Tuesday, February 13, 2007

You Don't Own Your Brand - You Never Did

Cisco have taken the user generated communcations i have blogged about before (superbowl, dove, coke) to the next level with a constantly evolving definition of their brand.

The campaign involved multiple channels to communicate their positioning: "The internet isn't a network of computers, it's a network of people. Cisco is unleashing the power of the human network."

Initially they asked key luminaries to define "The Human Network", these were posted on their site and consumers were asked to rate each one.

The best were used as the start point for a wikipedia entry which to this day is constantly defined and redefined by their audience.

A living brand.

Disclosure: This was developed out of Ogilvy's LA & NYC office though I was not personally involved.

Tags: , , , ,

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

All brands are living. they get born, evolve and eventually die. The customer experience and word of mouth defines the brand eventually.

Anonymous said...

Yes, there's only so much you can do with advertising to build a brand. If the product doesn't live up to the brand promise everybody loses.

Anonymous said...

With the fragmentation of mass media into micro-channels, it's becoming harder and harder to build big brands. Online companies seem to be the exception because they tap into existing networks of users.