A tradition worth upholding and cherishing

In addition to the pomp and spledour – that no other country can possibly beat – the occassion was special for several reasons. First it gave hope that a couple – like any couple who beleives in values  – may one day have children who just might do things a little better than we did.  Not because they are born into splendour  – as in the case of the royal family (which may not actually be as wonderful  as you think)  but becuase of what they will hopefully do with their gift of life and potential of giving.

Secondly because it was rare opportunitiy for people to celebrate a sense of identity and history.

Although I am not a Christian.  I am proud to have been born into a country with Church of England ideals, education, values and tolerance – all of which I sadly see being  eroded  and abused by opportunists who believe in hype and self preservation over true faith.

I listened with great interest to what was said in the Westminster Abbey – particularly by the Bishop of London.  He spoke of  the reality  and hardship in our world  that could be addressed by  love and kindness and through that, humility and compassion.

We unfortunately live in a world where we rely  purely on  ourselves for all the answers.  We kid ourselves that technology and instituionally (commercially supported) sanctioned best practices  will save all.  But only this week 77 million users of Playstation’s technology were let down by such safeguards,  Then last year BP, a brand with all the might and human-know how any organisation could possibly have, created the world’s greatest ever ecological disaster.  Not because they were evil. That’s ridiculous,  but simply because they were as falable as we all are.

Corporations promise  we can have what we want when we want it (at a price).  We believe it.  It becomes our right,  When we don’t get it  we stomp our feet like children- or worse see ‘cracks in a system’ as opportunities to manipulate it for selfish gains.

I recently completed my Foundation in psychotherapy.  One of my teachers, a brlliant clinical pyschologist told me how it was very common for men (and women) who rise to the top of their professions to feel lonely and have a sense of ‘ is that all there is?’ Looking at what everyone perceives   them to be against who they sense they are ,they feel like frauds.

Psychotherapists  beleive that truth is only what we create – based on what we have already witnessed   or how we alone face and rationalise  the future. Existentialists analyse  the way humans find themselves existing in the world. The notion is that humans exist first and then each individual spends a lifetime changing their essence or nature.

We recognise  brands which reflect power for taking at that  moment , wealth, order and control  to be seized whilst it can.  In return those brands feed of our yearning for  personal recognition and reputation.

Far  too often when people become superflous to the needs of the commercial engine that drives  the race.  They get cast aside,  made to feel inadequate: they can no longer keep up in speed or social pretence.

They become at first suspicious, then dispondent and finally resentful.

Contrary to the media proclaiming that the whole of the UK celebrated  the wedding ( there were just 5,000 street parties throughout the entire  country)  the only bunting I saw in suburban London was outside places of worship which gave thanks for a country that allowed them to follow their faiths.

Beyond the film protected glasss screens of iPhones and iPads, real living communities seem to have faded along with a sense of a truly united brand UK.  Once people were proud to respect its traditons and ancient religious values. Now we all too casually dismiss faith  as myth and social madness to be replaced by the aptly missleading promise of freedom of self. At best such unsuported thinking only accomodates a universe of one. At worse, it creates a world of watered down beliefs and causes leaving nothing other than the bland leading the bland – in the name of equal blandness amoungst all.

Recession, inflation, taxes, overwehelming global competition, low wages for more output, worthless qualifications to live an affordable life, unafordable education, selection by process rather than personality, potential and experience,uncertainty, betrayals and broken families … little wonder in our struggle to simply stay in the game, we let traditonal  values and identity slip – turning  instead to cynisim as a pressure outlet or trinkets to amuse  us for a week or so …  or booze / medication that as Pink Floyd would put it, makes us “feel comfortably numb.”

Over the years I have met many professional comedians.  Some are interenationaly famous.  Outside the public view, six out of ten are depressed.  It is little wonder. After all the ultimate target of cynicsm must be oneself.  And that leads to a lack of confidence and purpose  in everything.

Don’t get me wrong – having a laugh is totally brilliant! The wonderful recent T-Mobile viral is evidence of that – but who decides the line between satire and plain vindictivness in a desperate attempt to win approval. I just dont think the public is that dumb.

I recently read a rumour that the scientists at Cern are close to finding the elusive ‘God Particle’, aka Higgs boson.  Once man knows that – the scientists say we are   closer to understanding how everything began.

Perhaps, as in quantum physics, the god particle  is right in  front of eyes.   Yet only reveals itself when we allow ourselves to see it – and in returns  allows itself to be manifested.

Maybe there is still hope for people – rich, regal,  poor, middle class, homeless young, old …  everyone who  has the power not simply to follow brands, but live their own brand and set examples for others looking for a greater purpose.

The same is true of commercial, religious and social brands whose greatest asset, next to their people, must surely be their reputation?. Or am I being naive?  Is the ultmiate arbitrator of success or faliure money alone?

Maybe as  brand champions, one day we can  return to values  that allow ourselves and those around us  to have a sense of dignity,responsibility worth, love and respect.

The historian Simon Schama described the royal wedding not just as marriage between William and Kate but between the monarchy and the nation. (It was also much needed jolt for the good of the Monarchy’s brand).

It was wonderful to see that for one day at least  the people  were united outside Buckingham palace.  Celebrating their heritage and reveling in their pride as a people embracing an identity rather than wrapped in envy.   And that really does give hope.

In conclusion  I say -  “god save the queen … and gives us all the wisdom to open the doors to our  big house of love.”

Jonathan Gabay

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One for the mantlepiece?

Royal Wedding branding from Jonathan Gabay on Vimeo.

Jonathan Gabay talks to Good Morning America about Royal Wedding branding
also see Jonathan Gabay.com

From phones to hospitality and beyond, brands are banking that April’s royal wedding will mean cash in the till.

The Centre for Retail Research, estimates that the event equates to £515.5 million in sales for retailers, with souvenirs accounting for £222 million.

Statement pieces, influenced by royal and status public figures, are always popular with fashionistas. For example, in USA, when Michelle Obama wore the fashion brand label, J Crew, the brand sold out within hours.

So what can we expect from companies hoping that the pomp and ceremony of the royal brand, which boasts a sense of tradition, style and heritage, will be enough to encourage people to buy a little piece of history for future reminiscences

Hotel and travel brands such as Hyatt UK are offering wedding-themed holiday packages.

National Express, is partnering Camp Royale, a one-off camping event for 10,000 campers – cost: £75 per person for three nights pitching up on Clapham Common. (Don’t forget to take a royal wedding mini cushion from The UK Gift Company, cost: £66.50).

If you are a couple called William and Kate and happen to be near one of the ETM brand groups of pubs, you could win a three course ‘royal feast’. Or pop into London pub group Renaissance, and you could swap your old royal memorabilia for food and drink.

The Royal Mint offers a £5 coin to commemorate the event. Not to be left out, Prince Charles’s official shop sells a 250-piece jigsaw featuring Prince William and Kate. Price. £29.95. (Made in the UK using wood from sustainable forests. Profits – go to Charles’s charitable foundation).

The Middleton’s family firm, Party Pieces sold The Britannia Scratch Trivia cards. Price: £3.99

Masters of collectable merchandising, The Franklin Mint, reportedly enjoys brisk US sales of their limited edition (5,000) Kate Middleton Doll that retails for $200 dollars.

The current version features Kate’s engagement dress by brand Issa, London. (A follow-up version featuring the wedding dress design will be unveiled once the couple are wed).

If the American market fancies a nibble whilst admiring their collectable Kate, they could pop into Dunkin’ Donuts who have cooked up an 89 cents, heart-shaped ‘royal wedding donut’ to honour the occasion.

Closer to home, Tesco, one of the bell-weather indicators for the UK economy, is selling a blue dress that is almost identical to the engagement dress worn by Kate Middleton. Price: £16.

QVC, the shopping channel ,retails a teddy bear called Prince William that features a look-alike engagement ring for under £40.

Within hours of the wedding ceremony itself, Decca label records will be releasing the recording of the wedding as a download. The album will include a special collectors booklet featuring the complete order of service, the readings, vows, hymns and blessings – as well as all the music from the wedding.

And what would the day be without a royal wedding mug?

Amazon offers an official commemorative mug for £10.95. Or why not choose an Aynsley China Royal Wedding Loving Cup? Price: £34.95. It’s ideal for dunking in a McVitites branded Royal Wedding biscuit from a £5 special assortment, into a nice cup of tea made with a royal wedding teabag from German company, Donkey Products.

Whilst you are at Amazon, check out the 9.270 other items featuring the words ‘royal wedding’ including:

• Kate, the Royal Wedding Fairy. Price: £2.79
• ‘Don’t panic, there’s still one prince left’ mouse mat. Price: £2.25.
• Royal Wedding Fairy Cake Toppers. Price. £3.99
• Knit Your Own Royal Wedding. (Price reduced to £6.49).

… as well as of course scores of royal wedding books.

Other merchandisers can also look towards increased sales. DIY brand, B&Q is stocking commemorative royal wedding gnomes at £20 a pair. Transport for London is offering a limited edition royal wedding Oyster Card.

One of the more technical royal wedding brand merchandising products is from Carphone Warehouse. It has released a smartphone handset made by Alcatel. The phone features a Union Jack on the front and the couple’s initials on the back. Smartphone users can also countdown to the big day using an App that streams the latest news on the nuptial preparation

There’s tac – and then there’s really tacky…

An enterprising graduate from the Edinburgh College of Art is reportedly making a profit for his Royal Wedding sick bags, decorated with a crown, a drawing of Prince William and Kate Middleton and the slogan, “Throne up’.

However the award for the most opportunist royal wedding associated brand product must surely go to Heritage Condoms ltd. The company has released their ‘Crown Jewels’ range of commemorative condoms. Describing the condoms, their website reads:

“ To celebrate the engagement of Prince William of Wales to Ms. Catherine Elizabeth Middleton, Crown Jewels Condoms of Distinction has commissioned a unique heritage edition Royal Wedding Souvenir boîte de capotes. Combining the strength of a Prince with the yielding sensitivity of a Princess-to-be, Crown Jewels condoms promise a royal union of pleasure. Truly a King amongst Condoms”.

With so many merchandising opportunities hitting the streets, brands – official or otherwise – are beginning to hear the tills ring in advance of the wedding bells at Westminster Abbey. (Which will provide just investment for them to get the product lines rolling again in time for next year’s Diamond Jubilee).

Jonathan Gabay

BrandForensics.co.uk

jj@gabaynet.com

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More than just an odd chunk off the block

Cadbury brand owner, Kraft has kept true to character by putting profits before criticism in the knowledge that today’s consumers will put up with just about anything in a climate of fear and uncertainty.

Kraft has cut the size of many of its Cadbury brand chocolate bars – whilst keeping confectionary prices at pre-size reduction costs.

For example, a squatter version of Cadbury Dairy Milk bar has two less chunks, but still costs £1 at the till.

Toblerone has removed an entire ‘mountain’ from its bar.

Similar cuts have been applied to British brand favourites such as Mars, Snickers, Yorkie and Rolo.

· Rolo has been reduced from 11 portions to 10.
· Yorkie – 68g to 64.5g – a ‘chunk’
· Snickers is 7.2% smaller.
· Mars – 7.2% smaller.

Even the iconic Dairy Milk bar is now 120g from 140g. (Again its retail price has not been cut accordingly).

Kraft justified the slices by pointing to excessive charges for cocoa. (The commodity’s price rose to a six-month high, following reports of an export ban by the Ivory Coast – one of world’s key producers).

Last year the American company reneged on its promise not to close a Cadbury factory in Bristol.

Consumer Focus, an organisation that represents customer interests, told reporters, “Shrinking the size but not price of products could damage consumers’ trust in the brand they love”.

On the defence, Cadbury said, “… We believe our confectionary still represents very affordable treat.”

From a Brandforensics perspective, the trend is worrying. Brands including Dairylea, Pringles and Heinz have also used a comparable ploy.

The question now is just how far brands are willing to go to further gamble customer loyalty? How many more cuts, will consumers naively put up with before questioning the motives of brand ‘leaders’ that spend millions of pounds carefully nurturing imageries to suggest that they are people- before profits led organisations?

Years ago the British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher declared, “There’s no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families.”

Today’s gates leading to the utopian ‘Big Society’ are draped with a banner which reads ‘austerity will give you purpose’.

Austerity Britain

Thin on excuses
Using obesity as central to its logic for justifying less for more, back in 2009, the Food Standards Agency said it wanted food and drink companies to start manufacturing smaller sizes, “which in time will become the standard”.
Arguably, that motive was noble.

However in today’s world of increasing divide between money-strapped consumers and certain bonus-bloated brand leaders, this ‘shared austerity’ could be viewed as little more than a propaganda ploy to create communal apathy.

In the short-term that is good for brands wishing to placate shareholders.

Long term it could spell trouble as it dawns on consumers that despite all the marketing hype, it turns out that only ones who really believe they are ‘worth it’ are the same organisations which keep on insipidly ‘swearing on their mother’s life’ that the public still has a choice and comes first – honest.

This may be just one example of brand conceit and arrogance that is simply too hard for any consumer to swallow or shareholders to profitably sustain.

Jonathan Gabay
www.jonathangabay.com
www.brandforensics.co.uk

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Is anyone listening anymore from the clock tower?

There have been riots again on the streets of London.

Legitimate protestors had arguments, rather than arms in the mind.

However, spotting an opportunity for a ‘good kicking’ many illegitimate rioters turned chants of complaint into assaults on democracy.

Meanwhile, following a pleasant lunch at the House of Commons restaurant, MPs, elected by the people on a promise, betrayed voters’ trust in preference to keeping their jobs during tough economic times with new coalition bosses. (Who says Parliament doesn’t reflect ‘real life’).

Long-term commitments, like memories in photo albums seem to be fading relics of the past.  Unsurprisingly people – like the ex X Factor contestant, Cher, are led to believe it is their right that fortune must instantaneously follow fame – even if that fame is over in the rap of song.

Today, pictures of promises are becoming as disposable as people’s jobs at companies into which they invested their lives and from which in return they can confidently expect a ‘Good Luck’ card from their nearest and dearest bosses.

Bravery and independence as displayed by the likes of WikiLeaks has been kettled into place by a society that sometimes appears to have more in common with Stalinism than capitalism.

In the concrete jungle, just the promise of having a job in 2011 to pay the increase in rail journeys to work, has become enough of a carrot to keep the masses from protesting – too much.

With so many sniffing like dogs at the heels or any whiff of opportunity at all, those still with a job grow increasingly desperate to keep afloat.

The only certainty seems to be uncertainty of the future and fragility of the present.

We comfort ourselves in the high-definition lit delusion of our John Lewis TVs broadcasting around the clock Xmas dreams at the price of two for one.

Our sense of self and social demonstration of worth has become defined by the latest release of fashionable phones, computers, celebrity books (on a Kindle of course) or trinkets.

With populations doubling in size in years rather than decades, whilst tightening their grip around the neck of available community resources, the ordinary person in the street is forced to implode his or her id, ego and super-ego – so become increasingly self-centred – and obsessed – simply to survive.

Middle class professionals, complaining about the state of the nation  retreat to a Sony/ Xbox/ Nintendo fantasyland, away from the harshness of the day to a place where they can be the celebrity, sex symbol, speed fiend or thrill seeking rioter  they know they will meet again in their dreams tonight.

Brands such political parties, financial institutions, power-generating companies, and commercial enterprises – all promising to protect our futures – are regularly exposed as primarily concerned with protecting themselves before the rest.

With each exposure, people become much more immune and blasé.  Like watching thousands die in Pakistan, or another story of a cleric abusing a child, shock is no longer shocking enough.

Our trust in leadership – religious, political, social and commercial has become as tenuous as our faith in liberal democracy

The UK government, faced with the cost for recklessly inviting everyone from anywhere to become someone in a land away from their home, has been hoisted on its own perturb.

Overwhelming competition for space, land, and jobs …  has forced Parliament to repress accessible education for the masses, by imposing a lifetime repayment tariff for the foreseeable future generations of brand UK.  Or to put it another way, a further tax for already hard-pressed parents who only want to give their kids some kind of chance for a future.

Perhaps eventually the only ones able to pay for places at top UK universities will be those from India, the Middle East and China (where the UK buys the components for consumer’s trinkets).

The rest will have to settle for the high street college near a MacDonald’s, which offers local students free Fries at lunchtime.

Greed is good - worth fighting for

So money is tight. Cheer is translucent. Christmas has become little more than a sales promotion opportunity for companies to offer hope through gifts for the hapless horde.

Yet despite it all, in desperation to live the moment – capture a ‘buzz’ of happiness whilst they can, consumers consume as if the weeks leading to Christmas day mark the last supper of their lives.

Thanks to the Internet, redemption is just a click away from consumers walking the mile.

In the fervour to spend, consumers inadvertently feed the cycle of needs and wants kept spinning by wheels bigger than the one who guilelessly believes is in fact the biggest wheel in town.

And so the spiral goes on in the circles of the windmills of the minds.

This Christmas and into the new year, the greatest wish is for companies, politicians, students, surfers, bosses, individuals…  to follow the philosophy of human greatness: communicate with honesty and integrity for others and in doing so nurture a market rather than exploit it and then reck it.

Do that and students will eventually inherit more than arrogance bred into them by adults who, by the time they mature, long lose their spirit – apart from the solace still lingering at the bottom of their glass.

Opportunists will link hands rather than take up arms.

Instant gratification will serve lessons for a long-term education.

Politicians will aspire to more than borderline expense dodges or pay checks in the House of Lords.

Brands will actually believe and act upon the message of social responsibility facetiously promised by their advertising.

People will stop feeling that in order for their drum to be heard – they have to bash the skin of their passions until ears burst.

Respect will be returned to the hard working…

But perhaps that’s all just a Christmas faith, that is as realistic as baby in a crib of straw changing the world.

Maybe we are all clutching at straws.

Or just perhaps the one who picks the short straw to make a sustainable change will be you.

Merry Christmas.

Jonathan Gabay

www.brandforensics.co.uk

“ I wanted to change the world, but I realised it was too large of a task for one person, so I tried to change my community.

That was also too hard, so I tried to change my family. That was also too hard, so I decided to try and change myself.

And though it was very hard,

I finally changed myself.

And once I changed myself,

I discovered my family changed, the community changed, and the entire world changed.”

Rabbi Israel Salanter

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The joys of text

New research of 1000 people from an online insurance brand called e-sure, has revealed that one in five couples spend as little as fifteen minutes a day talking face -to-face with each other.

Over a week, that works out to approximately three hours and 45 minutes together.  Fifty-one of those minutes are spent in silence watching television and thirty-seven minutes carrying out household tasks.

London couples spend the least time communicating face-to-face with each other: just fifty-two minutes a week.

Instead of talking, couples choose to filter interaction through social networking sites, texts and emails.

Annually, the average couple sends 1,002 texts and approaching 400 emails to each other.

Whilst startling, from a marketing point of view, none of this really comes as a huge surprise.

Branded technologies and services such as Skype and FaceTime from Apple appear to offer society great opportunity to communicate effortlessly and capably – even across continents.  However, as is so often the case, appearances can be deceptive.

In just about every walk of modern day life, day and night, rather than meeting ‘eye-to-eye’, brands encourage people to peer endlessly at screens on PC tablets, mobiles, laptops and so on.

Take business airline travellers.  As soon as the aircraft ‘all-clear’ dismemberment bell sounds, they automatically reach for their iPhones, Blackberries and so on; checking emails and continuing to use their technology to touch lovers and spouses at each step of their journey out of the airport terminal:

“Just leaving the plane”.

“Just picking up my bags”

“Just waiting for the airport parking bus to arrive.”

Then there are those at work who obsessively scour Facebook, Twitter, et al, to discover what every other lost soul is doing.  (Usually – as it turns out – checking out what every body else is doing).

If they don’t have a spouse they may instead Tweet “Just picking up my bags”… and, in the case of wanna-be media types looking to assert their social worth -“Just going to the studio.”)

Eyes down for blogging bingo

Sometimes when I lecture, at some point, a younger delegate casts their eyes to surreptitiously text under the cover of a table.

Like all of us, they have been conditioned to so.  Brands increasingly encourage society to live lives online.  (Facebook alone has enough members to fill entire countries).

Technology-led online society is marketed to make us all feel more productive – and so admired by our peers.

For example, products like Amazon’s Kindle cut out the need to browse a book at common bookstore.  Instead War and Peace can be delivered directly within two minutes to the Kindle’s screen.

Being recognised in an increasingly lonely world calls for us to become fully ‘tooled-up’.

That’s a 24-7 job.

Rather than nurture physical relationships, people increasingly spend every spare moment managing the efficiency of their in-boxes and social media pages.

Such pages have become personal outposts on various social networking sites, aimed to attract like-minded tribal members.

If, heaven forbid, the technology fails – panic sets in.  Equally if a person no longer constantly receives text email, or social networking updates he or she feels unwanted and ‘out of the social work and home-life loop.’

Google will answer your prayers

Marketers attend conferences to learn how to influence influencers – garner a following and then those turn followers into influencers.

A book called, Persuasive technology: computers to change what we think and do, notes that key opportune moments to grab a person’s attention online include:

• …when their worldview no longer makes sense.

• …when  they feel indebted because of a favour.

• …immediately after they have made a mistake.

• …immediately after they have denied a request.

At such times of vulnerability, people are offered refuge and even a sense of community and support online.  (A comfort once sought from the church, temple, mosque or synagogue).

So online has become the first line of support before actual human interaction. That lifeline increasingly gains greater strength and security as society feels less and less assured.

The firmer the channel to reach people – the more attractive such a conduit becomes to brands.

The esure research notes that couples living in major cities like Glasgow and London text or email each other the most.

This coincides with just-released official government figures that immigration into the UK will swell the population to 70 million people by 2027.

In many cases, economic migrants send earnings back home – so failing to fully integrate into a greater UK based society.  That adds to an even greater communal sense of disconnection.

Every one of   the 70 million – migrants or not, especially in the major cities (which always attracts greater numbers in search of work) will at some point, seek kinship and identity with others going through similar experiences).

Rather than venture beyond their doors into traffic-choked streets, online social media offers them a more refreshing outlook.

The virtual world

Meanwhile at work, open-plan offices paradoxically exacerbate the need for privacy.  That desire for space drives opportunity for technology-centric brands to bridge gaps.

Whereas in the past workers walked to other people’s offices for conversation, today in order to avoid being overheard, they email each other – often across the distance of just a few desks.

Back at home, rather than remaining social centres for family discussions, chic kitchens, complete with gliding cabinet doors and integrated TVs, have become efficient distribution points for serving up time saving brand-endorsed meals.

The net result is that increasingly people feel more comfortable living within their consciousness rather than a part of a social family.

As any writer of radio commercials knows, “the mind (imagination) sees more vividly than the eye”.

On line brands encourage us to feel connected through actually becoming further disconnected.

From day-dreams of vacations by logging onto holiday sites, to blogging on Word Press – it all serves as a means to either help us escape from the crowd, or have the feeling that, for example unlike at work where fear of redundancy forces us to keep quiet, we at last have the chance to be heard and valued.

Even watching TV in households has become more of a solitary pastime. 3D televisions require dark glasses to be worn – blocking out a sense of shared viewing.

Along with another sole soul brand maker: the iPod, the BBC iPlayer was recently named as one of the UK’s ‘coolest brands.

The irony is that the word ‘cool’ was distinguished as:

• Stylish.

• Innovative.

• Original.

• Authentic.

• Desirable.

• Unique.

… every naturally occurring human trait that social media so often efficiently removes from the individual.

I’ll show you mine if you show me yours

Extra marital affair sites like AdultFriendFinder and Ashley Madison, boast members in the hundreds and thousands – up to millions.

Such sites offer standard technologies delivered by other less salubrious social networks.

These include blogs, emails, chat-rooms… all perfectly synchronised to provide clandestine solitary escape to fantasy.

So whilst under the pretense of checking out an Excel file, one partner ‘comes-out’ of a predictable relationship to a soul mate, the other remains engrossed with their own PC or mobile screen showing a ‘catch-up’ episode of ‘X-Factor’.  (Or perhaps on the prowl for other technologically cuckolded people).

Branding has always been about perceptions.

Marketers use elaborate techniques such as stylish advertising, packaging, pricing and so on to suggest a desirable image in the mind of a potential consumer.

They have done well.  In fact, they have become so successful that perceptions are now more potent than reality.

And all this was bought to light by of all organisations – an online insurance brand.

Oh the bittersweet wonderful irony.

Jonathan Gabay

www.brandforensics.co.uk

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Brands so hot - they're cool

Aston Martin, the iconic British sports car manufacturer, has been named coolest UK brand in the annual CoolBrands survey.

Pioneer of punk Vivienne Westwood is ‘en vogue’ topping the list of fashion brands with BBC iPlayer named coolest website.

Factors taken into consideration when judging the brands included, style, innovation, desirability and originality.  The process was independently managed by The Centre for Brand Analysis on behalf of Superbrands (UK) Ltd.

Researchers identifyed thousands of brands, which were then judged by a voluntary Expert Council and over 2,300 consumers.

This year Aston Martin reclaims its position at the top of the table narrowly pipping Apple’s iPhone to the post, a direct role reversal of last year’s results.

Aston Martin has topped the rankings four times out of the last five years showing that the quintessentially British brand is always held in high esteem by the nation.

When it comes to fashion, Vivienne Westwood tops the poll in the style stakes beating fellow luxury brands Chanel, Jimmy Choo and Alexander McQueen.

As well as iPhone polling at number two, iPod comes in at number three with the Apple brand itself coming in at number thirteen. However the ground breaking iPad doesn’t make the grade.

BBC iPlayer, Nintendo Wii and YouTube  feature in the top twenty showcasing the popularity for fun and accessible brands. Despite two luxury automotive brands in the top twenty (Aston Martin and Ferrari), Mini also makes the list, further highlighting that the top of the rankings is a concoction of ‘classic luxury’ and ‘down to earth’ cool.

In terms of specific categories, many of the leading brands have retained their pole position but there are also some interesting changes. In particular Harley-Davidson has knocked Ducati off the top spot when it comes to the coolest motorbike, Ray-Ban has replaced Rolex as the coolest fashion accessory and The Fat Duck has replaced The Ivy as the coolest restaurant.

Top 20 CoolBrands 2010

The expert council and consumers were asked to consider the following:

• Are they stylish?

• Are they innovative?

• Are they original?

• Are they authentic?

• Are they desirable?

• Are they unique?

The CoolBrands selection process was independently administered by The Centre for Brand Analysis Ltd.

A comprehensive database of the UK’s coolest brands was compiled using a wide range of sources, from sector reports to blogs. From the thousands of brands initially identified, approximately 1,100 brands were short-listed.

An independent and voluntary Expert Council scored this list, with members individually awarding each brand a rating from 1-10.  The lowest-scoring brands (approximately 40 per cent) were eliminated. A nationally-representative group of just over 2,300 UK consumers (accessed via a YouGov panel) were asked to vote on the surviving brands.

The opinions of the Expert Council (70 per cent) and the British public (30 per cent) were combined and the 500 highest-ranking brands were awarded ‘CoolBrand’ status.

Check out:

www.coolbrands.uk.com

Jonathan Gabay

www.brandforensics.co.uk

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BP brand spills all over world headlines

BP’s (British Petroleum) Chief Executive, Tony Hayward, demonstrated extraordinary lack public relations brand astuteness over the weekend of 19-20 June when he was spotted on ‘Bob’, his £182,000 co-owned Farr 52 racing yacht.

Mr Hayward was enjoying time off at the JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race held at the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England.

A spokesman was quickly summoned to defend Mr Hayward, 53, saying he was there to relax with his son.

Meanwhile, the White House described Hayward’s involvement in the race as a:

“long line of PR gaffes and mistakes”.

The Gulf of Mexico spill is currently about a fifth of the size of the 1990 Persian Gulf spill .

Recently Mr Hayward wrote on Facebook that he wanted to “get his life back”.

Responding to ‘Bob-gate’, the White House Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s Chief of Staff said:

“I think we can all conclude that Tony Hayward is not going to have a second career in PR consulting.”

A  BP spokesperson explained that the break was a first for Mr Hayward since the Deep Water Horizon rig exploded in April, costing the lives of eleven workers and causing America’s most devastating environmental disaster in history.

Life on the high seas for Hayward

On 19^th June, BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said Mr Hayward had been relieved of the day-to-day control of the spill and that the company’s Managing Director, Bob Dudley, would be assuming responsibility.

However according to some conflicting reports, BP officials insisted Mr Hayward remains in charge of the operation. Hugh Wilding, of Isle of Wight Friends of the Earth, said:

“This will be seen as another public relations disaster.”

Greenpeace campaigner Charlie Kronick called the boating trip as:

“insulting… rubbing salt into the wounds” of those affected by the spill.

Thousands of barrels of oil continue to seep out into the Gulf of Mexico daily.

Steps have been put in to capturing some 25,000 barrels of leaking oil a day. However, reports suggest 35,000-60,000 barrels a day continue to spill out.

BP was recently panned over its role in the Gulf of Mexico oil crisis by one of its own business partners, the Texan company Anadarko Petroleum, the largest independent oil and gas company operating in the Gulf which owns 25% of the well. BP strongly denied any such claims.

The company has said that claim payments exceeded $100,000,000; 31,000 cheques had been issued in seven weeks since the original explosion. $104 million to residents along the Gulf Coast.

Jonathan Gabay

www.brandforensics.co.uk

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We are born to trust.

For example, to have faith that a mother will provide milk. It is after all, instinctive. However, as we we grow older that same parent will teach us to be wary of the world – not to trust everything or every person.
 Yet, when society trusts itself, wonderful things happen. Economies boom, infrastructures repair and unity strengthens.

It is a two-way street where the trustee and trusted depend on each other with mutual respect in favour of a greater good for all.

Ever get the feeling you're not trusted?

Smile you are on CCTV
Increasingly we live in a mistrusting society.  Once given bastions of truth such as politicians, police, clergy and big brands are now dispraisingly looked upon through cynical eyes.

Brands for example on one hand broadcast messages infused with sincerity and empathy and then on occasion are found to recall not just products, but their trust in consumers to accept mistakes, which if caught early enough, could have been rectified and forgiven.

Too often, social responsibility turns out to be little more than neatly painted whitewash to present a more acceptable face of what business is, after all, in business for – to make profits.

Politicians, especially during an election period, offer sound bites promising ‘big societies’, ‘a future fair for all’, ‘government we can trust’…

Like brands, parties deliver a stream of images and packaged promises designed to give a sense of what the party truly believes.

However such messages are in constant conflict with societal signifiers that may suggest an opposite underlying point to the sanitised or idealised political one.

Bursting scandals, revelations and commentaries train us to learn to expect spin to invariably follow pledges.

We develop a kind of in-built radar that recognises not the lies from the truth, but the truth from the lies.

In the past, politicians could easily manage perceptions through well-defined media channels.  Today thanks to the 24 hour news, web, blogs, Tweets and so on… politicians can’t hide from the stage that stretches across the wide web and reaches the inner psyche of a confused voter who is so bombarded with so many similar choices that he or she becomes not just bewildered but bitter.

Through instantly scrutinising every painfully extreme detail of a political message we get so close to nuances that we can no longer judge the bigger picture.

Truth lives only as long as a given moment or click.

Without a longer period to view in retrospective, we no longer judge the bigger picture.  We naturally conclude that every confusing fuzzy detail must simply be further proof that it is, in the end, all spin and no substance.

So what can politicians do to garner our trust?
Political brands must be consistent in what they preach. Not all policies will please all voters.  This is actually good- it creates integrity and clear water between one political brand and another.

Just as with brands, political values need to be understood and practiced not just be leaders but everyone allied with the party.  In so doing, manifestos become social causes.  (All sincere causes are greater than promises).

Just as with business leaders, political leaders need to be seen and appreciated through context and content as being responsible lions addressing confident communities rather than lapdog chameleons addressing transient drifters.

Such leaders need to be themselves, complete with humility, human faults and quirks – not just managed alter egos.  By being – not acting – genuine, leading not exclusively from the front or back – but centre of the pack, they can set examples accepting mistakes and giving credit where it is due.

In branding, consumers must be able to recognise themselves in a product and so feel aligned with a brand.  In political branding, parties need to reflect what a nation is and what every individual can become.

Jonathan Gabay
www.brandforensics.co.uk

With great thanks for support  in writing this article to Roger Steare- Europe’s premier corporate philosopher

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