Artful Realist

Emptyage: Generation X Doesn't Want to Hear It

Earlier generations have weathered recessions, of course; this stall we’re in has the look of something nastier. Social Security and Medicare are going to be diminished, at best. Hours worked are up even as hiring staggers along: Blood from a stone looks to be the normal order of things “going…

A note from my generation.

(Source: New York Magazine)

A fascinating look back at brand identity design circa 1969 with the legendary Saul Bass on assignment for AT&T.

Scenes from a dinner

I received this Fuji X100S about 3 weeks ago for my birthday. All my photography friends have been raving about it. The phrase “the best camera ever” keeps surfacing. I have to say, the more I play with this little gem the more I love it. You can take it everywhere and the quality is beautiful.

It’s tough to be a pug.

The Call to Adventure in Cupertino

I’ve been asked the same question for the past week: Is Apple’s brand on a decline?

Some who asked were from the media, others were clients. Today, the market will ask the same question and await clarity in the answer Apple provides when it releases its earnings report.

Why are so many obsessed with Apple’s brand health? The obvious reason is that Apple has been the center of our attention for so long that we naturally want to see what happens next. But there are other factors at play. There’s a new king on the throne and we aren’t sure what to think of him. He’s clearly not Steve Jobs, but we can’t match him to a clear archetype. He’s a mystery. Mystery breeds speculation.

Read More

The photograph itself doesn’t interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality.

// Henri Cartier-Bresson

Branding by Price

We don’t always think about pricing as a branding decision, but for some customers price sets an expectation about your brand’s quality. Price may also reinforce a belief inside the person making the purchase.

For example, when buying a bottle of wine, many consumers assume that the higher priced wines taste better than lower priced wines. Or, they assume the higher priced wine is less of a risk than the lower priced wine. This effect is amplified in direction proportion to the consumer’s knowledge of the brands she is evaluating. But it can also be driven by an internal belief about one’s passion for and/or sophistication about wine. There are some consumers who won’t buy lower priced wines that may, in fact, be quite good.

The relationship between price, perceptions of quality and internal beliefs can have a profound effect. For example, a number of years ago Dell ran a famous advertising campaign featuring a college-age student who proclaimed his enthusiasm about being able to afford a computer by uttering, “Dude, I got a Dell!” The campaign became a catch phrase that made an indelible link between Dell and affordable value. Unfortunately, it also had the unintended consequence of scaring some IT professionals away from Dell as an enterprise server solution. These customers perceived Dell’s low price positioning as an indicator that its hardware was not high equality enough to power their company’s network infrastructure. With their professional reputation on the line, the link between price and quality often impeded a rational analysis of functional value.

A recent study published in the March issue of the Journal of Consumer Research took a closer look at how price functions as an indicator of quality. Specifically, it examined the types of customers who are most likely to use price as an indication of quality. It validated previous studies that found that customers who view brands holistically (they look at the big picture) are more likely to connect price with quality. These holistic thinkers are most prevalent in eastern cultures. However, this new study found that price becomes an important link to quality across nearly all segments when the product was positioned as being symbolically important to the consumer’s life. In other words, when the product or brand was positioned to relate to consumer’s core identity, price became a far more reliable predictor of perceived value, and a strong moderator of purchase behavior.

For brand marketers, there are several implications to this study. First, if you have a premium-priced product, you may be able to gain share and grow sales by targeting interdependent cultures that are apt to think holistically and equate a high price with high quality. It is no coincidence that Asia and middle eastern markets are consistently the top buyers of luxury goods.

However, this study should also encourage marketers to spend more time considering how price can play an important role in your overall brand strategy. Though it may frighten product managers and financial analysts to price higher than competitors, many brands have an opportunity to charge more for their product or service and increase the attachment  consumers will have to that product or service. Like so much in branding, this potential depends on how well the brand is aligned with a consumer segment’s values and beliefs. The more the brand is symbolic of their self-concept, the more willing a consumer will be to pay a premium price—a price that connotes quality and validates belief.

your junk deserves PMS 424

adverve:

Now there’s Pantone underpants - or Underpantones, if you will, for boys and girls who love things in wonderful designer-friendly color. Genius. (Thanks, Eliza!)