MICHAEL ASH 2012/13

W HY CU LTU RE IS K ING IN BR ANDING : A SHO W CASE O F P ERCEP TIO N S SHAP ING BEHAVIO U R

W HY CU LTU RE IS K ING IN BR ANDING : A SHO W CASE O F P ERCEP TIO N S SHAP ING BEHAVIO U R

W HY CU LTU RE IS K ING IN BR ANDING : A SHO W CASE O F P ERCEP TIO N S SHAP ING BEHAVIO U R

Culture is like candy–it’s colourful, sweet and seperates us from the rest.

When Apple opened up its doors in Shanghai it was not quite sure how the public would react. After all, every Apple product discretely states, “Designed in California, Made in China.” In order to alleviate any potential animosity, the company had free T-shirts produced with the slogan, “Designed in California, Made for China” The result? Apple’s continous gegestures of respect in China have helped create a loyal brand following and some of the highest retail attendance rates in the world.

Culture Wins Friends

In the 1970s many Canadian firehalls started to brand their emergency trucks as lime-green, because research had shown the colour to be more visible at night than red.

TThe result? Less cars stopped for the cars. Why? Because to many Canadian drivers, red equaled emergency on a subconsious level, while green meant “go.” Always consider this story if you’re looking to have your product stand out in a crowded shelf. Sometimes culture contradicts logic.

Culture trumps Logic

Considered to be the biggest error in Coke-Cola’s history, the birth of “New Coke” in 1985 created unprecedented outrage from the public. Not necessarily because of the new taste, but because of the change in brand perception. More than a century of advertising had positioned Coke as a way of life in North America and someone just replaced it with a “New” one, overnight. Needless to say the company realised the original CoCoke was “the real thing” and never needed to be tampered with. Well not exactly, as you’ll see in the next slide.

Culture is the Real Thing.

On December 1, 2011 Coca-Cola announced it would decrease its production of a new holiday can, which featured regular Coke, after a legion of loyal customers flooded the web with complaints. In the end, Coke had no choice but to promise more signature red cans in time for the holidays. Amongst the numerous complaints, many patrons ththought they had purchased the wrong Coke. As in Diet Coke. Can you say “déjà vu?”

Culture Repeats Itself.

In an age of segmentation and digital saturation, it’s more important than ever to provide your customers with something that’s “familiar.”

Whether you like it or not, our artistic preferences provide insight into some of our deepest cultural attitudes. Leveraging this knowledge can help your company develop strategic visuals, which form stronger emotional bonds with your customers.

TTim Hortons for example, positions itself as “unpretentious,” and around Christmas time its coffee cups are adorned with Norman Rockwell style graphics. These visuals suggest the company believes in wholesome gatherings. Furthermore, it would suggest Tims customers enjoy what Pierre Bourdieu called the “popular aesthetic.”

SStarbucks on the other hand celebrates the season with dynamic/abstract illustrations, which align the company with cosmopolitan values – appreciation for Tchaikovsky Nutcracker suite and etc. Bourdieu would have classified this preference under the “aesthetic disposition.”

Culture is BRANDING.

TALL RECAPLet’s face it, ignoring culture is like loving an empty canvas. When your customers take a sip of your coffee or watch a green fire truck pass by, they shouldn’t spend too much time decoding your message. We know from countless studies that branding is a deal breaker when it comes to snap judgements. “Culture” can be useful in shaving nanoseconds from anyone’s psyche and that’s why culture is king in branding!

Thanks for reading. Happy 2013!Disclaimer: Candy picture by Alexandre Dulaunoy. All other multimedia content in this document were used in conjunction with fair use, in order to illustrate a journalistic point of view. I do not take credit for all of the images in this document as they belong to their respective creators. This document is being shared among Creative Commons for knowledge and not for monetary compensation. CC 12/13