Massive Pink Floyd fan, not so much from the Syd Barrett era but shortly thereafter. Just got my tickets to see frontman David Gilmour's solo tour next March in Toronto. Very excited!
When I think of DG he sums up the Pink Floyd brand for me. Sadly, keyboardist Richard Wright passed away in 2008, and drummer Nick Mason and bassist Roger Waters have their own projects. So the band will never tour again. But they all played a massive part in shaping Pink Floyd's unique sound.
I thought about other people that represented brands. A few that sprang to mind were Colonel Harland Sanders (Kentucky Fried Chicken), Steve Jobs (Apple) and Richard Branson (Virgin).
Colonel Sanders' image is still used in KFC's branding; Steve Jobs had a hand in every aspect of Apple's products, and had films made about him; Richard Branson started his empire as a student from the humble telephone box. These three people still, to this day, symbolize the brand that they started.
There's been some blogs recently discussing whether brands are fake and just trying to be your "friend" on social media. Maybe some do. If so, we need to give more credit to the consumer that they can pick up on that manufactured sentiment.
Real people work at brands, not robots. There will always be that human touch behind campaigns and social media outreach. Social media is just a tool -- like the telephone, e-mail, letter, fax machine -- that real human beings use to communicate and promote their brand and, if we're being honest, trying to sell more products or services.
We all know that! It's our choice. If you don't like how a brand is treating you, then look elsewhere. There's tons of competition out there grateful for your business. In my humble opinion, the ones that survive and do well are those that -- by default or otherwise -- have a recognized person leading the way, ready to stand up and be counted and own it, during the good times and bad.
If your brand can find that "face" then you can stand out from the crowd. People are born to communicate with other people, it's just natural.
Have a good weekend!
John.