3. Culture Wins Friends
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
gestures of respect in China have helped create a
ge
loyal brand following and some of the highest retail
attendance rates in the world.
4. Culture trumps Logic
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.
The 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.
5. Culture is the Real Thing.
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
Coke
Co was “the real thing” and never needed to be tampered
with. Well not exactly, as you’ll see in the next slide.
6. Culture Repeats Itself.
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
thought they had purchased the wrong Coke. As
th
in Diet Coke. Can you say “déjà vu?”
7. Culture is BRANDING .
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.
Tim 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.”
Starbucks on the other hand celebrates the season In an age of segmentation and digital saturation, it’s
with dynamic/abstract illustrations, which align the more important than ever to provide your customers
company with cosmopolitan values – appreciation with something that’s “familiar.”
for Tchaikovsky Nutcracker suite and etc. Bourdieu
would have classified this preference under the
“aesthetic disposition.”
8. TALL RECAP
Let’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!
9. 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
