Brands as People, People as Brands
This article first appeared as a PROMO Xtra Editor’s Pick at promomagazine.com
There is a cultural identity crisis occurring among consumers and brands, with each wanting to emulate the other. The byproduct of this shared admiration is an exponential opportunity for word of mouth and social media marketers to play a central role in the facilitation of this ongoing shift.
Brands as People
Brands are finally starting to realize that they can no longer act like the faceless logos they once portrayed. They now need to establish a persona that is approachable and opinionated. Brands need to strive for relationships with consumers and learn to listen so that a two-way dialogue can be established. They need a face and voice that can fully express their multi-faceted product or service offerings. In short, brands need to emulate people.
Honda and Ford have done a nice job humanizing their brands as evidenced by their respective Twitter handles @alicia_at_Honda and @ScottMonty. These players are learning out how to build personas out of well-known brands that are approachable, distinct, and warm.
Both Alicia and Scott have mastered the art of seamlessly integrating their personal opinions with factual product information to serve as a human element to the historically bureaucratic automotive industry. Accessibility, humanity, and responsiveness are no longer traits people expect from just a trusted friend, it is something they demand from a trusted brand.
Click here to read the full article and learn how to morph your brand into a person.
Tags: advertising, marketing, social media, Trends
This entry was posted on Thursday, June 24th, 2010 at 12:50 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
