Revisit: Are Brands Becoming Badges On Social Media?

Courtesy of Flickr - zero g

Originally posted February 6, 2009…

Brand Discrimination is the new Racial Discrimination!

Seth Godin’s, Tribes

In yesterday’s interview with Wired, Seth Godin’s new book Tribes was described as arguing “lasting and substantive change can be best effected by a group of people connected to each other, to a leader and to an idea.”

He then went on to discuss the use of social media by saying, “the one that I think is really available to a large number of people now without a lot of resources, is this idea of finding and connecting like-minded people and leading them to a place they want to go.”

Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges!

My question becomes what if brands became the “leaders?” If a brand could integrate its message so deeply into the lifestyle of the consumer and create a passionate, emotional attachment, that consumer would become an evangelist for that brand. They could proudly display their love and passion for that brand publicly. The use of certain social networking sites would allow just that. So, in a sense, that brand becomes a Badge that individual uses to define who they are. As this idea proliferates through different brands, these multiple Badges will become a way to characterize and identify a particular individual.

So, in theory, in the future, I could be viewed as “Adidas-Jaguar-Apple-Miller-Home Depot-Quiksilver” person which could then be used to define me as an individual; each badge, describing a little more about me as a person. Does that offend you? Are you a “Nike-Mercedes-PC-Budweiser-Lowe’s-Hurley?”

What do you think?

Could stereotypes be created from this theory? Will “brand discrimination” become the new “racial discrimination?” What are your thoughts?

America: Is Social Media to Blame?

It’s getting a little crazy out there… The political environment is more divided and angry than I’ve ever seen. I mean, someone had their finger bitten off… I know it’s never been a loving, happy-go-lucky relationship between the right and the left, but it’s rarely come to this extremism. It really makes me wonder…why now?

social media.

I have a theory… Last year we were all witnesses to the most brilliant campaign for President ever seen in Barack Obama. He utilized multiple communication channels with the same message and used them perfectly. His “Yes We Can” mantra permeated through the streets and interwebs of our society. His consistent, non-traditional communication efforts through social media and mobile devices kept his message ringing through his constituents daily lives, increasing the word of mouth and building loyalty to the extent of complete lifestyle integration. He created the strongest “Tribe” ever. Brilliant.

On the flip side, the opposing opinion was forming a tribe of their own to band together to defeat this spectacular communication display. We all know the outcome and have seen the transpirations of the past year. But how have we reached the point of people’s fingers getting bitten off?

ask not what you can do.

The simple answer…Loyalty. The loyalty these tribe members show for their tribe is unequivocal. They are willing to go to the end of the earth for their tribe. It’s truly a sight to see.

Where did this level of loyalty come from? Enter the influx of individualized communications during the campaigns from social media and mobile messages. These communication strategies took the campaign from the nation as a whole to me and you; to the individual. We were all engaged on an individual level. And when we’re engaged on that level, we build a strong sense of trust and loyalty.

As a country, you could look back and connect the dots over the past year and begin to see how we got here and how a person can have such passion to bite off a person’s finger (even though that’s a little extreme). As a brand, we would do almost anything to build this level of loyalty and passion. As I mentioned in a previous post “Are Brands Becoming Badges On Social Media?” I discuss that this isn’t too far fetched. Given the right environment and personalized communication strategies, we can see this level of loyalty again.

thoughts.

What are your thoughts? Am I on to something or am I missing the big picture?

The Felt Bicycling Brand Badge

Photo Courtesy of fenlandsnapper on flickr.com

As you know by now, I think that with the increase in public interactions with brands and a more intimate relationship between consumer and brand, we, as consumers, will begin to wear brands as badges that help define a certain aspect of our personality.

A couple of weeks ago, I raced in a bicycle race. My affinity toward cycling and the passionate culture which surrounds it always peaks my interest when watching riders interact with each other, talk about their trusty bike, and watch the human behavior as these riders “wear” their favorite cycling brands as badges. One thing caught my eye and stands out.

I have to admit, I love the craftsmanship of certain bicycles these days. I don’t think there are too many prettier things out there than a beautiful time-trial bike. Walking down the cyclists row, I noticed a car with two beautiful Felt Time Trial bikes sitting on a rack. Being a Felt rider myself, I stopped and stared, checked out the components, and began to wish I could afford the $4000+ piece of machine. It was a sight that anyone (cyclist or not) could appreciate; sheer beauty.

The funny thing about those bikes is they were not legal to ride in the race that was going on. The race was a road race which banned the use of time trial bikes.

The Point

Why is this so interesting? The race took place 45 miles outside of Kansas City in the middle of nowhere. I began to think, why are these bikes even here? Then it dawned on me…This particular rider has such an affinity to the Felt Bicycle brand, they loaded up their two beautiful time trial bikes just to wear the Felt brand as a badge in front of their cycling peers. What a connection Felt has with this cyclist! Can you imagine having such passionate, “cult-like” followers for your brand?

What brands would you wear proudly in your day to day life? Have you ever witnessed anything like this?