Brands Are People

P.E.O.P.L.E.Introducing a basic framework for thinking about brands

by Ross Popoff-Walkerwww.annoyingdesign.org/blog

Brands are like

living things.

Brandshavevalue and

meaningto people.

Companies create their brand’s equity and value from the ground up.

And keep tight control of their brand.

But online… people don’t trust websites from big brands.

81% percentof consumers say they do not

trust branded websites.

Source: Forrester Research’s NACTAS Q2 2006 Survey

But we do trust each

other.

71% of people say they trust

the opinion of family, friends and colleagues as a source of information on products

and services.

Source: Forrester Research

Companies need to listen to what individual voices are saying.

And tap into the

conversations that are

already happening about

their brands.

Brands like Scionget this.

They embrace it by connecting

their web properties to

user communities.

But many big brands still need to let go.

(please, let go)

Because people all over

are creating substitutions for what these brands are not providing.

Here’s a real example…

Meet Melvin “Melz” HowardMelz is 17 born

and raised in NYC.He’s a senior in high

school, has a girlfriend, lives with his mom,

works at Quiznos for $6,000 /yr...

Melz love’s his Nikes

•Every week Melz and his friends do “New Sneaker Wednesday”

•They hang out and show off their new Nikes•But there’s no conversation between Melz and the Nike brand

What if Nike helped Melz organize their “New Sneaker Wednesdays”…

… and for just a day, instead of

promotingKobe or LeBron…

… what if Nike enabled Melz to spread his love of the Nike brand to the world…

NEW SNEAKER

WEDNESDAY- Melz, 17, NYC

People are social beings.

It is our nature to congregate around things we believe in. Things we value. Things like

brands.

Successful brands

of tomorrow will

act as a platfor

mfor our social

nature.

As a sounding board for our voices.

P.E.O.P.L.E.By structuring brands to interact with consumers like real human beings,

like people,brands can enable

consumers to share and communicate.

P.E.O.P.L.E.•Participate in conversations, rather than just

being a subject of them

P.E.O.P.L.E.•Participate•Embrace and accept how other people

interact with your brand – never try to censor consumers.

COURIC: And, Mr. Manager, you know, these--these ID shoes are advertised as being about quote, "Freedom to choose and freedom to express who you are." By censoring what can be written on the shoes, aren't you res-restricting someone's individual freedom?

Mr. MANAGER: Well, not at all. Again, I think that there are always limitations, to certain degree, of speech. Obviously, again, here's a copy of the shoe itself, and this is where the ID would go. We have no obligation to put on a shoe information that we would consider to be derogatory or defamatory to our company and our product.

COURIC: Mm-hmm.

P.E.O.P.L.E.•Participate•Embrace•Open-Up your company’s processes and

become a transparent organization

P.E.O.P.L.E.•Participate•Embrace•Open-Up your company’s processes and

become a transparent organization

P.E.O.P.L.E.•Participate•Embrace•Open-Up •Become a platform for consumers to

communicate with each other, and to express themselves

P.E.O.P.L.E.•Participate•Embrace•Open-Up •Platform•Listen closely to what consumers are saying

about your brand

P.E.O.P.L.E.•Participate•Embrace•Open-Up •Platform•Listen•Empower consumers to become advocates,

rather than just fans

P.E.O.P.L.E.•Participate•Embrace•Open-Up •Platform•Listen•Empower

Thank YouWant to learn more? Drop me a line…

Ross Popoff-Walker

blog: annoyingdesign.org/blog/LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rosspwTwitter: twitter.com/rosspwemail: [email protected]

Ross Popoff-WalkerInteractive UX + Youth Design Analyst