content sites often skip advertising the brand altogether and focus on the consumer. The purpose of the site is to sell the viewer on the lifestyle; a lifestyle the brand will then claim is that of its customer. The lifestyle site wants you to feel you have finally found others of your own kind, a gathering generously sponsored by Burberrys, Louis Vuitton or numerous other retail companies. 

We can see on these websites who a company’s customers really are and how these companies want their customers to be.  Most likely detailed analysis was done on Louis Vuitton’s customer database before the” lifestyle” was developed. Strong correlations were most likely shown between Louis Vuitton’s customer base and all of the topics on the site. Then a little tweaking was done by the marketing department not to mention the contributors themselves. The customers became more beautiful, more interesting, and more intelligent.  The customer’s claimed interests are revealed in the topics, the seller’s dream of who actually buys their product, in the beauty of the stories and photos.  Put it all together and a beautiful lifestyle emerges, a life filled with fashion, art and of course the best in luxury products.

We are all walking advertisements, especially when we wear or carry visible labels. The college sweatshirt, Burberry plaid or Disney tote serve to advertise these brands to anyone who sees it when it is worn. People who deal in images and symbols know this and realize the impact of repeated brand exposure on consumers. The more a brand name is seen the more it is remembered. Music, atmosphere, store design and now branded content websites all assist the retailer in increasing awareness and sales of their product. The product also sends a message of its own. The message can be, “Come to Disney” or “I cost a lot.” (In the case of Disney I receive both messages)  Louis Vuitton obviously wants its products to say,” I am worn by intelligent, creative people with a variety or interests, who appreciate and can afford the best.” My guess is they do not want the message, “I am a pampered poodle who has more money than you” nor “I am a slave to status fashion.” Their website is much too interesting for the pampered poodle or the status junkie.

The consumer gets involved in this branding process. We buy a Lexus because we want to be the wealthy, happy couple portrayed in Lexus advertisements. Disney fans begin to think of themselves as part of “Team Disney” even though they do not work for the company.  We wear college apparel to identify ourselves as fans, alumni or students of a college or university.  We all want to belong to something. Lifestyle branding allows us to develop a sense of belonging and identify others who are like us by the bag they carry or coat they wear.  My problem with lifestyle branding is the retailer is really only trying to make a buck, not form a real team or create a community.  Customers who buy into the lifestyle campaign begin to use an advertisement as a blue print for their lives. Real emotion can and does result from these marketing campaigns. This is their purpose. A bonded customer is a loyal customer. There is no team, merely a very good marketing department.  The relationship is one-sided; the customer begins to believe that which is merely a creation is reality. While the retailer is trying to sell handbags or coats, the customer believes she is participating in a community whose values and code are shown on the website. Really all the consumer is experiencing is the work of a clever retail brand marketing department.  The lifestyle does not exist.

So why is this exciting yet frightening, this trend of branded content. The ease of experience frightens me. In the past we were exposed to media marketing assaults by walking into a store or watching a television commercial.  Now we can access multiple branding experiences through our home computer.  Think about how jarring it is leaving a retail store that plays music you enjoy or where you find the décor calming. This is because music and sound affect emotion and define our shopping experience. The color of walls, displays, and smell of a retail store is designed to define your perception of the brand and encourage you to spend.  The full marketing assault using music, images, symbols, and words previously only occurred in a store or during a television commercial. Regular programming or leaving interrupted the experience. Online branding experiences occur uninterrupted. A consumer does not need to leave to go home. There is no other programming and the branding experience can last much longer than a thirty second commercial spot.  Marketing works, so does lifestyle branding, which is why it is being increasing developed.

 Lifestyle branding is now presented in depth and without interruption on branded content sites and product Facebook pages. Press “like” and any number of retailers will bring the latest from their product line to your Facebook page on a daily basis. While most product pages on Facebook are product oriented, the lifestyle branding message comes through loud and clear. The lifestyle associated with the brand is on display right next to the newest product in the store. The message is enhanced by the ever increasing visual and sound capacity of laptops and home computers.  The media assault is stronger and more beautiful than ever before.

I am sensitive to music and atmosphere. I notice colors, music and design. I am not unique but I am overtly aware of the assault on my senses when I shop or watch visual media.  If you are not overtly aware of the impact images and sound have on you, be assured your subconscious is registering colors, your environment. These elements are used to impact your perceptions which in turn impact your decisions. Today your favorite brand can sell you their image of who you should be, whenever you visit their website. I think this is an exciting time in to attempt to influence behavior with images, words, and music. I think it is also a little scary that I do not even need to get dressed to submerge myself in a beautiful world of music, symbols, art, and words all designed to tell me who I should be and what bag I need to buy so I can find others like me. I want to be to be a member of the beautiful creative global community, don’t you?  

Questions on Creativity

Creativity is a problem these days. Business and civic leaders pay to attend classes and workshops led by self styled “Creativity Experts.” For a fee, these leaders of the community are taught to “think outside the box” and develop non linear insight into business and community problems. I wonder if creativity is merely a fad or a much needed lesson for corporate and civic leaders. Is this more than the ultimate revenge of the geeks, nerds, weirdoes and outcasts of life? What does it mean when the “perfect people” pay to become what they once shunned, weird.

Creative people are weird. I am not talking about genius, which is where creativity has been traditionally examined.  I am talking about the run of the mill creative individual who can see things in ways others cannot. These are the people that most of you have spent your life avoiding because they are strange. Creative people do not think like normal people. They see relationships that most people cannot see. Creative people are uncomfortable, intense, odd individuals who use different parts of their brains to interact with the world. The successful ones start businesses, develop innovative processes or come up with great ad campaigns. The less successful hide their creative and insightful nature from the world, learning to keep to themselves their observations and insights in an attempt to conform to societies’ norms.

In our quest to be “normal” creativity is often stunted in our culture. Organizations, once formed, thrive on maintaining the status quo, not allowing divergent personalities to roam free. Organizations are by their nature resistant to change, so the insights and ideas developed by a creative employee are often disparaged or ignored. When a business or organization is young, ideas are its lifeblood.  Start ups are about making something out of nothing. Existing businesses are about keeping something from becoming nothing. Individuals who have spent their careers in existing businesses have never had the demands on their creative talents that those in startups experience. The individual or team responsible for starting an existing business may remember the creativity challenges of days gone by, but rarely do they need to delve into their creative self once their organization becomes established.  Success blunts the edge of creativity.  Many business and civic leaders have never had to worry about any of the issues found in young companies. They rarely think outside the box, and are discouraged from doing so. The mantra whispered is “what has worked before will work again.” These same individuals now pay experts to teach them creativity skills. I guess the same old same old is not working any longer.

Creativity is challenging and exhausting. Scientific interest in the creative mind has been growing over the past few years. Interest in why some people are more creative than others and technological advances have let scientists and doctors  look into the human brain to see where creativity and insight live. What has been found is that creative, insightful, intuitive people use their brains differently than most people. Creativity is not solely a function of intelligence. Just because you are smart does not mean you are creative.  People who are creative are different, even a little weird. Lucky for the leaders of the community that there is evidence that creativity can be taught.  At the very least, people can learn to look at things in new ways and see new relationships. This opens the door to new ideas.

Maybe these classes in creativity are not a total waste. If for no other reason it might be fun to see some of the civic leaders and business executives get a little weird. Wonder what happens when they see what we have seen all along.  

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20804237

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18266217

MODERN CONVERSATION

You: I heard it finally happened.

Me: It did? Wow. Are you sure?

You: It happened.

Me: I hate it when it happens. Everyone goes nuts. Do they know yet?

You: No, but it was really big. I am not even sure they know yet.

Me: Which them? The other “them” do not know yet?

You: No, but it did happen.

Me: I cannot deal with this. It is so huge and they do not even know about it yet.  I am not talking about it. Are you sure it happened?

You: It happened. Let them deal with it.

Me: Well it is about time but we all know how stressful it gets when it happens.

You: Yeah. But we have to deal with it, don’t we?

Me: No!!! I am not even talking, thinking about it.

You: I cannot handle this.

Me: Well why do you think I can handle it. Let them handle it. They did it.

You: Do you think they did it?

Me: Well if they did not, it must have been the other “them”. It is so big.

You: I hate it when it happens. Who all was involved?

Me: You knew about it!!!! I do not know anything.

You: Well I do not believe it.

Me: Never believe it, but I did hear it happened.

You: Wow.

Farmville and me

I play a lot of Farmville. I plant my crops and wait for them to grow. I harvest my crops and spend my virtual earnings planting new crops, buying buildings, collecting animals and decorating. I bake virtual goods to trade for fuel. I spend a lot of time playing Farmville.  I used to look with scorn at people who played Farmville. I knew they had no lives. Not any longer.  I am now a Farmville fan.

If you do not have a Facebook page, you most likely have not heard of, much less played, Farmville. Facebook is an Internet site for social networking. It is used by a half a billion people, worldwide.  Farmville, owned by a Zynga, is an application on Facebook. More than 18 million people a day play Farmville.* That is a lot of virtual farming.  I am obviously not alone in my obsession.

What is it about this game that so captures the attention of so many people? There are claims this game is addictive. If so, where is the harm? I say the addiction is therapeutic.  There are worse things 18 million of us could be doing.

Farmville is free. Farmers can advance without spending a dime. Money can be spent to buy premium items and I admit I have spent real money on my farm. The visuals are fantastic. It is amazing to see detail and whimsy in the crops and animals.  Contests are held for those who are inspired to create patterns and designs on their farms. There is an ever changing selection of seasonal decorations, crops, projects, and buildings. The Swiss Bank building was one of my favorites. I bought it to deposit my poppy crop money. Not many of my neighbors “got” the joke.

Neighbors are what are needed to succeed. My neighbors are comprised of old high school friends, their friends and total strangers. Neighbors give each other gifts in Farmville to help each other accomplish goals.  Neighbors visit each other’s farms to “trick or treat” or fertilize crops. The interaction is peaceful, non competitive and friendly and rewards both farmers.

The real world is often not peaceful, friendly or rewarding. It is often overly competitive. Competition does exist in Farmville. Neighbors are ranked and it is easy to see who spends real dollars on the game and who does not. But if you work hard, the game rewards you and your farm will grow. No real money needed.

The key to a prosperous farm is peaceful interaction with your neighbors.  The focus is on co operative interaction not competitive elimination. The game provides set goals and rewards you when you achieve them. The game is extremely easy to learn. If you work hard you are rewarded. That is why I and 18 million people have a virtual farm.

 * http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/22/zynga-frontierville/

Tell Them What They Want to Hear

Years ago my Auntie Johanna gave me the following advice, “Honey do not tell them the truth; just tell them what they want to hear!” She was referring to parents and family members but I find this advice works in most situations.  It is now my mantra and when possible I follow it at all times.

Truth was my natural response when asked for my opinion. I was not the most diplomatic of souls but my veracity was never questioned. I fought to prove my position, citing anecdotal and documented evidence to support my opinion. I stood up for my right to have an alternative view from the norm. (Honestly, when all agree conflict rarely occurs.)  Well I have changed. The responsible party is the OSU football program.

Ohio State Football obsesses my hometown, Columbus, Ohio. The city does not have professional football. OSU has long filled this need.   I am rather surprised the students are still allowed to attend the games. The long list of alumni allotted football tickets and the  prime seats distributed to “ friends “of the University leave barely room for the students to cram into the end zone.( Well, the students do not donate anywhere as much as the alumni and “friends” who get tickets.) Tailgating starts early and television coverage begins midweek.  Scarlet and grey permeates every aspect of life in Columbus from late summer until New Years.  Go Bucks is an acceptable goodbye for much of the community and most social events revolve around football.

Promise me to keep this between us, but I am not an OSU football fan. I do not remember watching OSU football as a child nor attending parties focused on the game. I have never had an extensive scarlet and grey wardrobe. My family did not tailgate, attend games or cheer for OSU. I somehow escaped the OSU football frenzy. The only impact OSU football had on my early life was annoyance at the amount of football coverage on television news and in the paper.

Notre Dame was my grandfather’s alma mater and if the game was televised, the ND game was watched. I cheered for Old Notre Dame during my educational years at St. Mary’s College and even watched some games after I graduated.  When I tried to network with other Columbus ND/St. Mary’s alumni my experiences were negative. The years passed, so did my interest in ND football. I am not a big sports fan but I attended a few of my brother’s high school and college football games.  I cheered for them to not get hurt.  On Saturday afternoons I shopped, read or slept. This golden time was not to last.

National news stories, published yearly, tell of the obnoxious OSU fan culture. Imagine living in it on a daily basis. I became an OSU anti fan. I would tell people I was not a football fan if asked, but secretly I began cheering for OSU’s opponents. I rarely watched the game but when I did I cheered when the other team scored. I reveled in each bad play. An OSU loss was punishment for the communities’ unending OSU fanaticism.

My views became known. I am still not sure how it happened, or when I slipped up, but my hatred for OSU football became common knowledge. In this town, you have to be an OSU fan, it is required. The abuse began. At first I tried to argue my position, pointing out I was raised a ND fan. The abuse continued .I became enraged at the Nazi-like demand of my community that we all adore OSU football. I fought for my right to be an anti fan and refused to participate in Buckeye frenzy. The abuse became overt and ugly. I began to cave.

                I began to say “Go Bucks” on football weekends. I even wore scarlet and grey. Life became calmer. I watched a few games hoping my companions did not notice my smirk when OSU lost.  I even began to watch the games because it seemed OSU did fail when I watched. I put this down to bad karma. My compliance with Columbus’ cultural requirements was still superficial, in my mind I was holding on to my own beliefs. I knew deep in my heart that my spirit had been broken. My mere presence was supporting the OSU culture. Still only I knew the team spirit seemed to fall apart when I watched. It was a broken spirit's revenge.

            Eventually my smirks and  bad karma was noticed. I was run out of any room where I could view the team in action. I smiled, left saying “Go Bucks” as I walked out the door. I went back to sleeping or shopping during games.

Forced participation may change overt behavior but sometimes what you get is a secret enemy. I now tell OSU fans what they want to hear, but I do not really cheer for their team, I merely pretend to be a fan. This did not happen overnight. It took years of exposure to Ohio State mania and abusive OSU fans to drain the fight from my spirit. This fight resulted in much more than a change in overt behavior concerning OSU football. It changed my mantra.

Once I succumbed to societal pressure concerning football, I began to use my auntie’s advice in other situations.  My opinions are no longer honestly given.  I merely mouth the words the listener needs to hear.  Insight, analysis and truth have given way to feeding needy egos with rigid belief systems. Life is much easier. Someone else will need to speak truthfully, I no longer will.

If you are in Columbus, cheer loudly for OSU. Wear scarlet and grey. Remember, when in Rome do as the Roman’s do. In Columbus there is only one opinion anyone really wants to hear, let them hear it. Thanks auntie.  Go Bucks.

Blogger I AM

                I am now officially a blogger.  Not just a person who blogs, but a Blogger with a capitol B. I intend to use it as a title, a description of my role in society, my reason for existence.  It is now who I am.

                Very few people are allowed to just be. The rest of us have to be something. Mothers with small children are exempted from this requirement but even they feel the pressure “to do” something.  The term “community volunteer “ was created to describe these stay at home moms and those women who have never really worked since they got married. For my generation, once the children are in school the questions about what you “do” begin anew. The women who run organizations or spend their days as school volunteers have acknowledged existences. Those who do not volunteer begin to feel the pressure to work a real job. You know, WORK. We all know the shocked expression that accompanies the question of “Don’t you Work?” “Well what do you do?”  Well in deference to society and in the footsteps of others in my community I have become a BLOGGER.  It sure beats telling the truth.

                I admit this is not my first blogging experience. I was once paid by Blogger to write blogs. This was around five years ago and I was paid by the word. It was then Kblog was created.  She wrote for Blogger about a variety of topics but alas her blogs did not sell and her services were no longer needed. She was a bit long winded but that happens when you are paid by the word with a minimum total word count required for payment. Her work may be out there in computer land somewhere. Feel free to look for her or “Kelly Moser” who also has done some online writing.

The name Kblog was available for this endeavor. It is also my email address.  I have only had one person comment on my email address. She was a blogger and recognized it as a “good address”.  Starting early gives you the best choice in monikers especially when you do not want to use your real name. Like I said, I have been here before. So this is Kblog’s Blog. All I can say is Blogger is a lot easier to use now then it was five years ago.

I am now an official blogger. No, Blogger.  Who knows, I may end up influencing world events. Other bloggers already have.