So I had a point, somewhere in there I had a point, and there's a gem of a good idea but it will take a while to deliver it a little more succinctly. But that's OK, I don't mind taking a little extra time being largely right.The point is, the more interested you are in the world around you, the more likely it is you'll share common interests with the people you meet. If your world view fails to grasp interests beyond yourself, then you had better hope you come into contact with people who are at least as interested in you as you are, or else you're in trouble.
This is the crux of my latest online piece over at Marketing Magazine.
The conversation [focusing on an individual's fashion] only extends to that moment, to the outfit which is noticed and commented on. The conversation about others involves the designer (say Chistopher Bailey at Burberry), their own path to where they are (working under Tom Ford at Gucci), the campaigns around the revitalisation of that brand (Kate Moss), how it ties in to classic British fashion and the campaigns hark back to great David Bailey photographs of British icons. It extends to the quintessentially British elements of fashion, the things unique to that most unique of isles.
You can't fake genuine curiosity or interest in the world around you, and the best marketers in the coming age will be the ones that draw the parallels across industry and culture, born from their own experience being simply fascinated with the world around them.
I guess, not everyone is innately interested in everything. And to actively make the effort to be interested in everything takes a LOT of effort...in terms of companies anyway, this is what happens...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1zv6w_the-break-up
I guess that's why when conversations just flow like that, from Tom Ford to photography and inexplicably on to world peace in an hour, you know you've found people you've clicked with. When you find someone you can talk to for hours on end and when even the silences are comfortable.
Perhaps why niche brands and brand representation is still so important.
Absolutely - but I think the Microsoft video you mention (and as I said back in March who would have thought Microsoft would nail this in one?) reveals intent, which I tend to bag on about quite a lot. I think being curious about the world around us reveals an intent which is more than just the sell. Of course you can be curious solely to accomplish the sell, but that isn't a long-term strategy.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to see how branding evolves over the next few years, and if brands becoming more human will also mean they can be a little more multi-faceted. What do you think?