Quite the quote . . .

“You should banish any thoughts of how you may appear to others. If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”- Marcus Aurelius

Of Longing and Belonging; the psychology of consumerism

Everybody loves to belong. To feel part of something larger. Its the same for consumerism.  Aren't we trying to define who we are by the choices we make as a consumer?

Take televisions for example. Personally, I'm a Panasonic man.  I'm not sure exactly why, but I do seem to be drawn to their particular identity.

A large part of it for me is aesthetics; I just like the way Panasonics look. They have an air of quality and an understated, monolithic design. Samsung on the other hand (despite being, I'm sure, equally good TVs) seem to me plastic and flashy (as do their phones) so despite the whizz-bang digital acrobatics they are capable of, I have not identified with that brand. 

Sony, for me, exudes the same vibe of beautiful form and function, yet because the brand is so huge and invasive, I find myself avoiding it because I don't want to be another Sony slave. Silly I know, all of the above brands are class leaders and perhaps a few of you techies out there could tell me why I've made the wrong choice, but there you go. I just like them. And this "mojo" is what a brand desperately longs to achieve with its clients. They can explain the features and benefits until the cows come home but its that "I don't know why I like it, I just do" feeling that gets punters to part with their money.

So that leaves me wondering, how do you create that desire?  How does a brand go about developing and defining how people view it? Is it up to the consumer to mould and shape a brand into their corporate identity? Or is it the brand's Mission to define its values and target a particular consumer?

Perhaps, I suspect, it takes two to tango.  Take Apple, that Leviathan of aesthetic functionality. Before they became bigger than God, it felt great to be part of "the other lot" that questioned the  Gospel of the Microsoft Corporation. Not only were they supremely beautiful in form, but one felt special to be part of the club. Its what they built there massive following on. Yes, their products were more expensive, but you could really feel like every millimetre of glass and brushed aluminium was worth the price. It had done the impossible and sold millions of units of high-end and expensive hardware so much was our desire to have a slice of the, er, apple.
 

At some point, and I suspect that the premature demise of Steve Jobs has effected this, Apple stopped being the interesting alternative and became the biggest predator in the ocean.

"Great!" say the shareholders. "Mission accomplished". But by becoming so successful has Apple's brand identity changed simply by the sheer number of its consumers?  Have they shaped the company's values and become a watered down version of itself? You could argue that they are no longer quite the innovators that they used to be. The pressure is enormous when you set the benchmark so high. As soon as your competitors respond you must raise the bar again, but at what cost? And at the same time as enjoying loyalty to a brand, consumers are so fickle that it doesn't take long for that brand to be dropped like yesterday's takeaway curry.

This phenomena has also happened, in a slightly different way, to luxury brand Tiffany & Co. Its a vicious circle that goes like this:

Luxury brand, small but with loyal following and great cache starts to grow. They become worldwide name and increase profits tenfold. Company becomes huge and client base expands rapidly. They start to take control of the market and buy their own diamond mines. Seeing how successful the company is becoming, efforts are made to introduce the brand to a still larger client base, by introducing a range of products that are almost affordable to the average consumer, looking for a precious gift. This proves to be very successful, and as profits increase still further, more stores are opened around the world. It is an aspirational company.

At some point along this timeline, the brand starts to lose the values that made it special in the first place. Yes, its a very much desired brand, but that beautiful and romantic idea you have of Tiffany & Co has become so watered down that the company has started to mean something else to its clients.

Its not necessarily a bad thing. The company is still doing very well, and many people are able to buy into the brand and become loyal Tiffany customers. So why worry about it? Well, eventually the company will start to slide down the pyramid of luxury retail so much that it will have to re-position itself. the question is, how easily is that to achieve whilst still maintaining profits?

So, to keep the values that made a company so special in the first place, those values that really spoke to you as a consumer, it must really listen to its clientele, and ask themselves the questions: As we become larger and richer, are we still the company we were when our clients first fell in love with us?

Are we just better and stronger at what we do, or have we morphed into something else? Eventually, your clients will tell you with their feet.





 

Iconic designs: In praise of the new London bus

There's something very comforting in coming across a design that works in a simple, beautiful and effective way. I go all Zen when I see something perfectly imagined (at least in my eyes).

 

The new London buses do this for me. It could be a number of elements; the modern/retro merge, the beautifully shaped windows that sweep across the back and illuminate the stairs. Its soft-scoop curves, "friendly Robot" face and of course the great decision to reimagine the old route master hop on/hop off platform.



They have a presence that I think will remain even when we no longer see them as a novelty.  It reminds me a little of the VW Beetle, in that however many times we see one, our eyes linger a little longer not just because of its iconic design, but because of how pleasing on the eye it is.


Well done to Heatherwick studios (Peter Heatherwick of London Olympic Flame fame)  In creating a modern design masterpiece that we can see everyday.