The Church of the Customer recently commented on the success of beloved hermaphrodite and preposterous dresser, Lady Gaga, in all matters branding. The article, “Loyalty Lessons from Lady Gaga,” delves into the elusive source of Gaga’s success, attempting to figure out exactly how someone so bizzare and seemingly unposed for superstardom found such unbelievable success. I mean, she’s no Bob Dylan, lyrics-wise, nor is her voice her greatest asset. And it’s not exactly as though she’s pop-star beautiful. (Post-op-star beautiful, maybe). But she’s made up for these rather significant flaws by becoming one of the most aggressive branding machines out there. So how did Gaga do it right?

1. “Give fans a name”: To celebrate her fans’ loyalty, Gaga christened them her “Little Monsters.” As a matter of fact, she even tattooed the words on her arm and tweeted it. Now, isn’t that the perfect way to create a tribe around your harebrained empire and show the love you feel for it? Yes. Yes it is.

2. “Make it about something bigger than you”: Gaga dedicates each of her shows to her fans (and each of her awards to her gay fanbase). She even recites her “Manifesto of Little Monsters” at each performance, claiming only to be the “jester” to their kings and queens. By letting her fans know that shes knows (that everyone knows) that they have the “power to make or break her,” Gaga has made her success shareable. And so, however much her success may not actually be about her tribe, it sure does feel that way.

3. “Develop shared symbols”: The official icon of the Little Monsters is Gaga’s “Monster Claw” hand. As part of her “Bad Romance” choreography, the monstrous hand gesture has caught on with her fans, Oprah Winfrey chief among them. Now, this is exactly what we talk about when we discuss icons as markers of shared experience. What the “Monster Claw” has come to represent is something much deeper and more meaningful than a silly hand gesture. The icon has become a component of identity-making for fans, demarcating their interest in the aesthetic politics that Gaga stands for.

4. “Make your customers feel like rock stars”: Now, this falls square within the over-delivery portion of Conversationai Capital. Apparently Gaga will randomly select fans to go up on stage during her concert and then invite them out for a drink afterward. In doing this, Gaga doesn’t simply add value to her ticket price but also creates experiences that stand out by virtue of being so “extra.”

5. “Leverage social media”: With five million Facebook fans and three million Twitter followers, Gaga has social media on her side. But it’s not all about quantity with her, it’s quality too. She keeps fans constantly updated, whether at the Grammy’s or waiting for pizza. She even lets her fans film her concerts and then post their videos on Youtube. Clearly this woman has figured out how to benefit from social media and has subsequently enriched her brand as a result.

I’d also like to add some things to The Church of the Customer’s list:

6. Defy expectations: When they expect you to zig, zag. When they expect the ordinary, bring them the extraordinary. When they expect an ornate hair-bow-tie, psych them out with the severed head of Kermit the Frog (with a matching Kermit ensemble, naturally). Gaga may just be the prime example of why the ritual engine of CC doesn’t stack up: nothing about her lasts (and that’s precisely the appeal).

7. Relevant Sensorial Oddity is your friend: If anyone proves our point about the importance of dazzling the senses, it’s this psychopath. Lady Gaga is the branded spectacle par excellence. She challenges people’s tendencies to shut out their environment and has challenged the world with new modes of aestheticism.

8. This might not come up in the day-to-day workings of most brands, but when the press suggests you were born with multiple reproductive organs, OWN. THAT. SHIT. In fact, wear a strap-on on the cover of a major music magazine while proclaiming, “I want everyone to see my dick!” Do it because you don’t care what people think but also do it because it plays into the absurdity of your own myth-making.

As with all pop art whosiwhatsit, Gaga’s appeal is necessarily circumstantial. I mean, why should Gaga’s fame continue to soar when proportionately insane sideshows go by the wayside? For now, it seems that Gaga’s sticking around and that her fanbase is as loyal and fierce as ever. I’d never thought I’d say it, but brands, take note. Gaga is one to watch.

“The brands we choose arguably say something about our identity – what we value in the products we use, how we perceive ourselves,  and how we want to be perceived.”

And so begins a recent PSFK article about Brand Mapping, a visual resource created by Storm Brand DNA that shows what brands people interact with at which point in their day. By visually mapping people’s interaction with brands, we begin to see patterns in how and when people engage in branded experiences and a bigger picture begins to form, one that displays how brand-interactions shape our day-to-day lives. It’s 7 AM? Whip out that Gilette razor and be “all a man can be.” 8 AM rolls around and it’s time to “Think Different” on your Mac. Forget making “Tonight Taco Night,” cause you’re having yesterday’s leftovers of Old El Paso by 1….You see where I’m going with this.

In Conversational Capital, we discuss the ways in which brands can incorporate ritual into consumption experiences. But what this study shows, interestingly, is how people have incorporated brands into the rituals of their lived experiences. In this way, brands have become a banal part of how we experience our time and have helped structure our daily lives. More than that, work like this supports our notion that consumption experiences have become identity shapers and that consumers use brands to create personal narratives. As the article claims, the study doesn’t just articulate what brands we choose to buy, but also “how we want to be percieved.”

As PSFK suggests, as a “standalone visual, the information contained in this infographic might give you a limited perspective into the multitude of brands that this individual chooses.” And so it would be interesting to also graph not only which brands a consumer remembers using throughout his or her day, but also the total number of brands a consumer comes into contact with - visually, accidentally, tangentally - as their day progresses. This would no doubt extend this graph to immeasurable heights. I mean, just think about how many internet windows you have opened right now and how many brands that alone represents. It’s pretty staggering.

The big question mark remaining in this study is why. Why do these consumers choose these brands? Why do they represent something valuable to the consumer? Why Apple over IBM? Why Twitter over Facebook? Why do some brands inspire emotional investment in us where other brands fail?

Those are the questions this data leaves us with. And it’s up to us, as advertisers, to figure those why’s out.

In retrospect, Coca Cola–bane of the environment–might not have been the best choice of companies to openly laud for its green credentials, as we did in a recent post. Still, reducing the carbon emissions associated with packaging is a step in the right direction and we can’t really chastize Big Red for that. But the problem remains: while reducing emissions associated with packaging is a start–a slow one, at that–it can’t be the end goal. And it so happens that one London company, Unpackaged, is proving that sentiment true.

Unpackaged revolves around the “belief that there is a better way to sell food.” Pray tell, Unpackaged: “we want to make it easy for our customers to do the right thing – the right thing for themselves and for the environment.” In a nut shell, that means eliminating all non-reusable packaging at their store, instead requesting that shoppers bring their own bags and packaging, providing only reusable bags for shoppers to purchase. What’s more, the majority of Unpackaged’s food is certified organic and fair trade where possible, showing preference to local suppliers in addition to refusing to sell air-freighted food. And they’re involved in other environmental campaigns. In sum, it’s a bottom-up approach, focusing on eliminating wastes at every possible step of production.

This is an example of a brand that hinges largely on a creative and strictly-applied founding narrative. Since the beginning, Unpackaged’s story has been one of minimizing waste in every practical way. They have truly overhauled traditional commitments to the so-called green movement, which has far too often veered into “greenwashing”/dumb corporate initiative territory. And so I would imagine that an approach like this is definitely something to be talked about.

More than that, requesting that shoppers bring their own packaging means that Unpackaged has incorporated ritual into their brand experience, offering consumers a hook to get conversation going. Oh, and they’re getting some very loud endorsement from the likes of BBC, CBS, The Guardian, The Grocer, Vogue, Tree Hugger…the list goes on and on (although a new site designer wouln’t exactly be uncalled for). In turn, Unpackaged itself endorses fellow do-gooders, linking to inspirational organizations like The Transition Movement and One Planet Living on their homepage.

Unpackaged is only one shop at the moment and, go figure, it’s all the way around the world. But that a company like Unpackaged can survive and thrive should suggest that consumers are excited and willing to brag about a company whose values and commitment seem genuine and unwaivering. From what I understand, Unpackaged is that very company, so let’s hope we see it expand (or at least copy-catted) sometime soon!

As of 2011, the New York Times’ online content will no longer be available for free. Well, that’s the idea at least. Kind of. Allow me to explain:

See, after assuming that print was played out, the New York Times made the questionable decision to begin charging readers for access to their online articles in 2011. The paid model for NYTimes.com, importantly, would be a “metered model.” What this means is that users will be granted free access to a certain number of articles every month before they have their lights cut off. That way, the NYTs will generate a secondary revenue stream, providing “the necessary flexibility to keep an appropriate ratio between free and paid content” while staying “connected to a search-driven web.” Now, those who are already paying for the newspaper’s outrageous subscription fee will of course have access to all of the paper’s online content, but for those freeloaders who max their article limit, well, it’s off to the L.A. Times with you. Oh, the times we’ve had!

While some have argued that, yes, newspapers are a product and as such should not be given away for free, others have highlighted the opportunities that are afforded to sites that maximize their readership by offering free content. The NYTs seems to be caught somewhere in the middle, trying to generate some extra cash while keeping their audience around. But isn’t there another way? I mean, can’t someone save free press for the masses? Who amongst us is willing to stand up and take charge?

ADVERTISERS, THAT’S WHO!

As we trundle closer and closer to 2011, the NYTs metaphorical rent-due-date, Honda is already making the best of a bad situation. See, the misers at The Wall Street Journal have been charging for their content for ages (a business magazine doing business–go figure). But on February 3rd, Honda’s advertising dollars provided the wherewithal to open WSJ.com’s content to everyone. Advertising the Acura ZDX, Honda’s one day partnership with the Wall Street Journal allowed all users to access content which was previously only unlocked for subscribers. What an awesome idea!

If more brands take Honda’s lead and provide access to sites like NYTimes.com, consumers will no doubt respond favourably. Advertising dollars finally put toward providing services, as opposed to simply creating buzz? That’s precisely the kind of over-delivery that consumers are looking for from today’s brands. And what works perfectly about this initiative is that it goes part and parcel with the brand’s recent “Honda Helps” do-gooding.

Let’s hope we see more of this in the future. I need my free New York Times!

Cool Hunting recently posted their “Word-of-Mouth Guide to Oakland,” that focuses on what independent businesses people are talking about in the land of oak. (You can skip along to the video itself over here). Seeing as we, y’know, write a blog about word-of-mouth and everything, we thought we’d take this opportunity to delve into some of Cool Hunting’s selections and see if our Conversational Capital hypotheses stack up. And (you guessed it), they do! Let’s take a look at what I mean…

First up: Manifesto Bicycle Shop. Manifesto Bike Shop is an Oaklandian bike shop that functions with a few central credos: “promote customization, recycling and the spread of urban bike culture.” Getting people to bike, in other words, is Manifesto’s manifesto.  These young politcos focus on “urban bikes” and sponsor art openings as well as a “bike church” on Sunday mornings replete with baked goods and “old church music.” Now, that there is over-delivery. It’s an example of a brand exceeding consumer expectations by offering more than would be expected of them. Those gestures also go by the name of tribalism, helping to form a loyal consumer base by fostering a sense of group identity around their service. I mention again that Manifesto is all about promoting customization, which in CC terms is Exclusive Product Offering. And so it’s a big non-shock that Manifesto has managed to amass such word-of-mouth, especially with credible sources like Cool Hunting endorsing them.

Next on the docket is a little bakery by the name of Bakesale Betty. Bakesale Betty’s “very homestyle, classic American” menu features baked goods and pastries as well as a butter-milk fried chicken sandwich that looks damn good. Their founding myth can be found right there on their website, which tells the story of Betty’s founder (Alison Barakat), who travelled from Australia and arrived in Oakland to sell goods at a local farmer’s market. It was there that she met her husband who opened Betty’s and still to this day they continue to sell at local farmer’s markets. Oh and the video also mentions something about a weird backstory involving a Giraffe muralist. I’m not really sure, either. Just watch the video. Anyway, I should also mention that their blue wigs are exactly the type of unexpected icon that we speak of in Conversational Capital, iconically bringing an image of–I don’t know, utter zaniness?–to the brand. Also, ha! Their website even has a jingle. Hilarious!

Then there’s Bloom Screen Printing, which supplies screen poster resources to graphic designers and fine artists who produce works not unlike the stuff coming out of The Heads of State team. The community around Bloom Screen Printing is an example of a tribe forming organically around a very specific kind of brand. BSP is a part of that community, even being spotted selling silk-screened works at Art Murmur. Oh and they promote public space, etc. So…good for them.

In sum, these business represent a number of different industries and sell a wide array of products. Each of them, however, has enriched their experience (intentionally or not) with the engines of CC. The result: making the word-of-mouth list of a site as widely-read as Cool Hunting. And so, the engines of Conversational Capital have, implicitly or not, been an essential part of these businesses’ success. I would say, then, that our hypotheses stack up quite nicely.

Game and set, as well as match, thank you.

Okay, so the “green movement” isn’t really the most topical subject of conversational at this point. That said, I’m willing to point out great creative work when I see it-especially when it serves the purposes of environmentalists. And so, let’s talk about some brand new, Conversational Capital-worthy green initiatives taking place around the blogosphere.

First up: Creative Review’s compostable packaging (which, coincidentally, features Sid Lee right on the cover. Bonus points to them)! Creative Review’s new shipping packaging is fully compostable, made from something called “Harmless-Compost,” part of a range of compostable goods from Cyberpac. Now, the bag is for subscribers only, so you won’t find them on newsstands. Still, Creative Review has to package magazines sent in the mail (to protect it during shipping and for a place to put the address) and they’ve determined that the best way to do this, eco-wise, is to rid themselves of that pesky petroleum-based plastic packaging. Along with the compostable packaging, Creative Review has also thrown in tomato seeds, to encourage would-be greenthumbs to get into the garden and grow. Now, before anyone gets in a huff, the whole bag (i.e., inks included) are all biodegradable and tested for toxicity. This means that food growing out of that bag is suitable for consumption and, needless to say, that’s exactly the point. Creative Review has recieved some excellent press for this creative and practical initiative, proving that you really do reap what you sow.

Next: WhatisFresh, a New York-based website that allows users to search for the best local, seasonal and farmer’s markets in their communities. The site is divided into several categories (vendors, markets and products), which detail weekly calendars for markets in addition to listing all the farmers involved (including what they produce) and the products that are for sale. WhatisFresh is a perfect example of how social media can be incorporated into day-to-day efforts at staying green, with an easy-to-use interface that makes shopping local anything but a chore.

Finally, there’s these new Coke bottles, made partly from the leftovers of sugar cane plants. Coke has reduced the use of petroleum-based plastics for their bottles by nearly 30%, helping to reduce their carbon footprint by up to 19%. Now, while 19% may not sound like a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, it’s actually quite a lot. I mean, consider the billions of Coke bottles currently circling the globe. Now consider that the carbon footprint of 1/5 of those bottles has been eliminated. That’s some massive change! The bottles recently made their debut in Denmark, the host of last month’s United Nations Climate Change Summit and we can only hope to see them on this side of the Atlantic sooner rather than later.

What makes each of these initiatives Conversational Capital-worthy is their ability to disrupt and exceed the expectations that we have of brands, particularly those amongst the horde of quasi-green companies that almost always leave something to be desired. Because the potency of traditional advertising and marketing has becoming increasingly reduced, brands will have to learn to distinguish themselves from the ubiquitous masses in highly innovative ways and that’s exactly what these three brands have done. That they do so on such creative yet simple terms certainly doesn’t hinder their efforts either.

But, at the end of the day, the goal is green, so congrats to these brands for making what steps they can towards that end.

MyBrandz is a new social networking site for brand fans.

The point of the site is to allow consumers to publically declare their allegiance to particular brands, while hosting a space in which they can post brand-related content, all in an effort to engage consumers in a two-way conversation and, more generally, to facilitate endorsement. MyBrandz is currently also playing host to a contest that’s giving away 100 free shares of the top-traded brands, including Apple, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Disney. So if you want to get a chance at that, head on down. Anyway, this video introduces the service and helps elucidate the intents behind it. (Incidentally, it also illustrates what “social networking” is. Now, if only they would explain that “the internet” thing, we’d be in business). Continuing, the video claims that “MyBrandz has created an online, independent community for all the brand lovers around the world, where you can talk, share and update,” before pausing to question, “do people really love brands that much?”

To help find an answer, the impresarios behind MyBrands headed to Burning Man to uncover the most subversive, non-commercial people on the planet and ask them what they think of brands. Answer: they’re into them. Case closed…or not. See, MyBrandz then went to “Free Tattoo Day” in San Francisco where 130 people had registered to tattoo logos onto their bodies. This helped the people behind MyBrandz deduce that if fans were willing to tattoo a logo onto their bodies, they’d also probably be willing to sign up for a free, brand-devoted service. And what kind of person is that?

Anyway, a service like MyBrandz pretty much cements us as prophets of things to come. With the publishing of Conversational Capital two summers ago, we argued that “stories about consumption experiences have become identity shapers” in addition to claiming that “consumers use brands to create personal narratives.” Well, one MyBrandz site, several social media revolutions and eight episodes of Jersery Shore later, we’re pretty much seeing our ideas come to fruition. More than ever people are incorporating brands into their day-to-day lives. What’s more, people are using brands and branded experiences to help convey who they are, what their preferences are and how they spend their lives. Pauly D, for instance, wants you to know that, like Cadillac, he is the mirror image of class and luxury, with all the panache of a Kennedy. Also, like the gas-guzzling Escalade, the hair products that motor his brainbox are slowly destroying the ozone layer.

Jokes aside, this is really the crux of the book: experience means something to consumers and they’re more than happy to share that with others. From a brand perspective, this is where money can be made. Instead of being routed into advertising fees, we focus on what will get people talking. And this feature–this horizontal movement of information–is precisely what is relevant to MyBrandz, a site that has provided a space in which to emphasize the ways we’ve incorporated brands into our lives.

But the real question: will a site like MyBrandz function successfully?

Only time will tell.

Ah, James Cameron. Everytime I attempt to escape your clutches, you suck me right back in again.

While Avatar may have experienced a slow burn at the box-office in opening week, it’s now secured Cameron the bragging rights of being the biggest second weekend total in history (with $75 million), the fastest film to reach $1 billion at the box office and, oh yeah, in four short weeks it’s now amongst the top ten highest grossing films in US history (and might soon become a competitor for the number one spot, up against Cameron’s other titanic money-maker). It’s literally gotten to the point that audiences are being pleaded to redirect their hard-earned cash to Haiti instead of the film.

These kinds of numbers can’t be explained away by the fact that, if you’re James Cameron, your bright blue freak show is actually a half-billion dollar bombshell. Nor are they the result of the film’s PG-13 rating, which Cameron allegedly secured by ridding the film of a Na’vi sex scene that now sleeps on the editing room floor. And it’s not as though the film’s cast was a big draw (no offense, Sigourney Weaver). No, Avatar’s success is the result of the emphatic endorsement of Avatards who’ve broadcast their love for the film left, right and center. Enter: Conversational Capital.

When we talk about Conversational Capital, we’re talking about the authority of word-of-mouth. And that authority can serve to convert, endear and leverage audiences, much to the benefit of filmmakers everywhere. So even if your film “groans under the weight of clumsy storytelling in the second half and features some of the most godawful dialogue this side of Attack of the Clones,” some influential support for it (from the right kinds of people) can still, well, put it on the way to becoming one of the highest grossing films in the history of cinema. And while I can’t speak to the experience of having seen the film myself, I can say that that kind of support is there and it’s there in spades.

When people find something meaningful in a product, they’re willing to make it part of their own story as they recommend it to friends and pass their interpretations of the experience onward. These kinds of stories about consumption experiences are particularly salient when they come from certified tastemakers and it’s exactly those kinds of people who, I would wager, are responsible for so much of Avatar’s success. And, hey, if those people aren’t getting their point across, maybe the film’s Golden Globe wins will bolster the film’s box-office earnings. Either way, it’s undeniable that Avatar has recieved a boost from word-of-mouth. I mean, I could care less about the movie, but I do know that it’s a film that needs to be seen. And so, while I initially had no intentions of hopping on that big, blue bandwagon, I’d say that it’s near well guaranteed that I will soon.

In summation: James Cameron, you win another round. Now please just buy an farflung island somewhere off the east Lanai, gold-plate the whole thing and then just leave me alone!

As though Facebook hadn’t already infected all sectors of your life, it will now be in your body.

Thanks to Glacéau, the makers of Vitamin Water, you will soon be able to slurp the world’s first Facebook-inspired drink. The new black cherry-lime flavoured Vitamin Water, dubbed “Connect,” launches in March and will feature Facebook logos and slanguage all over the bottle, alongside a new label and the usual Vitamin Water bottle palaver. Recalling Mtn Dew’s Dewmocracy, the new flavour was the result of online voting and, yes, a little viral video hype as well.

See, the infomercial-style vid that Vitamin Water produced features the admittedly hilarious “Canadian celebrity” Steve Nash and it also leveraged the brand’s symbiotic relationship with 50 Cent. As BrandFreak recounts, the “two parts too-soon Billy Mays spoof” encourages Vitamin Water fans to participate in the “flavourcreator” Facebook application, where they can propose new flavours for the brand. Now, how Vitamin Water’s million-plus Facebook friends could collectively blunder and will black-cherry lime flavoured water into being is anyone’s guess, but they did. And now those same people are responsible for deciding the name and look of the new drink. Hello, “Connect.”

Now, it’s not all bad. Yes, there are finger prints all over the label (weird). And yes, it’s a “Facebook-inspired” drink (worse). But!, at least it reflects a brand’s strong commitment to its tribal following and ensures that the opinions and ideas of its fanbase are being voiced in a reciprocal conversation. Democratic decision-making, social media call-and-response and, ultimately, the creation of a new drink experience are all part of what makes this initiative worthy of tribal appeal. It shows that Vitamin Water has over-delivered when it comes to audience response and has created a product that’s devoted to those who are devoted to the product. What’s more, when people feel involved in the process of creating a product, they’ll be more apt to endorse it to friends, family and colleagues.

And, hey, if all that fails, maybe the addictive capacity (burden?) of Facebook will somehow rub off on this flavour.

Maybe.

Quoth Kanye West: “This was well done.”

Well, thanks, Yeezy.

See, Kanye’s talking about the new spot that Sid Lee produced for adidas Originals in anticipation of the brand’s new 2010 adidas Originals Star Wars collaboration. The ad itself welcomes you to “the street, where originality comes to life as artists, athletes, and celebs celebrate their style. Everyone’s invited to our street corner along with some special guests, who traveled from a galaxy far, far away to launch a year’s worth of celebrations.” What this translates into is Snoop, Beckham, Darth Vader and a bunch of international celebrities partying in some Blade Runner-esque landscape, except with more adidas and break-dancing and a lot less homicidal robots on the whole. (Daft Punk excluded, naturally).

Being a Sid Lee joint, the spot features some hallmarks of Conversational Capital. For starters, it has leveraged the endorsement of certified taste-makers from a number of different industries and nations. That kind of trusted endorsement, from celebrities who remain relevant to various tribes, is exactly what persuades consumers to try new things. And I would wager that these tastemakers are exactly the kinds of people who will be able to successfully share their enthusiasm for the brand with a wide consumer base.

The myths of Star Wars and adidas Originals might at first seem disparate ones, but consider that the two overlap in being retro-revivals. That is, adidas Originals and Star Wars see their birth in the mid-to-late 20th Century but both have been retrofitted for a new generation. And so it makes sense that the collaboration (adidas Originals’ biggest to date) should bring together “a striking collection of sneakers and apparel inspired by the characters and crafts youve followed for a lifetime.” It’s all about the authentic, time-tested traditions that both brands exude.

In true Conversational Capital form, the piece also features “the most iconic moments and beloved figures from the Star Wars saga” who have been “translated to the streets, telling their creative story across a forceful collection of adidas Originals footwear and apparel.” And that story–as I’ve mentioned–is one of originality, creativity, individuality and authenticity, the founding principles behind the brand. The iconic sounds of the Imperial March have even been remixed, providing a sonic boom to an old tune.

Launched only four scant days ago, the video has already scored over 430,000 views! Couple that with positive press across the blogosphere and it would seem adidas (and Sid Lee!) has a viral hit on its hands.

Congrats!