My Brain hurts - Wunderman books

6. BUYING IS ONLY THE BEGINNING
Successful technologies are
those that consumers
rethink their lives around.
Most tech marketers advertise and promote heavily to
get their consumer to buy their products.
Once that consumer has left the shop, they see their job
as done.
But the success of tech products relies massively on
whether consumers adopt the product for everyday use
or not.
No tech product succeeds long term if the consumer
buys the product, takes it home and puts it in a drawer.
Whether they integrate it into their lives is what separates
a successful tech product from the rest.
Integrating the video camera
For instance, most Americans or Europeans using a
video camera will stand motionless, zooming in and out,
producing boring video.
Give that same video camera to a young Japanese
woman, however, and the reaction is completely
38 WUNDERMAN
THERE’S NOT THAT MUCH GOING
ON IN THE WORLD APART FROM
THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION, SAY
ECONOMIC HISTORIANS
We still drive around in automobiles,
invented in 1899, fly around in jumbo jets
from 1968, and worry about atomic
weapons invented in 1945.
Our best scientists spend their time
exploring Einstein’s theory of relativity
from 1915 and the theory of quantum
mechanics from the 1920s.
Because not much else fundamental is
happening in the world today, digital
technology brands are some of the most
energetic brands in the world, when
measured on Y&R’s global BrandAsset
Valuator study.
But not all tech brands are equally
successful.
Some tech brands are less energetic than
others, and the thing that drags the alsorans
down is often consumer confusion.
Imperfect marketing drags tech brands’
energy levels down in three key ways:
• Lack of consumer understanding of
where a tech brand is heading in a
philosophical sense drags down its level
of VISION.
• If consumers do not recognise and
respond to a brand’s innovation
activities, this drags down its level of
INVENTION.
• If the brand doesn’t exude a sense of
buzz, this pulls down its level of
DYNAMISM.
On the right are energy levels for 30
brands in the US.
Google is top of the pile.
BEX TM
Google 99.8
TiVo 99.7
Nike 99.4
iPod 98.6
Starbucks 96.8
PlayStation 92.3
Crate & Barrel 88.0
JetBlue 87.2
Ben and Jerry’s 87.1
Gap 86.7
Subway 85.6
Mini Cooper 85.0
Target 74.7
Louis Vuitton 71.0
Staples 68.4
McDonalds 65.8
Samsung 64.1
BlackBerry 61.2
Banana Republic 59.6
The Body Shop 56.6
Heinz 54.7
MasterCard 52.8
Chipotle 52.0
Domino’s Pizza 51.9
Sierra Mist 43.8
Blockbuster 43.5
Amtrak 41.8
Delta Air Lines 40.1
Tostitos 32.7
J Crew 32.2
Source: BAV USA Jan-Dec 2004