BRANDS as PEOPLE, PEOPLE as BRANDS is the first part of the 2015 trends that I will be describing. Here I discuss the two way trend that is affecting both people and brands. for more, check www.semiosearch.lt

1. TRENDS
COMMUNICATION
2015
#1 brands as people
people as brands
S E M I O S E A R C H . L T

2. to be honest, this is not something that started happening in
2014 or even 2013. We have been witnessing the emergence of
this trend for at least the last 5 years.
because in 2015 we are going to see the trend on the rise – up
until the point where everybody will start thinking that
something is definitely wrong with humanity and its obsession
with effigies. In the meantime, the brands are going to be
feverishly searching for ways to appear human and authentic, if
even for a day.
WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT IT NOW?
NOW?

3. brands are trying to become more like
people and people are trying to become
more like brands
THE IRONIC TREND
…
…

5. traditionally
understood as
something that acts as
an interface, between
the service/product
provider and the
clients/customers
BRAND
1.HUMANIZATION

6. traditionally
understood as
something that acts as
an interface, between
the service/product
provider and the
clients/customers
presented as run and
developed by people,
fueled by the idea that
it is the people that
make it authentic and
exciting
BRAND HUMAN
1.HUMANIZATION

7. liveandalive
behindthescenes
storymaking
HOW DOES IT MANIFEST ITSELF
or how do we really know that it is happening?
live marketing is not only a different
marketing paradigm. It is the human quality
brands have been lacking most of the time:
being present in specific moment of time
and space. This is the ability to show
spontaneous reaction (an inherently human
feature) – those who succeed in creating
authentic reactions, thrive.
look for oreo
cookie dunk in the
dark for reference
#1
#2
2 years ago the whole “behind the scenes” or “the making of”
thing kicked-off with McDonald’s (in)famous photoshoot. But
the ground-breaking thing was not the dark side of the
burger, but the presence of the marketing director – a person
stating his/her intentions that most of the time happen to be
brand intentions.
#3
yes, instead of presenting
us with fictional stories,
brands started making or
facilitating stories, i. e.
setting up the scene for the
story to happen. Out with
the storytelling, in with the
storymaking.
look for oreo cookie
dunk in the dark for
reference
look for Dove beauty
sketches anywhere,
you’ll find it

9. BRAND HUMAN
2.BRANDIZATION
being understood
through action and
direct impact he/she
makes on people or
society

10. BRAND HUMAN
2.BRANDIZATION
being understood
through mass
communication
becoming an interface
for all kinds of
commercial activities:
co-branding,
sponsorships, content
marketing, brand
extensions and etc.
being understood
through action and
direct impact he/she
makes on people or
society

12. brandextensions
social responsibility
content
marketing
HOW DOES IT MANIFEST ITSELF
or when a person is truly a brand and no longer a person?
for a person to be a proper brand,
he/she has to co-operate or, to be
more precise, to co-brand with other
brands. After this – the next natural
step is to have brand extensions and
to cover as much ground as possible
#1
#2
as a quality brand, the person should indulge
in social responsibility and give something
back to the community – or at least that’s the
current thinking
#3
we know about social media presence,
but there is something much more
important than that – producing
content, dozens of it even, and
distributing it through numerous
content publishing platforms

14. co-branding andbrand
extension phase
#2
back tohuman#3
brand-building#1
telling your story and
establishing your brand
values – yeah, we‘ve all
been there. This is still
about the things you do
best
now this is the serious phase – extending your
brand beyond your core competences, going into
e-commerce (a must), co-branding with the biggest
of brands (H&M)
this phase is about losing your way
and getting back to the heart of
what makes you human – authentic
amateurism. Beyoncé releases a
redeeming 7/11 music YouTube
video that makes everybody think
that “wow, she’s just like us after all”
BALANCING THE HUMAN / BRAND
back in 2013 the guardian featured article Can brands learn from
Beyonce which marked the changing understanding of what we
consider being a brand

15. the central element to
the brand was and still
is the promise of
consistency – the idea
that there is central
concept around which
resolves everything
that a brand does
but consistency is not
enough, now most of
the time brands have to
prove that they have an
authentic way of being
and an authentic
purpose
DOMINATING
CODE
EMERGENT
CODE
CONSISTENCY AUTHENTICITY

16. the central element to
the brand was and still
is the promise of
consistency – the idea
that there is central
concept around which
resolves everything
that a brand does
DOMINATING
CODE
EMERGENT
CODE
CONSISTENCY AUTHENTICITY
so the reason behind why people are
pretending to be brands is that they want
to prove consistency; while brands trying
to pretend/reveal that they are human, are
working in the opposite direction – towards
authenticity
but consistency is not
enough, now most of
the time brands have to
prove that they have an
authentic way of being
and an authentic
purpose

17. SEMIOSEARCH.LT
A n d r i u s G r i g o r j e v a s