Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Is There An Ambient Brand?



I have been thinking about this question for ages. Trying to weave together ideas and observations from branding, cultural change, economic transformation, consumer trends and shifting values. Just about everything really. It is all starting to come together around the idea of an ambient brand.

The branding community has come to accept the idea that brands are no longer fully owned or controlled by corporations. That they have drifted away into social, often virtual communities that have a say in forming them. If that is true, then brands have become social and there is a need for a new paradigm through which to understand and leverage them.

An ambient brand, according to me, is a virtual space, defined by social needs and values, and occupied by a community of like-minded people. Unlike a traditional brand, it is entirely independent of products and their parent corporations. Instead it exists as a shared values space where consumers gather, converse and ultimately transact with organizations that are in alignment with the values associated with that community. The label "brand" is justified by the fact that the ambient brand is a distinct identity to which products and services can attach in order to attract the engagement and loyalty of customers.

Corporations do not create ambient brands. They must qualify for inclusion within them by demonstrating that they share the values and will service the interests of their associated communities. The brands develop organically as a result of emerging social and cultural codes and are materialized through people’s ability to organize around them through the use of mainly virtual communities on the web.

Ambient brands literally turn the traditional concept of branding on its head and put people, in place of products at the heart of campaigns. This makes for an interesting set of opportunities from the perspective of companies looking to develop relationships with various communities of consumers. It begs the question “what is an ambient brand campaign and how do you execute one?”