English Unlimited HAK/HUM 4/5, Schulbuch mit Audio-CD und CD-ROM (mit Handelskorrespondenz)

112 It’s all about advertising 09 LANGUAGE SKILLS EXPLORE EXTRAS Across cultures: Megabrands You will read writer Naomi Klein’s views about the growth of ‘megabrands’ and how they may be shaping cultures. 1 What do you think a ‘megabrand’ is? 2 In what way do successful companies sell ideas as well as products? Read her views and discuss these questions. 1 What is the main development in marketing brands that Naomi Klein describes? 2 What are the ‘lifestyle ideas’ that these companies sell?   Coca-Cola    Walt Disney    Nike 3 She says that increasingly the measure of a successful brand is not whether it’s truly a mark of quality on a product, but how well it stretches. What does she mean by this? Can you think of examples? a READiNg 25 b The process of branding in its simplest form is just the process of marking a product with a consistent logo, image, mascot, that sends a message to the consumer – a message of consistency, a message of quality. How did we get from this fairly simple role of the brand to these brand tribes that we have now, where we almost follow brands like we would follow rock stars? We organise ourselves into brand tribes, we are a Nike type of person or a Tommy Hilfiger type of person. How did that happen? There were a handful of brands that understood that marketing could play a larger role than simply branding their product as a mark of quality. They understood that they could sell ideas, that they could sell lifestyles. Coca-Cola, Disney, McDonald’s – these core American brands became powerful precisely because they understood that they were selling ideas instead of products, that they were selling an idea about family. Coca-Cola was selling the youth lifestyle – in the 60s they started selling peace and love – they were selling something way more profound than their fairly generic product, which was this black fizzy liquid. Walt Disney understood that he was selling the American dream, he was selling a nostalgic vision of the small-time American town that people felt sad about – they felt it had disappeared. The founder of Nike, Phil Knight, says that he had a kind of an epiphany in the mid-80s where he realised that he didn’t want to compete in a commodity marketplace any more, that he did not want to be a sneaker company, or, as he said, a fashion company. He wanted to be a sports company. And that their core image or their core idea was not about their sneakers being better than Reeboks but was an idea about the nature of sports, and that pure athletic ability – the raw ability of truly superstar athletes like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan – is a metaphor for the American dream, and so he decided to sell that idea. The measure of a successful brand more and more is not whether it’s truly a mark of quality on a product, but how well it stretches. If it’s a successful cola, can it also be a line of clothing? If it’s a line of clothing, can it also be a house paint? So you have this stratosphere of warring megabrands that want to be everywhere and be everything. Discuss these questions. 1 Which of the brands Naomi Klein mentions are well-known in Austria? Which of them have you bought yourself? 2 Do you think large companies can influence people’s lifestyle? Do you think they are generally beneficial or harmful in their effect on people? Work alone. Some people object to the influence of global companies and the way they operate, and campaign to boycott their products. What reasons do they give for this, and do you agree with them? Mark your position on the line. I agree.   I disagree. Find other students who have a similar view to yours. Find out if you think exactly the same, and discuss the reasons for your opinion. Now talk to students who have a different opinion. Discuss your ideas. SPEAKiNg 26 a 27 b c Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv