I've realized that everything we buy is branded. My camera strap has Nikon written across it with large print. My shoes, my cell phone (3 brands there),and my car all have the manufacturer name printed on them. It's almost harder to think of items that aren't branded vs the ones that are. We, the users, have become little commercials.
This all seems pretty obvious to you. The part of the branding that caught my attention recently is shirts. We've gone from a time of having a small alligator on the breast of a shirt, to having a brand take up the entire shirt. Ever seen an OLD NAVY shirt? How about HOLLISTER or ABERCROMBIE? Those last two are having some sort of contest to see who can print their name the biggest on your shirt.
Who decided to do this? When did that become cool? Some guy sitting in a board room at Hollister decides that shirts just need the company name spread across them as large as possible. And it worked. All the cool kids are doing it. But who told the cool kids this was cool?
Oh hell! This blog is coming unraveled as I write it. The direction I was going to go was to suggest that it's crazy to have this large billboard on your shirt. Who decides what brands can get away with this? But then I look down and I'm wearing a Jeff Gordon shirt with a large display of DUPONT. This Hollister thing is not much different than supporting your favorite sports team by wearing their shirt or hat. Is it out of the question to wear a black t-shirt with a large white apple printed on it? Not really. Just showing support for your "team".
Really, in this sense, any company - any brand - that can find ways to connect with their fans can get away with this. I'd wear a shirt with the Google logo on it. The companies that can't connect to their customers are missing the opportunity.
The opportunity to use your customer as a mobile advertising campaign. All the cool kids are doing it.
This all seems pretty obvious to you. The part of the branding that caught my attention recently is shirts. We've gone from a time of having a small alligator on the breast of a shirt, to having a brand take up the entire shirt. Ever seen an OLD NAVY shirt? How about HOLLISTER or ABERCROMBIE? Those last two are having some sort of contest to see who can print their name the biggest on your shirt.
Who decided to do this? When did that become cool? Some guy sitting in a board room at Hollister decides that shirts just need the company name spread across them as large as possible. And it worked. All the cool kids are doing it. But who told the cool kids this was cool?
Oh hell! This blog is coming unraveled as I write it. The direction I was going to go was to suggest that it's crazy to have this large billboard on your shirt. Who decides what brands can get away with this? But then I look down and I'm wearing a Jeff Gordon shirt with a large display of DUPONT. This Hollister thing is not much different than supporting your favorite sports team by wearing their shirt or hat. Is it out of the question to wear a black t-shirt with a large white apple printed on it? Not really. Just showing support for your "team".
Really, in this sense, any company - any brand - that can find ways to connect with their fans can get away with this. I'd wear a shirt with the Google logo on it. The companies that can't connect to their customers are missing the opportunity.
The opportunity to use your customer as a mobile advertising campaign. All the cool kids are doing it.
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