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[circus-maximus-blog]

21st Century Brands

As the 21st century starts to hit its stride, marketing and advertising in the new century are finally beginning to take solid shape. As always, the concept of a brand displays strong influence over consumers. But they way in which customers, potential and recurring, experience these brands have drastically evolved. Social media, algorithms to target advertising, and mass-media consumption have all affected the means through which brands are conveyed, so how do manufacturers adapt to the new tools and markets available to them? The idea of a “Brand” has been important to commercial interests dating all the way back to 2,700 B.C.E. Originally used for marking livestock to prevent theft, the concept of “Branding” has grown to mean much more than simply pressing a scalding-hot metal image onto some poor cow’s hide. The first use of branding as we understand it today, was observed in Greek pottery in the 6th century BCE. Potters would mark their products with stone or clay seals of the craftsman’s name. Termed proto-brands, these seals were used due to the extensive trade of such pots, and the seals would represent both quality and place origin. Before so called porto-branding made it simple to determine where a pot came from, only certain dealers, vendors, or craftsmen would be able to identify where and when a piece was from, but the seals brought awareness and customers to quality potters. In the same way, companies in the 19th century began to brand their products. Due to wide-spread industrialization, household items such as hygiene products, food, and clothing began to be produced in narrowly-optimized factories and shipped out to communities. Although we look on this as a normal procedure today, at that time it was a drastic shift from the typical local production method. It was at this point that the idea of mass-marketing began to take root. Brands like Campbell’s soup, Quaker oats, and Coca-Cola were looking for a way to gain the trust of consumers who, previously, had primarily purchased locally-produced products. They developed unique individual brands in order to achieve a higher level of familiarity among their consumers, as well as communicating quality and merit. It wasn’t until the 20th century that personality entered the idea of a brand. In response to the widespread adoption of radio, and soon television, companies began to employ slogans, mascots, and jingles to capture consumer attention. Manufacturers began to realize that their customers didn’t simply recognize their brands anymore, they were actually developing relationships with them. This revelation led to the Brand as we know it today. Manufacturers began creating brand identities with personalities such as fun, luxurious, or caring. These practices proved effective at capturing wider markets, to the fact that the brands themselves began accruing perceived value. One example of how pervasive the idea of brand value had become: in 1988 Philip Morris purchased Kraft for six times what the company was worth in assets. Of course, what they really paid for was the name. Of course, the evolution of brand didn’t end there. In the early 90’s, the idea of brand value began to lose steam. Philip Morris cut the price of Marlboro cigarettes, a very popular brand with global reach at that time, by 20% in order to compete with bargain cigarettes on April 2nd, 1993. This day, termed “Marlboro Friday,” can be considered the day of the death of the brand. Immediately after, Wall Street stocks dropped considerably for a number of large-brand companies. This raised the question, are consumers growing apathetic towards brands? Has the power of “brand value” disappeared never to return? The idea of the brand in the 21st century has not died, but it has certainly evolved. Take, for example, the company Circus Maximus. Although it is an event company, they represent many of the same qualities and approach as an advertiser. No longer do brands simply seek to persuade consumers to buy their product, now they have taken on a philosophy of immersion. Instead of selling a product, companies now seek to sell a lifestyle. A culture. An experience. Brands entice customers to see them as more personified than ever. Mascots post memes on twitter and sarcastically respond to customer’s complaints. Facebook side bar advertisements utilize an algorithm to immediately get your brand in touch with the largest possible percentage of the market that it will resonate with. Consumers are inundated with so much advertising, and grown apathetic towards logos within it, that in order to pull attention to manufacturers brands now offer more than personality or promises of product quality, they offer lifestyles and experiences to their consumers. Companies no longer build a single personality for their brand, but a plethora of personalities. In the post-modern chaos of the 21st century, every brand provides a multi-media experience. Every company represents more than just a product. As the concept of the brand evolves, manufacturers must evolve alongside it. Don’t simply represent your company with one narrative when your competitors represent many. Appeal to the widest audience possible, without losing your core demographic. Adapt to multiple mediums, adapt to the performance aspect of brand image, adapt to social media platforms, and adapt to the reality that companies must now exist both in the digital and the physical world. Consumers already do.