The (Brand) Transformers Always Win

Transformers is the #1 movie as I write this. And “Transformation” is the key to success for brands in the today’s crowded marketplace. If you can inspire people to live differently, do differently, and to re-invent themselves, you are going to be heard and be memorable. Brands that refuse to fit in but redefine the world they are born in reap big rewards.

Some random examples for inspiration:

• Here’s a challenge. Help sell a car, co-designed by Hitler and built in a factory by Nazi Germans. Bring it to America and make it successful. Oh yah and this car is almost half the size of the popular cars. DDB not only rose to the challenge but crafted a marketing campaign that mobilized a whole new generation to give up the big brawny American cars of the 60’s and instead love this new car that appealed to their intellect. DDB created print ads that celebrated the smallness of the car, while being tongue-in-cheek, irreverent and smart.



• Oprah has built a multi-media empire by providing transformational experiences to her viewers. She repeats phrases such as “Live your best life” ad nauseum just to get middle America to chant after her and change behavior. Then she leverages that across media and product to deliver ways to actualize that message. She has even cloned herself with making celebrities of people who evangelize her message. Dr. Robin, Dr. Phil and Rachel Ray are all Oprah creations.



• Nike gives the couch potato, an athletic goal at NikeTown. Hershey stores transforms everyone into kids. I spent an hour in the store in Vegas without realizing it. From gigantic chocolate machines, to a movie theatre with those scary M&M guys, to marveling at the multitude of ways they sell “souvenirs”,  Hershey may as well charge admission to go into their store, let alone outrageous prices for colored pieces of candy.
• Hollywood epitomizes everything it is to be American, to be a dream-seller and to create fantasies worth striving for. For good or for bad, movies have the power to not only create illusions but also create behavior changing aspirations. From smoking to product placement and army recruitment, the movies have been used time and again to influence behavior successfully.
• iPhone apparently is going to make Apple a reported measly 20% profit as they spent a reported $60 on the multi-touch screen alone. Apple knows better than anyone else, that to have great success you need to change everything and start from scratch. Don’t improve, innovate. I hate my Treo because of the experience I have each time I use it. Non-intuitive mess of menus and un-inspiring graphics make it is a piece of technology I will happily replace for something better. That is the distinction between a commodity (that everyone sells) and being a memorable experience that inspires and creates joy (that only a few can achieve). The iPod transformed the digital music scene and how people listen to their music. The iPhone may just do that to the mobile device industry.
• The category re-inventors. These are the companies that come in and change what people thought of that product category by creating an experience around it. Starbucks became the third place where people drank their java (home, office and the comfy sofa chairs at their local Starbucks). Whole Foods, Dean & Deluca. Both high-end grocery stores, both created an experience creates gourmands out of everyday joes (and spend much more for the same item they could have bought at their local Safeway). With Dean & Deluca’s marble floors, over-sized Grecian columns and array of exquisite brands, sampling stations and delicious smells wafting of their in-store restaurant, they don’t just sell groceries, they create a sensorial experience. Whole Foods in NY at the corner of Central Park and brings the park experience into their store by offering cute little “park picnics” of fresh bocconcini cheese and imported crackers. They leverage their location to create experiences around the products they sell. Buying their product helps transform me into a culinary literate.

The list could go on but you get the idea. Say what you will about America, about excessiveness and the desire for “more”. However, to me, Americans have taught the world what it is like to sell experiences for profit. Make the happiest place on earth at the cross section of highways in the middle of a dessert, create a culture by building a 4.2 million sq ft mall , create an iconic hero out of a chain smoking cowboy , manufacture the world’s largest selling sugary soft drink in the shape of a woman’s body . Suddenly, you are dreaming of a life that is not your own.

Most brands set out to sell product and that’s what they end up doing . However, brands that show another way of living, that provide a goal for a different life, are the ones leave indelible marks on society. They transform the market they are launched in and they leverage the beautiful cycle of educating their customer to know more and want more. They take the time to understand their audience but instead of just catering to them, they create aspirational goals that resonate with the desires of their core audience.