Oct 24, 2008
John Grant: “I wonder about the longevity of branding”
Famed planner John Grant is now well known as a sustainability consultant. But not only in the environmental sense – he holds strong views on the sustainability of brands in an era of greater transparency and accountability. An era in which brands are being compelled to stand for something relevant in peoples lives.
John is one of the keynotes at the upcoming trends conference Consumer Alchemy ‘08. Hosted by Gfk Roper, here’s a short teaser we prepared earlier.
And below you’ll find the actual podcast chat (c. 20mins) with two other keynotes as they talk through trends they are seeing and what brands are doing, and can do, to capitalise on these trends (as usual, there’s a full list of talking points after the fold).
STARRING
- John Grant, independent brand strategy consultant (blog)
- Nick Chiarelli, global trends expert, GfK Roper Consulting
- Pamela Hamilton, head of creative development, ITV Imagine
TIMELINE [22:36]
00:00 Intro.
01:57 Trends being witnessed: global unevenness of credit crunch; adjusting to new realities; culture clashes as BRIC countries repurpose western values; megacities.
05:09 Climate change and confidence: the year of the small car, no longer eco luxury.
07:28 Consumers want simplicity of choice.
08:19 People want meaning (engagement, co-creation, spirituality).
10:36 Globalisation: developing economies have a huge appetite for cultural globalisation.
12:36 The globalisation paradox in entertainment.
13:46 Implications for brands: shifting from fantasy to authentic stories (Apple, Dove).
16:06 Resolving brand contradictions at Unilever.
17:30 Shifting curencies in an online world (reputation etc.).
19:37 Health: an example of globalisation in an holistic sense.
NOTABLE MENTIONS
“The Green Marketing Manifesto”, John Grant.
Apple.
BBC.
Brazil.
China.
Cisco.
Climate change.
Credit crunch.
Dove.
Economy.
Eric Hobsbawm.
GE.
Globalisation.
Health paradox.
IKEA.
India.
Kodak.
Levi.
Lynx.
Powergen.
Prius.
Steve Jobs.
Trends.
Unilever.
World of Warcraft.
MUSIC
Music courtesy of Jakit Patrick from the Podsafe Music Network.
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