In a show of brand honesty Puma has acknowledged that not every wearer of its apparel is going to be playing for international sports teams or competing on ‘the world’s greatest stage.’ Instead they identify and celebrate a lifestyle more familiar – that of the ‘after hours athlete.’ The athlete who chases down taxis, jostles for position in a kebab shop and plays pool whilst half cut. It does not belittle, patronise or judge. It is humble, nostalgic, retains integrity and reflects emotional intelligence that audiences can relate to. It is an example of a brand doing ‘real’ well and shows beauty through’real life’ stories. I just wish the beer bottle had landed in the back of the truck.

The ad is created by Droga5 in New York and directed by Ringan Ledwidge.

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos being interviewed by Charlie Rose:

“Before if you were making a product, the right business strategy was to put 70% of your attention, energy, and dollars into shouting about a product, and 30% into making a great product. So you could win with a mediocre product, if you were a good enough marketer. That is getting harder to do. The balance of power is shifting toward consumers and away from companies…the individual is empowered… The right way to respond to this if you are a company is to put the vast majority of your energy, attention and dollars into building a great product or service and put a smaller amount into shouting about it, marketing it. If I build a great product or service, my customers will tell each other.”

This quote from Jeff Bezos perfectly highlights some of the most important trends we’re observing in business around the world:

1. Technology enabled transparency. If you say something that’s patently not true you will get found out (Trafigura, BP etc).

2. People are the new media – technology is again the enabler and, through the use of social networking tools, people have the ability to spread both positive and negative news, on a scale never before achievable, and with a credence that traditional media can not match.

To succeed Whether in advertising, communications, product development or BAU – simply being mediocre is no longer an option.

Many thanks to Bob Lefsetz for drawing our attention to the quote.

Contemporary teenage tribes

The wonderful Ruby Pseudo published a great piece on ‘Contemporary teenage tribes’ on Canvas8.

They question whether the parameters and polemics at play in constructing a youth subculture are the same as they were 60 years ago? The report touches on drugs, dubstep and disenchantment among UK youth.

Scope

If Jon Savage explained Punk – a subculture existing nearly thirty years ago – as a ‘bricolage’ of almost every previous youth culture, imagine the cultural conundrum we face in examining today’s teenage tribes. Since the birth of the word ‘teenage’ in 1944, we now have material from over 60 years of subculture to analyse for clues to today’s bricolage; but are we jumping the gun in thinking the same parameters and polemics exist around the creation of a youth subculture and tribe today?

Canvas8 subscribers can read the full report on www.canvas8.com

Chris Arnold presents Ethical Marketing @ Canvas8 from Canvas8 on Vimeo.

Last week was the latest in our range of events for brands and agencies.

This time we looked at the rising trend for New Philanthropy: CSR and the brand opportunity. As well as being an area that I’m passionate about, it is a trend that’s here to stay. People are experiencing an increasing sense of responsibility both for their own actions and those of companies that they associate themselves with – the rising public consciousness. This in turn is impacting the way that brands think, act and communicate. For CSR this means turning from being a footnote in Annual Reports to being an integral part of a brand’s proposition.

Our first speaker was Chris Arnold, ex creative director of Saatchi and Saatchi and founder of the world’s first not for profit ad agency, Creative Orchestra.

Chris drove home the importance of implementing a broader consideration of ethical practice (rather than just ‘eco’) and that this should be encouraged by agencies and consumers alike.

He divulged his ideas around the structure of the marketplace, forgetting demographics and segmenting people by attitudes towards ethical consumption. Those looking to foster enthusiasm among these different groups should focus on ‘people’ messaging, stressing the effects of climate change on them rather than on the ‘planet’.

This understanding of mindsets was underpinned by a strong awareness of organisational setbacks, and the struggles that corporates and agencies encounter when trying to communicate the importance of CSR through to top level decision makers. CSR policies will be incremental in the future of good business, Arnold argued – we just need to have a bit more confidence in making them happen.

In summary, Chris explained that the only way to win  - or even contend – in the race for brand survival is to just be honest. Consumers want to know the truth, and now they are in a position to find it – aided by the UK media, whose tendency to shine a rather large spotlight on anything remotely untoward exposes even relatively innocent brand activities in an unflattering, greenwashed light.

It is vital to demonstrate absolute commitment to changing the business model and putting ethical practice at the heart of all behaviour – and, as the mid-point between clients and consumers, ad agencies have a big part to play in this change.

Our second speaker was Simon Berry, founder of Cola Life.

Simon shared his vision of using Coca Cola’s vast global distribution network to deliver life-saving medical supplies to children in remote parts of Africa. One in five children on the continent die before their fifth birthday, often from dehydration – an easily (and cheaply) remedied affliction. Moreover, this figure has remained roughly the same for over 25 years; yet global corporate infrastructure continues to make inroads into the remotest villages. The Cola Life project tackles this disparity head-on.

This is a world in which an African child can access a cold bottle of Coca Cola but not the water and salts they need to keep them alive: rural communities often run on 35% of the medication they need. Cola Life has sought to use the empty space in Coca Cola crates to house packets of life saving rehydration salts, getting them to the destinations that ordinary healthcare providers simply cannot reach at present.

This idea looks to strengthen local infrastructure rather than reform it, making it more meaningful (and seemingly realistic) in terms of implementation. Simon has been talking to Coca Cola about this idea since 2008 and has learnt much about the barriers to making seemingly simple improvements to such a giant operation.

Coca Cola have their reservations about acting as a partner with a product so removed from their own (and with seemingly large risks that come with associating themselves with healthcare). Simon and his team of volunteers are trying to progress along the ‘no harm’ route with the global giant – pushing the zero risk, non-perishable qualities of the salt and sugar required to save lives, encouraging trials and building local relationships along the way. He calls it a new breed of ‘participatory’ philanthropy – that which enables a win-win alliance for Africa and Coca Cola.

Both of the presentations are available on Slideshare.

On behalf of the team at Canvas8 we’d like to thank the speakers for their talks, Wieden+Kennedy for their loan of the venue and everyone who was able to attend.

Coca-Cola's global distribution platform - can it open happiness?

We’re excited to announced our latest event New Philanthropy: CSR and the brand opportunity on the evening of Wednesday June 23 in Shoreditch, London. In line with past Canvas8 events, the evening will be free to attend with voluntary charitable donations to Water Aid, CIVA and Mobile Movement.

As we acclimatise to post-recession life ‘People’ and ‘Planet’ remain high on people’s agenda but despite good intentions, the economic downturn has made people value cost savings over planet saving. Instead people expect brands to take responsibility for their actions and make a difference on a scale that they, as individuals, are not able to.

From Pepsi repurposing their Superbowl marketing spend with Pepsi Refresh to Puma’s reinvention of the shoe box with Clever Little Bag – people are welcoming, embracing and expecting brands to reflect their values. When brands fail to do this, responses can be damaging.

For brands this means more than just getting their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme right, it means leading by example.

We’re delighted to welcome two amazing thought leaders in this field – Chris Arnold, founder of Creative Orchestra and author of Ethical Marketing and the New Consumer, and Simon Berry who spearheads the ColaLife campaign. Chris will analyse the importance of implementing CSR at every brand touchpoint and the resulting impact on the customer relationship, and Simon will explain how his incredible ColaLife distribution platform has the potential to ‘open happiness.’

All proceeds from go to the charitable causes of Water Aid, Mobile Movement and CIVA. If you would rather not make a voluntary donation but wish to attend please email us.

Speakers

Chris Arnold

Chris is a creative strategist specialising in ethical marketing. He was Integrated Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi before he set up FEEL and in 2009 he started a new model advertising agency, social enterprise and talent incubator all in one – Creative Orchestra.

A champion of ethics, he is author of Ethical Marketing and the New Consumer and is currently writing THUNK (a new way to think). He writes the ethical marketing blog on Brand Republic and has written for numerous publications including the FT, Creative Review, The Times and Brand Strategy magazine. He has also appeared numerous times on TV as a marketing advisor.

Simon Berry

Simon Berry is the founder of ColaLife, a campaign that’s trying to get Coca-Cola to use its global distribution channels for good. By tapping into the fact that you can buy a Coke anywhere in the world, including developing countries, Simon Berry saw the perfect opportunity to utilise the company’s networks to provide children with lifesaving medicines. The idea is simple: ‘social products’ such as oral rehydration salts are packed into the unused space between the necks of Coca-Cola bottles, and then shipped out. After years of persistence Simon is now in talks with Coca-Cola about trialling the idea. Genius.

For more details and to register please click  here.

Liverpool Street Flash Mob

Communities in the West are increasingly splintered and media channels increasingly fragmented – making the cohesive engagement of groups more difficult and challenging. For the advertising industry, which at times still struggles to throw off the organisational shackles of above, below or through-the-line, the introduction of ‘transmedia story telling’, ‘augmented reality’ or ‘blended reality’ adds even deeper layers of complication to an already complex communications story. Against this backdrop, experiential advertising through group mobilisation becomes an incredibly powerful branding tool.

So how can brands and agencies mobilise groups to their benefit and use these powerful forces to engage people with their brand?

Barack Obama, an Australian with a lost camera and the T-Mobile flash mob advert all share a common characteristic – they all successfully mobilised large groups to help them achieve their end goal. In 2008 Barack Obama compelled millions of black voters to visit the polling booth and in doing so became the first black president of the USA. In 2009 an Australian tourist visiting Greece found a French person’s lost camera and managed to harness over 250,000 people through Facebook to help him find the owner. In 2007 T-Mobile mobilised a 13,000 person flash mob and in doing so created an iconic piece of advertising.

To understand the forces at work in mobilising groups it is important to recognise the human triggers for joining these groups in the first place:

1. Fun

2. Share values

3. Reward

4. Herd instinct

Canvas8 subscribers can read the full report here.

Looking back - © Creative Commons, travelling steve (2007)

Scope

Six Canvas8 Thought Leaders share their thoughts on the trials and tribulations of the last 12 months. Unsurprisingly, the impact of the recession dominates trends – but tough times breed innovation, and the ensuing change in both people’s outlook and brand response has led to several interesting developments in technology, luxury, retail and advertising.

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2009 has been an incredible year of change and one that many brands and agencies will be keen to consign to history.

It was the year when engagement and authenticity became a prerequisite for brands, when people opted for choice over control and technology fulfilled its potential as a powerful agent of change – whether it was the Iranian elections, Trafigura’s ’super-injunction’ or the #welovetheNHS hashtag in response to Republican scorn.

We’ve not seen people downgrading their lives in the same way as in previous recessions, or settling for lower quality products – but we have seen a reduction in quantity. People still treated themselves to luxury items but just less frequently, becoming increasingly judicious about how and where they spent their retail pound.

On the high street we’ve seen retailers continuing with recession-busting survival packages and smart responses that understand people’s changing habits. This resulted in a growth of luxury goods in smaller packaging and a rise of gourmet home cooking. The latter accelerated by an increased awareness in the West of the importance of nutrition, balanced diet and health concerns over obesity.

Against this backdrop online peer recommendation and real time feedback became the norm. Whether through UGC sites, peer recommendation offerings or Twitter there is nowhere left for brands to hide.

Consumers in the Western world have become increasingly cynical and less trusting of brands – Edelman’s Trust Barometer revealed 77% of US consumers trust brands less this year than last. Central to this have been financing scandals, greenwashing and heightened transparency through technology. While eco and ethics have remained high on the agenda they have taken a backseat in people’s mindset to the more pressing concern of family survival.

We asked some of our Thought Leaders what stand-out changes they’d observed in the last 12 months.

Alan Moore on engagement

One of the greatest changes in my sector has been an awakening that we are not going back to the way things used to be! There is now a growing realisation that in this wired-up world, people and data are inextricably interwoven. In addition, I’ve noticed the intensifying pressure by legacy media and business upon existing legislation, for example copyright law, to protect their industrial business models. I believe this will ultimately damage the long term economic future of this country.

Mandy Saven on retail

This year we saw the incorporation of Augmented Reality into e-commerce, advertising, packaging and in-store applications, effectively enabling consumers to view three- dimensional objects and garments superimposed upon a marker. This technology allows shoppers to ‘try on’ accessories and fashion items, without the hassle of the fitting room. In particular, we were impressed with www.holition.com (an AR application that could potentially change the way high-end jewellery is consumed) and www.zugara.com (where shoppers can ‘virtually fit’ clothing to their body shapes).

We have also seen the rise of more sophisticated, targeted and partnership-based pop-up concepts. For example, Gap’s revolving pop-up store, in New York, hosts a multitude of brands and retailers – and the roster has so far included non-fashion brands as well as high-end retailers. We’ve also seen pop-ups move into permanent stores, as retailers look to shake up their product mix. The concept has also been harnessed to bring a dose of art and culture to mass-market brands.

Lastly, we have recently been tracking the emergence of new – and often provocative – business models that allow consumers to make money as well as spend it. Crowdsprouting techniques used within physical stores, physical eBay stores, buy-sell-swap stores and underground supperclubs all point towards a new order. The boundaries are blurred between seller and consumer, online and offline, legitimate and underground – and the playing field has opened up for less established designers to trade in creative ways.

Lars Cosh-Ishii on mobile

While there are several interesting stories for 2009 in Japan’s mobile scene, the most significant development relates to the confirmation of next-generation wireless networks.

On June 10 the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) announced allocation of new spectrum for Long Term Evolution (LTE) operations based on approved business plans submitted by four Japanese telecom operators: DoCoMo, KDDI, SoftBank Mobile and eMobile.

Targeting commercial service launches in late 2010, and running through 2012. The combined budget for infrastructure for these new networks is estimated to top 1 Trillion JPY – or just over $11 Billion – by 2014. It was also forecast that, on average, 30% of the current subscriber base will migrate to take advantage of this “fiber-to-phone” speed increase within three years of initial deployment.

Alex Gordon on advertising and behaviour

The continued decline in spending on TV advertising and the continued rise and importance of digital advertising, and the richness & diversity of apps for mobile handsets.  It is almost possible to run every aspect of one’s life from an iphone – and this will influence all forms of advertising and media including entertainment as they shift to fit within the smallest of frames on these devices.

The continuing search for greater insight into consumer behaviour and attitudes has seen the growth in 2009 of alternative research techniques to challenge the dominance of traditional quant & qual e.g. eye tracking, brain imaging, ethnography, online groups, and of course semiotics.

Mary Lou Quinlan on women in the US

No Jobs, No Jobs, No Jobs: women were stunned to find themselves out of work, or afraid they soon would be, even when they are good at what they do. Confidence hits the purse hard.

In addition, as their partners lost their jobs, there’s been the 77% of a loaf syndrome. Women became the breadwinners, adding yet another burden to an already overwhelmed life, but without paycheck equality. ‘Her money’ is a thing of the past. Amidst these mounting pressures women’s lives became something of a No Fun Zone: cutting back and redefining “the essentials” took precedence over rewards. What started out as a “Yes, we can” attitude has devolved into a cautious “No, we can’t.”

Marco Bevolo on the global luxury buyer

The economic downturn, of course. Luxury – as in ‘marketing bling bling’ – hit the wall, and without an airbag! People disinvested from mid-range, out-of-nowhere brands.

With less money and more insecurity, people have been returning to “the” luxury brands (Cartier, Chanel, Hermes…), the ones with solid roots, superior (hi)story (telling) and true core in terms of real value over the decades: luxury is back to being an investment, not a frivolity.

The urge to de-invest from stocks and similar has led to a rapid rise of top luxury products: this has been one of the best years for Ferrari. Lamborghini, on the other hand, being more of a toy-for-boys with less perceived lasting value, suffered.

Arvind Singhal on the Indian market

The Indian economy is expected to have grown by more than 6.5% in 2009. At the beginning of the year, people were still hesitant about the outlook for the year in view of continuous flow of “bad news” from rest of the world which found its way to the Indian media and impacted by tightening of budgets all round by different businesses and employers.

Against this background, the first big challenge for the Indian consumer was probably deciding whether “to buy or not to buy”. Few really lost jobs, and while there were salary cuts or wage-increase freezes in many organizations, the overall sentiment in the first half of the year was that of introspection and conservation.

India has been seeing a ‘what not to buy’ phenomenon for many years now where a relatively young, highly aspirational, and increasingly a “first time” consuming population is seeing an expansion of the categories of goods and services that they would like to spend money on increasing faster than their incomes. Hence, the consumers have been facing this dilemma almost every day as they experience this “category” collide and have to make choices. The third major trend is a redefinition of value. With newer, aggressive players in almost all categories of consumer products and services, “value” is getting redefined very regularly putting some pressure on the consumer to reorient themselves to these new definitions.

Canvas8 subscribers can access related reports on Canvas8

Chris Arnold, ‘Eco then and in 2010: how will next year’s ethical buyer behave?’, 11 December 2009. Available here

Debbi Evans, ‘Impermanence as a rising cultural trend’, 16 October 2009. Available here

David North, ‘The authentic dollar: the secret of the anti-marketing market’, 11 August 2009. Available here

A phone-booth outside of Old Street Station, London

What happens if you like music, photos and style? Do they have to be exclusive? Can someone who listens to music not also be stylish? Can someone who likes to take photos not also like to listen to music?