By: Consumers as explorers, and the importance of brand discovery « Zeroside

Consumers as explorers, and the importance of brand discovery « Zeroside — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:42:36 +0000

[...] brand perceptions come from, and how are they made? If designers are brand anthropologists, as Erin recently touched on, then consumers should be considered explorers, traversing shelf and window in search of that [...]

By: Sir William Wesley

Sir William Wesley — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:05:38 +0000

This reminds me of a client I’ve worked with, a small operation limo driver. He specializes in exotic limousines like triple-axle Hummers, 26 person-capacity Escalades, etc. However, regardless of the slick, flashy graphics implemented in his collateral and on his website, and the high-end brand they build, he insisted on slapping his home address on everything. Talk about a disconnect: imagine a young woman expecting a storefront/office to shop for his services in–to flip through a portfolio of brides slipping out of 1930s Mercedes Benz, ready to walk up to the church, and down the aisles as rose petals lightly graze her shoulders, falling from the sky… only to find themselves in a forgotten corner of some suburban housing development, weeds growing between the sidewalk cracks and oil stains under the rusty Dodge Caravan on cinder blocks. Poof! Business gone! I can almost hear the tires squealing.

It’s important to also distance yourself from the ugly reality without being dishonest. We know you have to slaughter animals to get hot dogs, but we’d rather see the smiling kid putting ketchup on the end product. So, the obvious solution for this limo business was simply to put a generic location (city), and a way to get in touch. After all, most shopping is done on the website, and the customer doesn’t need to arrive at his apartment doorstep to see inside of the exotic coaches. Without a physical address, most people don’t really even miss having gone anywhere to do business. Problem solved!

By: article of the week | identity-focused design by heather parlato

article of the week | identity-focused design by heather parlato — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:02:00 +0000

[...] we are all brand anthropologists from hexanine.com. [...]

Comments on: We are all brand anthropologists.

By: Consumers as explorers, and the importance of brand discovery « Zeroside

By: Sir William Wesley

By: article of the week | identity-focused design by heather parlato