Recapturing the “Cool Factor”
For all its challenges, having teenagers in the house can be instructive to the marketing maven. My kids are 17 and 14. They are addicted to Facebook, FML, video games, etc. Typical suburban kids.
My children grew up in a world in which the cool companies that came to the fore in the 90’s — Starbucks, Apple, Amazon.com, Google, JetBlue — were already de facto leaders in their markets. While most of us 30– and 40–somethings still consider these companies to be the “challenger brands” of their youth, to today’s kids these are the top dogs, the tried-and-true but maybe-a-little-tired brands.
This “cool fatigue” has created a series of weird, ironic and telling marketplace shifts recently.
In the Irony department, Microsoft’s Bing is now considered a legit challenger to Google. Google’s familiar interface has become a little too familiar for the up-and-coming generation. The advent of Windows 7 (which has been getting rave reviews in the face of the diminished expectations created by Vista) will help push Bing’s fortunes even further. Ironic to think that Bing — from Microsoft! — could challenge the cool-cat leader of the search space. Feels like Microsoft’s been kicked to the curb for so long, they’re getting kinda cool again. The kids are open to it.
Another set-piece from the Irony Files? There is mounting evidence that McDonalds’s big coffee upgrade and marketing push has put a dent in Starbucks’s business. I won’t go so far as to say that McDonalds is the next Starbucks, but raise the question of whether McDonalds could exploit the economic climate to become a viable “down market Starbucks,” and in the process absorb a little of that cool factor. The introduction of an instant coffee from Starbucks only bolsters my impression that the bean peddler is grasping a little bit. Could McD’s or Peets — or the truly local coffee shops — alter SBUX’s path to global domination? The kids are open to it.
JetBlue has for a decade been the darling of the flying public. But Virgin America is now killin’ em in the cool department. Virgin is offering everything JetBlue offers, but with a measure of sleek, quirk, convenience and tech that is wowing everyone. I know too many people who are switching allegiances to the new kid on the block. The kids are open to it, too — in fact they love it.
Meanwhile, Amazon.com arguably bought Zappos just to see what all the Social Media fuss was about. But given the traction Zappos was gaining, one wonders whether Amazon decided to take ‘em out of the race before Tony Hsieh & Co. decided to apply their uber-cool commitment to Customer Service to ever-broader retail pursuits. The kids (woulda been) open to it.
And Apple? Well, they still seem indomitable and haughty — which is wearing thin in some quarters, but damn, their emphasis on design and UI cannot be beat, and there are legions of fans to defend Apple’s honor. The kids still love Apple.
This overlong set-up brings us back to the original question: could Social Media be used to “refresh” these brands; to make them relevant to the next generation?
The easy answer is “yes,” of course. But it’s not so easy. Look at Starbucks: they already have millions of fans in Social Media, via Twitter followers, Facebook Fans, participants in the MyStarbucksIdea site, iPhone apps, etc. You can’t say that they aren’t trying, you can’t say that they haven’t made headway. But in quizzing my very typical, affluent, online-savvy suburban kids (who grew up on all of the non-caffeinated goodies SBUX sells), I saw zero passion for the brand.
For brands like Amazon, Google, Starbucks, JetBlue, etc., Social Media should come quite naturally: the original appeal of most of these brands was predicated (to varying degrees) on being better, smarter, and/or by offering more intimate levels of customer service. These were the likable brands. They still are.
But the bar has been raised. They are being challenged on all sides to get better, think smaller, become more flexible and approachable. They also Big Companies now. And as Amazon’s ham-handed response to the recent #amazonfail episode demonstrated, Big Companies don’t have the alacrity to be as responsive as the real-time Web demands.
That’s probably what is really at issue here: Social Media as entree to the real-time Web. In the future, Big Brands with Big Resources will be expected to be listening much more closely, responding much more quickly, empowering content creation and sharing much more creatively and freely.
The kids are open to it. In fact, they’ll demand it.
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RT @tweetmeme Recapturing the “Cool Factor” [link to post] -
McDonald’s the new cool. Sbuxs grasping w/VIA. RT @tdefren Recapturing the “Cool Factor” [link to post] -
Interesting RT @tdefren Recapturing the “Cool Factor” [link to post] -
RT @tdefren Recapturing the “Cool Factor” [link to post] -
Is Google a “cool” brand? The answer depends on your age. And if it’s not, can social media help? [link to post] -
Gotta get @thebrandbuilder into a McCafé:it’s is the new cool as Buxs losing mojo @sernovitz @KellyOlexa RT @tdefren [link to post] -
RT @TDefren Real-time web = big brands will be challenged to be better, think smaller, become more flexible/approachable [link to post] -
RT@TDefren Real-time web: big brands will B challenged 2 get better, think smaller, become more flexible & approachable. [link to post] -
Recapturing the “Cool Factor” for Brands – [link to post]
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Todd
Interesting post and particularly with reference to Starbucks.
The news that the company is trying to re-energise its brand by becoming more appealing to, and reflective of, the local areas where it operates smacks of trying too hard; in fact, grasping at something elusive which will turn its business around.
We tackled their problem here:
http://pr-media-blog.co.uk/starbucks-your-local-shop-i-dont-think-so/
This is really bizarre to think about. Jetblue, Google and Starbucks as the old guard? (I’m only 24 and still view these guys as challenger brands.)
You are right though. Positioning, timing and effort around these brands have shifted their mentality. Hopefully, they can go back and gain a bit more of their rock star status.
Dropping the megaphone in exchange for a strategy that applies edge work, where the center of the organization informs its edges, and the edges inform the world, is clearly the more sustainable approach. But it is no substitute for brasnd perfomance. What you and your community say about yourself is important, but what other people say os more important. If your brand performs, people will carry your water for you.
Interesting article. I wonder what impact the integration of Bing results into Facebook will have for the ‘cool factor’ with the younger generation. This may well play a big part in Bing becoming the default search for people.
Your point about Starbucks I think comes down to our understanding of numbers in social media. Starbucks may have a community of millions, but what does this really mean? Until we understand that, the numbers really are meaningless.
I always liked Starbucks as a place where I could logon with my laptop in a comfortable upscale atmosphere that attracted cool people. But, if another place next door had a FIREPLACE and comfy sofas and chairs + Wi-Fi + electrical outlets + cool people…there was no contest.
The barrier to entry was just the ability to provide a cool environment (with electrical outlets) without expecting people to buy more than a coffee, mineral water, sandwich and a doughnut. The Golden Arches Fine Dining Restaurant chain required franchisees to invest $100,000+ in grills and other machines that gave a unique taste and reliability to entire meals. But the ability to mix blends of coffee and add outsourced sandwiches and cakes is something you’ve been finding in Great Britain at least for hundreds of years and which Aunt Mabel can start to do tomorrow with very little capital. More importantly to many, McDonald’s basically promises you won’t get food poisoning (critical for anyone heading into a business meeting or on the road traveling – indigestion is another topic), which means a lot of unknown restaurants will get a pass from a lot of such people…but nobody is going to worry about a cup of coffee and a doughnut food poisoning them…which means Aunt Mabel can open the chimney vent, stoke up a nice fire and start selling that tomorrow.
I always liked Starbucks as a place where I could logon with my laptop in a comfortable upscale atmosphere that attracted cool people. But, if another place next door had a FIREPLACE and comfy sofas and chairs + Wi-Fi + electrical outlets + cool people…there was no contest.
The barrier to entry was just the ability to provide a cool environment (with electrical outlets) without expecting people to buy more than a coffee, mineral water, sandwich and a doughnut. The Golden Arches Fine Dining Restaurant chain required franchisees to invest $100,000+ in grills and other machines that gave a unique taste and reliability to entire meals. But the ability to mix blends of coffee and add outsourced sandwiches and cakes is something you’ve been finding in Great Britain at least for hundreds of years and which Aunt Mabel can start to do tomorrow with very little capital. More importantly to many, McDonald’s basically promises you won’t get food poisoning (critical for anyone heading into a business meeting or on the road traveling – indigestion is another topic), which means a lot of unknown restaurants will get a pass from a lot of such people…but nobody is going to worry about a cup of coffee and a doughnut food poisoning them…which means Aunt Mabel can open the chimney vent, stoke up a nice fire and start selling that tomorrow.
That said, while heading to a business meeting in a strange city, I would trust a Starbuck sandwich more than an unknown sandwich purveyor…but cleanliness and panache could, in a second, convince me otherwise.
It’s happened before much to my amazement. There was a time when Converse was the shoe of choice. Just a few years before that, Converse were the shoes that the kids bought only if they couldn’t afford anything else.
Then there was the “bowling shoe” phase. I have no idea what that one was all about, but it was definitely a shift from uncool to cool.
I was really surprised recently when I saw a couple Tweets about how good Dunkin Doughnuts iced lattes are. Dunkin Doughnuts? Must have changed a bit since I was a kid. (although the doughnuts have always been good)
I’m not sure what this all says. Maybe if you’re trying to go for a new image, start with a group that has no preconceived notions?
All the best!
In all honesty, I can’t say that I have been surprised by the backslide of some of these companies that were considered “institutions” not too long ago. As social media continues to make headway with all generations, these larger companies are having a hard time keeping up. While they certainly aren’t going to fall off completely, it is certainly time that they step up their social media game. Incorporating a social media plan may just be the thing that gets the “kids” talking about these brands again. It may just be the thing that resurrects them.
Tessa Carroll
VBP OutSourcing
http://www.blogs.vbpoutsourcing.com