Do brands have a social life?

[Duncan Alney]

We hear so much about brand efforts in the social media marketing world. My question is simple - do brands have a social life?! Thoughts?

[Robby Slaughter]

Sure. Brands wander in and out of view, like old friends who suddenly appear or vanish for months or years at a time. Brands take on emotional content. When United breaks guitars, it becomes brutish and cold. When Pixar does private screenings for dying children, it becomes compassionate and selfless.

Brands are not people, but they are anthropomorphic. We assign emotions and history to the brand as consumers, giving them a social life---and of course, the potential for a social death.

[Duncan Alney]

nice photo btw

[Chris Lucas]

Brands wander in and out of view, like old friends who suddenly appear or vanish for months or years at a time. Great quote Robby. One I think of is Benetton - remember (for those old enough) Benetton in early 90's was a brand that was all about the integration of all sort of racial backgrounds and came to symbolize a sort of social awareness from a clothing company. They are still around but they have lost (at least in mainstream) that sort of stron brand identity to some degree.

Another is IZOD/LaCoste. They were very much the preppy brand for many years, then seemed to fade away. They then suddenly resurfaced in early 00's when those trendy kids started "poppin" their collars again :)

[Connie Cohen]

How often is it the "brand" itself suddenly re-appears, and instead a completely new company with an old name slapped on it for nostalgia? (A la: AT&T branching into U-Verse and Cell Phones -- Sorry, I'm reading Cauley's book so it's fresh in my mind.)

I'd say that's more like a Frankenstein corpse being re-animated with some new appendages. Barely recognizable as the "old friend."

[Duncan Alney]

Seems like brands are a mundane expression of ourselves in some ways.

[Connie Cohen]

I think of myself as a mundane amalgamation of brands. If you look at me, I've probably got five in plain sight at any given point in time -- between my shirt, shoes, watch, purse, and a coffee mug that says "Starbucks" on it or a sack lunch with a giant franchise logo on the side.