How Cool Brands Stay Hot – Joeri Van Den Bergh (1)

They tend to think that if a product has been on the market for a long time, this is a secure proof of good quality. They also associate dates of origin with feelings of cheerfulness and nostalgia. ‘Cool! My grandmother may have used it too.’ But again, they don’t tend to go too far back in time when considering brand history. When a brand has existed for 10 years or longer, it truly is an aged brand.

Concerning the country of origin, the critical Generation Y makes a dis- tinction between the real origin and the country in which a brand or product is produced. Most youngsters don’t know the country of origin of their favourite brands, but the awareness of where it is manufactured is higher since this is often indicated in a label ‘made in…’. For certain product catego- ries the country of origin can evoke good as well as bad quality associations.

Some countries spontaneously evoke connotations of labour mistreatment or animal abuse. Japanese brands nowadays seem to have the halo of being technologically advanced, for instance, as opposed to Chinese ones, which equal bad quality for Gen Yers. Gilmore and Pine have correctly emphasized that some regions that were once known for junk, like Japan, are today symbols of quality. China currently possesses the image of ‘ManuFAKEture’, a term coined by Ted Fishman in The New York Times,42 but may one day be known for its authenticity.

Country of origin plays a more important role for the quality perception among young target groups in certain industries such as food, health and beauty, technology (durables), cars and clothing. In contrast to what we had expected from these savvy consumers, youngsters don’t mind too much when brands fake a certain origin. For instance, they automatically link Häagen-Dazs ice cream to Switzerland or a Scandinavian country. When confronted with the fact that it is actually a US brand using foreign branding as a marketing technique, and the digraphs ‘äa’ and ‘zs’ are actually invalid in all Scandinavian languages, they consider this to be funny and cunning.

Häagen-Dazs is a brand of super-premium (dense, high butterfat) ice cream that was created by Polish immigrants Reuben and Rose Mattus in the Bronx, New York in 1961. The first retail store was opened in Brooklyn in 1976. Today Häagen-Dazs is sold in 55 countries around the world.

The brand name was meant to look Scandinavian for Americans. The Häagen-Dazs name gives European cachet and radiates craftsmanship and tradition, justifying the premium retail price. On early labels Mattus used an outline of Denmark, although the umlaut is never used in Danish. He also added some Scandinavian capital cities on the packaging: Authentic Bronx ice cream sold with an umlaut Continued… The Real Thing: Brand Authenticity Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm.

The font type of the logo was set in bold Futura, adding a muscular Germanic effect to the name. This marketing technique is named ‘foreign branding’.

‘How Cool Brands Stay Hot shares a wealth of insight. At TOMS we are in business to improve lives and this mission allows us to build an emotional bond with customers and motivate employees, because they know they are shopping and working for a movement bigger than themselves. Connecting with consumers in an authentic way is essential in today’s world.’

Blake Mycoskie, Founder and Chief Shoe Giver, TOMS ‘We continuously fuel our brands with fresh and creative views. How Cool Brands Stay Hot is a rich source of inspiration for anyone who wants to truly connect with young people.’ Renzo Rosso, Founder and CEO of DIESEL and Only The Brave, United Nations MDG Global Leader ‘To win the consumer revolution, all brands should have the ambition to become a Lovemark. This book explains brilliantly how you can gain the love of Generation Y. A must-read for all Generation Y marketers and for brand marketers altogether, since Generation Y leads to all the other target groups as well.’

Kevin Roberts, Chairman, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide ‘Because generations shift and change constantly, books on the topic often gather dust. Not this one! Joeri and Mattias have kept their insights in sync with the times. That makes a nice and useful refresher for all of us marketers to read and live by. Why? Staying in sync with the times and with changing consumers is exactly what you need to drive growth and change for your brand.’

Kurt Frenier, Vice President GM Global Marketing, PepsiCo Group ‘Knowing the consumer is vital to any business looking for a meaningful, long-term engagement. The addition of fresh insights into Gen Y with an eye-opening preview of Gen Z will help marketers keep pace with the digital generation.’ Elizabeth Wolgemuth, SVP Global B2B Marketing, MasterCard ‘A great book exemplifying and rationalizing critical changes to capture in our activities – well written and easy understood.’

Paul Andersen, Vice President, Pepsi-Lipton Europe ‘How Cool Brands Stay Hot is a great compass based on science and art, a source of inspiration for any leader on where to go next and what to do. Not only from a business perspective but even when you have younger teams or family troops to manage.’ Anouk Lagae, Chief Marketing Officer, Duvel Moortgat ‘Well-written and well-documented, this is a must-read book for anyone connecting with Generations Y and Z.

Once you start reading, you will not be able to put it down.’ Marion De Bruyne, Associate Professor in Marketing Strategy and Innovation, Dean of Vlerick Business School, and author of Customer Innovation i ‘This book gives a fabulous deep dive in marketing and branding to Millennials. It is often said that the Millennials are more complex and don’t follow easy, linear rules. How Cool Brands Stay Hot definitely reduces complexity and is a must-read for all of those who have to understand these target groups.’

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 9d37fec56df773ae
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 5,252,916 bytes (5.01 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9780749477172, 9780749477219
• Pages: 311
• Language: English (en)

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• Total Words: 129,418
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• Average Words per Page: 416.14
• Average Characters per Page: 2638.94

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