Music to a Brand's Ear

I'm off to Coachella this weekend along with over 150,000 people for a 3-day music fest featuring 130 bands all big and small.  What surprises be about Coachella and other music festivals is how big they've gotten and how well brands have been able to integrate and align USEFUL partnerships with these music festivals so that they are actually welcome and not intruders.  For example, Coachella this year will have the following:

VISIT THE 5 GUM SENSORY TERMINAL / LIVE WEBCAST Stimulate Your Senses at Coachella when you explore the 5 Gum Sensory Terminal. Stop by the air-conditioned tent to add your image to a living work of art in the Digital Mosaic, or share your Coachella story in the Sensory Studio video pod. Plus, with THREE live festival feeds, you can still catch all the action. Cant make it to Coachella? Tune into the LIVE WEBCAST exclusively from 5 Gum on Facebook or Myspace everyone will experience it differently. 
CLICK HERE FOR FACEBOOK WEBCAST CLICK HERE FOR MYSPACE 

PLAYSTATION HQ AND SONY PLAY CREATE SHARE WORKSHOPFeeling a little toasted from the sun, and want to chill out and relax in a world where entertainment is a touch away? Well that's easy...Stop by PlayStation HQ and Sony Play Create Share Workshop and step into a world that allows you to be in control. Play games like ModNation Racers and Gran Turismo 5 before their release, watch original content, and rock out to your favorite bands on Rock Band and SingStar. And most importantly, brag to your friends that couldn't get themselves to the festival, rent an HD bloggie camera and show your friends what they're missing by uploading to your favorite social media site! The more you play, the more chances you have to win VIP passes to upgrade your Coachella experience. 

THE KIN LOUNGEThe KIN Lounge from KIN, a new Windows Phone, is your spot at Coachella to connect. Beat the heat in our air-conditioned tent and enjoy our fun basement party vibe. Recharge your phone at one of our charging stations, or check it in for pickup. Use our computers to share your experiences with friends back home. We’ll also feature a photo booth and the chance to win VIP ticket upgrades throughout the day. 
VERIZON MOBILE WEBCASTCoachella will be streamed live on Verizon V CAST Videos in Media Center/Get It Now V CAST Videos/Music. Some performances will also be available for viewing after the Festival. CLICK HERE 


Given that people will be at this festival for 3 days in one LARGE open field all of these make sense.  5 Gum with making you part of the festivals music and art integration, Sony allowing you to take a break from the hot, hot sun with a nice air conditioned tent complete with couches, video games and the ability to RENT a camera to share your awesome experience, a recharging cell phone station will be a God send to those walking around for 12 hrs straight just to go back and Verizon giving music fans the option to re-watch the performance they just saw.  

Let's not forget South by Southwest. What started off as a music festival has branched out into interactive and film to know have solidified its position as the place where the latest tech trends are launched.  Three years ago, Twitter started at the festival, quickly signing up the early adopter crowd who used it to find which parties were hot and which panels sucked. Last year, current social media darling Foursquare took the wraps off its iPhone app at SXSW.


Brands participating at SXSW are the big thing and the real deal


Brands, including Microsoft, which signed on this year as a platinum sponsor, use the conference to burnish their credentials with an audience that might otherwise be a tough sell. "If you believe in the consumerization of technology, South by Southwest is one of the most important events in the world," said Chris Bernard, user experience evangelist at Microsoft.


Microsoft isn't the only brand looking for a little hip to rub off on it. Chevrolet is far from an adopter-crowd icon, yet the General Motors brand is aggressively marketing the launch of its electric vehicle, the Volt, at the show. Chevy started with a social media campaign that saw eight teams of online influentials record their road-trip experiences of driving a Volt to Austin. It also partnered with Gowalla to welcome attendees, and is operating a Volt Recharging Station for digital devices.

"The rise of peer influence and online word of mouth as influential factors in brand loyalty are factors that most large brands can't ignore anymore," said Christoper Barger, director of global communications and technology at GM. 


Aside from brands participating, many agencies are making it a yearly tradition to scout out the latest in new trends, find content creators and even talent!  Razorfish has had over 40 people attend including a recruiter.  They've even held parties to show off their work, pull in major talent and basically use as a recruiting tool.


What all this tells me is PEOPLE are still at the center of what makes the brand world go round, WOM still reigns and nothing can ever replace the experience, sensation, knowledge one's get from a face to face introduction to a brand by putting it into a person's hand.    

Nike & Tiger & W+K, Oh My!

By now you must have seen or heard about this very controversial commercial put out by Nike & Widen + Kennedy.  If not, here it is for you all to see.  Everyone from radio personalities to the advertising critics are giving their opinion on what it means.  Creepy, self serving, powerful, bad taste, polarizing, real, honest are some of the words being thrown around.  While I agree and disagree with some of these opinions I'm more interested in the impact this commercial had done for all three brands.  What does this say about Nike, Tiger & W+K?

In my opinion, I feel that Nike for being such a monumental brand it is also held accountable, as any Fortune 500 company, to protect its image, its  shareholders, its business yet its still remains true to who it is as a brand.  Bold, aggressive and in your face are the images that come to mind when I think of Nike and this spot, whether good or bad, is exactly in line with this values.  With an infamous tag line like "Just Do It" I can already picture why this piece of creative was not immediately turned down when it was first presented.  Knowing the inner workings of agencies, I can't even begin to imagine what the other controversial ideas were.  

W+K, a company I've always respected and admired, are in the business of getting brands noticed, changing behavior and creating powerful images. And what images, chatter and bullseye on Nike have they created.  They've always been great at creating powerful, entertaining and well talked about campaigns.  See Pretty with Maria Sharapova, The Lance Armstrong LIVESTRONG Bracelet Campaign, Cog and the Hate Something, Change Something song for Honda, Old Spice's The Man Your Man Could Smell Like campaign. This will be another ad that will go down in W+K infamy.

As for Tiger, this one is a little more interesting as before his whole life was blown wide open with the admittance of his unfaithfulness.  He was the quintessential poster child of what was right with America.  Child of two minorities, one an Army veteran, worked hard on his natural talent and became the not only the most successful golfer but athlete as well.  One of the most well known multi-millionaire American athletes all over the world with a beautiful super model wife and gorgeous children.  This was his image and his handlers worked very hard to keep it so.  Now he's on a path to show his willingness to get back to where he was.  But with his squeaky clean image obliterated it seems that now he's taken a turn into showing who this "real" Tiger is starting with the public apology to his family to the children in his foundation and everyone in between.  This spot would indicate another stab at showing his "real" side by being a voyeur into a private conversation between him and his father, a person he truly respects and admires.  This could possibly be the new Tiger brand, look at me I'm human just like you.  Whether this worked or not and how it will ultimately be ingested is still being decided but it definitely got him back in the limelight right in time for his return to the Masters.      

Thumb Holes are Genius

Hi.  My name is Laura and I am a lululemon addict. I clearly remember, a few years ago, when this was not the case.  I heard about lululemon from my lady bosses.  They raved and raved about it while once in a while commenting how expensive it was.  The fact that the word expensive came out of the mouths of my bosses who probably made 3 times as much as I did was the only deterrent that stopped me from running immediately to the store and try on the "most amazing fitting and comfortable pants that make your butt look awesome."   Miraculous pants below: 

A few years went by, I moved jobs, got into Bikram yoga and this lululemon brand made in appearance again.  All I saw in yoga class was women AND men wearing clothing with the teeny, weeny, infamous lululemon logo:

 That tiny dot, lululemon logo, on those pants (and on any of their clothing) is the only overt reference to the brand you'll find.
   

And the love rang out in the locker rooms for this brand.  People had bags, pants, shorts, tops, mats, pretty much anything they made and were continually going back for more.  Now, I the studio I was doing Bikram in was in Irvine, CA a very affluent suburb of Orange County so of course my thinking went back to well this people can afford it.  I mean they all live in multi-million dollar homes.  Then I became close friends with the studio owner and all the teachers and all they raved about was lululemon.  Apparently, I wasn't going to escape this brand regardless of how much I tried.  So, I finally gave in and went and I did confirm the prices for their items were outrageous coming from the fact that I was accustomed to buying all my workout clothes at outlets and T.J. Maxx.  Then the very convincing sales woman at the store persuaded me to try some of their stuff on and let me tell you it was love at first try on.  Long story short: I came out with about 2 bag fulls of clothes I thought were way out of my price range.  The rumors were true, the fit of the clothes couldn't have been better if I had them custom made.  Actually working out in them was even better because apparently lululemon had thought of all the small nuisances that often irks you about workout clothing AND added even more genius details, like thumb holes (for the sake of keeping your sleeves down and hands warm!!!!)  So who is lululemon and why are all the women so gaga over it?  

lululemon, for those who don’t know, is a clothing store that makes mainly workout clothing and has been vastly successful with a cult like following.  While it’s a tiny brand (about 100 retail stores around the world) I believe they’ve done a great job on how they’ve handled themselves as a brand.  lululemon is much more than just your typical clothing or typical retail store for the following reasons: 

HISTORY
A little history on how the brand began:  Chip Wilson, the founder, was a fan of yoga himself because he felt it helped him stay fit and limber for squash and several other sports. But when he looked around the almost entirely female class, all of whom were wearing men’s clothing but in a smaller cut, he saw an opportunity and began designing women’s yoga clothing.  Today the products have expanded to men and other sports. 

DESIGN

I believe the love at first sight happens with the trial of the clothing because of how its designed.  To say these clothing are designed well is an understatement and every person in love with the brand can confirm.  Not only do the clothes fit like a glove they actually make you look better!  They are meticulous in their design methods.   User feedback is key to the design of its clothing, and so lululemon garments are designed by athletes, for athletes. It doesn’t offer sponsorships per se, but each store provides a select few people from a variety of sports—in different age categories and with varying abilities with clothes in exchange for their views on how each item performs.

The company also holds design meetings in every city where it has a retail presence to get its designers up to speed with that market, what’s being asked for, and what people are wearing. Its people also want to know what competitive offerings are popular. To carry the close connection with its customers one step further, every member of the company’s executive team works one day a week on the sales floor.

In addition to its ambassadors (unique individuals in our store communities who embody the lululemon lifestyle and live their culture), lululemon also lends its support to local athletic communities by providing an R&D (research and development) discount for anybody who is a certified yoga instructor, personal trainer or coach.  “We know a lot of these people. Sometimes it’s not the most lucrative position, but they’re the ones wearing our clothes eight hours a day.”

This mountain of firsthand information helps lululemon continue to be at the forefront of innovation. For example, it recently added silver the metal, not the color as a material (up to seven percent) in nine different pieces of its lineup.

Celebrities wearing lululemon gear

WARNING: MORE LULULEMON LOVE
When I ran my marathon I went into lululemon looking for appropriate clothing for the big day and the reason they ended up selling me into, what I thought was a way overpriced T-shirt is all the design elements that they had built into the shirt.  Now it may look like any other t-shirt but the way it was built & designed (lightweight seamless knit with mesh venting in high sweat areas, Silverescent for anti-stink * anti-static, body shaping with loose fit and long length, seam free to reduce chafing, Lycra for shape retention, wicking)  told me that not only had they thought about everything use wise(how I would use it, what the usual problems are for women and wearing t-shirts to work out in, running for long periods of time, the aesthetic likes of women, etc) but because of it I’d have better running performance overall.  This shirt was a TOTAL SOLUTION for my event as well as future trainings. 

RETAIL
lululemon isn’t just offering up top-of-the-line clothing, it’s selling a way of life and I believe because of this, this is why the people keep coming back to the brand.  They’re looking at lululemon to not only buy their products but to embrace the lifestyle they promote (again they are promoting TOTAL SOLUTIONS, a holistic view on your health vs. just focusing on the clothing itself and the performance aspects as a Nike or Adidas store might do) which ultimately builds more value in the product and the brand.   

As much as a year before it opens in a new market, it sends missionaries to attend every yoga and exercise class they can find, sniffing out and befriending the most influential instructors.  Once a store opens, lululemon formalizes the relationship with its yoga-instructor "ambassadors." The ambassadors get free swag plus a billboard-size portrait in their local lululemon, which helps them expand their clientele. They then complete the karmic exchange by driving clients back to the retailer. "Not only has it helped me build my business," says Leila Cunningham, a Pilates instructor in Hermosa Beach, California, who was courted by Lulu staffers, "but we started becoming friends, hanging out, going to parties. They've become part of the community." Ambassadors hold free weekly classes in the stores, which are meticulously designed to feel like homespun local boutiques, not cookie-cutter outlets from a public company competing against Nike. ("It's designed to be a little bit messy," Christine Day, lululemon's CEO , says of the stores' calculated nonchalance.) Comments from customers who can monitor progress toward their life goals through a Lulu micro Web site are scribbled on chalkboards outside the dressing rooms, then funneled back to HQ every two weeks. Your job is pretty easy when you are authentic with people," says Eric Petersen, lululemon's community director. "They realize you don't have some sneaky agenda.”

In case you wanted to know, I just made a lululemon purchase while writing this post. 


UPDATE: The items I ordered yesterday are already here.  WOW!  That is probably the fastest I've ever gotten an item and I chose their free shipping option which often time means the priority of sending the items out for shipping is pretty much at the bottom of the list and is sent in the slowest method possible.  Ohhhh lululemon, you keep winning me over...I'm already thinking about making another purchase.