New Coldplay song: short analysis of brand promotion
Coldplay are finally back with a new song called every teardrop is a waterfall! It “will be available digitally on Friday 3rd June at 12pm (BST), except in the UK where it’ll come out on the stroke of midnight between Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th June”(coldplay.com).
The band has been involved in raising awareness around the single’s release cleverly using social networking (Twitter and Facebook). For a week now, they have been teasing fans with short video clips and lyrics without really revealing much. Fans all over the world have instantly risen their interest around the Coldplay brand and started to become involved with all the rumours around what’s happening.
I believe they did well on using social networking to promote their new song because this is a direct, contemporary and cost-effective way to be connected with their audience all around the world. Especially if a major part of their audience consists of young people who are already familiar with this type of new media promotion. Teasing them started the discussion and raised huge anticipation, and when the news were finally revealed, people were already excitedly connected with the brand.
This is the artwork for the upcoming Coldplay single
In my opinion, the single’s artwork is brilliantly designed. The choice of using graffiti artwork might be referring to their well-known creative process -complemented by one of the most innovative musicians/producers, Brian Eno- and communicating their variety of music experimentation by using colourful background. Another reason for this choice might be the band’s great appeal in teenagers and young people in general, because these people respond better to signifiers like bright colours and expressive styles like graffiti. Type is also contemporary and uniquely designed to match with the imagery. This visual style is consistently used in the teasers too in order to prepare the audience ‘visually’ for the single’s release.
In conclusion, the overall communication is well planed and executed -in my opinion- and I think that the Coldplay brand has clearly benefited from this. Let’s see what happens on the release of their long-awaited fifth album in a few months.
How does Nike communicate its values to its target audience?
The overall communication of the brand values has been built on a strong principle which states that Nike is selling a feeling, an emotion. Without seeing or directly experiencing the product, they convey a feeling to the audience to experience what it would be like to use their products. This is promoted through all types of media in the following ways:
• through famous spokespersons, top athletes
• by depicting inspirational stories
• by creating emotional connections between the viewer and the depicted person
• by motivating the viewer directly.
Famous athletic personalities
Whether football or basketball, tennis or golf, running or Olympic sports, Nike has always recruited top performance athletes from all over the world with strong personalities consistent with the brand values. For instance, Michael Jordan started appearing in swoosh campaigns at the rise of his basketball career, in 1987, and so did Dennis Rodman and Charles Barkley. High performance athletes have always been role models with extreme power over their audience (mainly teenagers and young people) often influencing them into buying products not otherwise thought of.
From my point of view, this is the most successful way Nike has ever used to communicate its values. Because the target audience admire and connect to their role models as people who have achieved top performance through their individual skills and often identify with them. A television commercial from 1996 depicts accurately this method. Children of various nationalities say the phrase I am Tiger Woods implying that the famous golfer is their role model.
Inspirational stories
Nike has very often built its communication on inspirational stories around sports and fitness. Whether shown in pictures or verbally transmitted, these stories are personal, sometimes emotional and/or referring to the past.
For example, a series of promotional material was produced in 2007 starring Oscar Pistorius, a Paralympics World Record holder and his personal story. Despite having been born with a disability, he has succeeded in breaking the world record forty-nine times by being determined and using his individual skills. I strongly believe that this story can be very inspirational for every one, because they can see the value of both individuality and determination to succeed which lead to victory.
Emotional connections
The whole Nike experience has always intended to be communicated as a feeling, an emotion. Besides this fact, sometimes this is achieved by creating or growing emotional connections between the viewer and the person in the advertisement. For instance, the Just Do It strategy was first expanded over to women with “a mix of empathy, inspiration and empowerment. It spoke to women in a voice that was intimate yet strong, philosophical yet honest” (Bedbury, 2002). Staying close to the swoosh values, this campaign formed strong connections with its viewers, covering women-only experiences and emotions only women can feel.
Another characteristic campaign which uses emotional connections to convey the swoosh values is a series of print advertisements from 2005 which celebrate the individuality of women. Showing parts of their athletic body emotionally connected with them, women feel confident to use their ‘weapons’ in order to achieve victory in the battlefield of sports. From my point of view, a very simple and effective way to make someone feel special and therefore connected to the brand.
Motivation
The swoosh experience has strongly been connected to hard work, dedication, human power and desire to succeed. So are the spokespersons in the advertisements, always displayed doing what they are a master in. Besides wearing top quality Nike gear they are shown working hard, sweating, or reflecting on events from the past. As a result, the target audience connects the brand with the effort and determination needed to succeed and therefore is motivated to improve their own “game”, whether everyday running or basketball.
I believe that motivation is one of the main ways every sports brand should convey its values. In my opinion, what makes Nike so successful is the fact that it persistently promotes motivation in its campaigns. For example, a television commercial named Tell Me, in 1996 probably, shows Michael Jordan in the court after returning from his short retirement from basketball. He challenges the viewer by saying “Disrespect me. Tell me I am older. Tell me I am slower. Tell me I can no longer fly. I want you to” (Youtube.com, 2010). From my point of view, the success of this commercial lies in the fact that the viewer is motivated to work hard, create his individual history and become as successful as Jordan is in basketball, so no one would be able to tell him that he has lost his unique skills.
Book review: Paul Arden’s “It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be”.
I recently read this book that my MA tutor Clive suggested to.
Image found on http://www.songzige.com. No copyright infringement intended.
It is a quite enjoying book to read; it has a nice flow all the way to the last page.
You can find a lot of inspiring thoughts about aspiring to be creative and successful which derive from Paul Arden’s huge career “at the top of one of the world’s most competitive industries”. The only somehow negative point -for me- is that it is slightly focused on advertising. But that’s subjective.
I think that reading this book is very helpful for a student like me (at a MA stage). It has an easy-to-understand language and tone of voice, neat typography and design.
In conclusion, I would recommend this book to anyone that aspires to be creative, not necessarily only in the creative industry. I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. You can buy it on Amazon.co.uk.
‘A shot in the dark’ logo design
This is a personal project I did while studying for my MA.
“A shot in the dark” is an existing coffee house in Cardiff, Wales, UK.
The intention was to create a unique logo and identity so as not to look like a big retail coffee house but a place that offers a unique experience. While these big brands focus on coffee and/or the experience around it, this one focuses on people.
Since the target audience consists mostly of students and young people, the logo was designed to communicate this as a perfect place for chatting, laughing, relaxing and having fun.
Typeface is specifically chosen so that curly letters and serifs match well with the logo.
Red and orange were used to reinforce the bright and positive side of the logo while brown connects with coffee and its whole experience.
Helvetica film
Totally inspiring. This film is amazing!
Helvetica’s simple forms have managed to stay alive for more than 50 years.
It is always considered a contemporary typeface and is widely used even nowadays.
Branding worth spreading
Branding worth spreading is a blog that shares a lot of interesting stories around branding.
It is run by Danie Gomez-Ortigoza, “a marketer and brand lover”. She posts her views and comments on brands and their communication strategies. Take a look at it:
http://brandingworthspreading.blogspot.com
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