Yeah, I should really start doing that with my online portfolio - sending out a link to everyone I've ever heard of saying "Hey guys! Check out this really cool site that I found purely by chance! Sheesh, does this girl know her stuff!"
That's when I get around to leaving the 18th Century and actually putting my portfolio online, of course.
You're right, it's not a new thing at all - teenagers have always latched on to brands in this way, but I don't think they should be encouraged to attach so much significance to them. Many will, and in most cases no lasting damage will be done, but this reductive view of the world can lead to the kind of shallow thinking that states that we can judge people solely by what they buy, and a big part of me reacts strongly against that. (I faithfully believe there is now and was always a lot more to you, for example, than the sum of the brands mentioned above)
To get back to the point I meanderingly strayed off in my last post - no, it's not the end of the world but I just don't like the notion that these silly banner thingies are a "huge opportunity" for marketeers, as they are hyping up an element of teen culture which, while possibly natural, is not particularly positive or pleasant. Kind of like acne.
Sorry for the sustained seriousness - I'm a little hungover which always puts me in a mood to ponder moral questions. And, working in advertising, there's a lot for me to ponder!
I dunno, I'd say this execution brings the idea into a whole new arena and as such, deserves to be saved from te ignominy of Badland. Apparently, "whites" and "coloureds" signs were all over the place in the segregated south, so the phone booth execution is a pretty direct, and obviously pointed, reference to that.
But the idea of dividing up a virtual space like a website in the same way is actually quite a progressive step - implying segregation affected not just the physical geography of a place, but the mental spaces of the people who lived under it.
Me, I like it.
You have got to be kidding. I know we work in this industry and so hopefully have a certain level of enthusiasm for what we do, but let's be clear about this - our job is to give personalities to brands, not to people.
The idea that teens are being encouraged to view their preference of Adidas over Nike or Coke over Pepsi as an integral part of their character is just plain frightening.
And of course this is a teen phenomenon - this is the age at which your sense of self is at its least developed - you're shakily attempting to work out what the adult you will be like - clearly, if you fall victim to the belief that brands can define you, the answer to that will be "a twat".
Adidas, coke whatever - they are not what you ARE, they're what you BUY. And companies that encourage you to think otherwise are overstepping the mark - no longer just after your money, apparently they're now here for your soul.
(Possibly a trifle melodramatic, but these are dangerous times. )
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Sheesh! Stealthman and Adland: get a room!
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