The Beyond Branding Blog

Here is how we -at Club of 1Village* 2City* 3Country,*4EntrepreneurialRevolution * 5Exponentials * 6Disruptive Agents *7GlobalReconciliation - are trying to explain this to the hardest most cynical audience - American policy buffs 1 2 3. One of them admitted last night on American Public tv that culture was the missing variable. Apart from calling cultures moutains to climb, he didnt explain further what culture actually interacts

so here's one serve at that; doubtless like any game of tennis, this will need 100 serves or more before the rules of how to play up to wimbledon championship levels -which other vilages and cities have already voted for carnivalisation as the most valued missing practive of brand marketing?

1 you can join individually or in a group weblog representing your city's wish to collaborate in carnivalisation - http://clubofvillage.blogspot.com

2 why would you? well on the Brooks interview show of 12 Jan 2006 culture came up as the mystery variable connecting all our futures? will Iraq's cultural dynamics uptilt or downtilt proving Bush*Blair (or American*English cultural codes) right or wrong for what the world waves next; or internally think New Orleans - the carnivalsiation epicentre of the states- imagine if every US city had wanted to learn just a bit of carnivalsiation fun from New Orleans how much more connected, more values these peoples futures and histories would be; especially as I have a sneaky suspicion that the first twin city of carnivalisation is richly cultural New York http://clubofnewyork.blogspot.com

3 why wouldn't you - if other US cities don't want to partner New Orleans in understanding how Carnilvalisation can lead to more real marketing and colaboration in celebrity and celebration than ads alone, I know of 3 cities ready and being financed to do so - from Rio to the Bahamas to Manilla

4 But yes debating exactly how carnivalisation gives everyone a fun role on the same stage from top to bottom, across localities and cross-culturally is an emerging professional practice (one that a fringe network of brand and media experts linking about 100 people have been combining cases on for 15 years to my knowledge, which I was lucky enough to walk into when I authored the book World Class Brands 15 in 1991)

if you need more contextual Q&A on the above I am chris macrae wcbn007@easynet.co.uk

PS The greatest brand I ever helped to transform used these carnivalisation techniques as written up in Brand Chartering Handbook 1996:

Lux soap
Lux is the most value brand by the women of SE Asia - it could be a company brand worth far more than Unilever itself but only because it started as a low ticket item connectimng all women's sel-confidence (the 2nd and greater beauty a woman owns particular in societies that need to empower women). What this means is that the mix of Lux should always be as much about carnivalisation (women seeing how they co-creat culture as advertising spots). When we chartered this in one S E Asia country, the ad agency got very cross with me. No we could not have even 1% of their tv budget on carnivalisation. A brave female marketer said: while we do have a small radio budget; how about starting a campaign where people canphone up the radio with songs on why Lux is their favourite time of day. The contest became so popular that radio cahannels ended up competing to run it for free. And as for cutsomers and society, I happened to be in the country a few years later and asked a few women randomly when I say Lux, what are you aware of. The radion song competition was the reply- because it made you feel you too could be a star for a day.

World Class brands use their platform (not theor product manifestations) to carnivalise, bridge cultures, uplift minorities until they are confident they are in Ogilvy's words renbewed as much a part of the scoail favric of the nation or community as everyine else. And they have fun doing so. And because of this they do not need expensive budgets; they word of mouth and connect bthat community of people which te brand's life and style relies on anyhow. Well anyohow that's how I see it after 30 years of researching millions of hours of customer and societal interviews; happy of course to hear how you map treal branding.

chris macrae wcbn007@easynet.co.uk

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