*** Photos of Cottweiler looks from Cottweiler Instagram ***
Before I launch into my blurb, I must have you go through a taste of Daniel Swan.
Okay... Are y'all back to reality? That was a trip, eh!? Nice. Now calm your nerves and recollect your synapses. In similar fashion to the very last video, Swan created TIME SHARES for Cottweiler's SS15. Now online as a Dazed Digital Exclusive, it was originally featured in an exhibition at the Institution of Contemporary Arts in London. The greatest part of the video is its almost non-existent storyboard yet each of the twenty-one ingredients of Cottweiler's SS15 collection is showcased in the video's simulated environment. Did you catch that? SIMULATED. Dazed states that "Time Shares reflects one boy's journey, developing his perception of futurism into a place where organic matter can directly affect him," and this is a short and powerful sentence that the viewers can also emphasize with.
** Unfortunately... Time Shares cannot be embedded into this blog post due to it being an exclusive thing to Dazed Digital. Hence, I recommend you to CLICK THIS LINK AND WATCH EXHIBIT A BEFORE READING ONWARDS TO FURTHER BRANDING-RELATED REMARKS.
************************************************
Well, this is an explicative example of our modern time's ability to create a full circle of imagery and associations through multiple channels of absolutely no relations--in this case, the channels are video, clothing, print publication, and physical location--to ultimately influence consumers. We get here by taking a deeper journey than just enjoying the aesthetic elements; we are done licking off the icing now, so let's take a bite into the red velvet cupcake.
First, we analyze the channels that I have mentioned above.
VIDEO: Experimental British filmmaker, Daniel Swan.
CLOTHING: The British menswear brand, Cottweiler, which designs anti-British and totally colourless collections.
PRINT PUBLICATION: The British magazine Dazed's counterpart, Dazed Digital's exclusive premiere of Swan's SS15 Cottweiler film.
PHYSICAL LOCATION: ICA, the radical yet most ideal British venue to showcase this avant-garde combination of fashion, music, and film.
The common theme? "British Power."
Second, we look into the associations of each portal/outlet used.
DANIEL SWAN: Super underground, slow, secretive, unknown, mysterious, talented, musical, experimentalist...
COTTWEILER: Simple, minimal, beyond hip, blasé, indifferent, casual, coveted but not gonna share it...
DAZED DIGITAL: Fast, alternative, informational, sick, no fucks given, offbeat, the well-curated "weird part of YouTube"...
ICA: Radical, London, art, culture, life, breaking boundaries, independent, attitude...
The common theme? "I'm beating you at everything that you are trying to do but I'm never going to let you know that I am because I'm too cool for that." Is that too wordy? How about... "Seek us and be rewarded." That's maybe too abstract. Hmmm. I'll give another go at creating a theme... "Underrated Brilliance"...?
Have you caught on to it yet? The internet and the ease of content sharing enforces that every single consumer touchpoint in relation to the brand is a critical factor. That the channel, the how's of getting there, and the knowledge of where your target market exists online plus how they behave is the key. Maybe being sensitive, intuitive, and quite distinctive artists themselves, Cottweiler achieved such a successful and fully-embraced branded campaign.
The response is measured in all micro-micro details (eg. personalization) while the execution has to be on a grand scale: In the film itself, everything screamed Cottweiler while the brand itself stayed hidden to the public view. By having an installation at the ICA, the film gained credentials in the highly selective culture world, gaining the opportunity to be featured in Dazed Digital. They then chose quality over quantity (engagement vs. reach) by having Time Shares be EXCLUSIVE content, thus gaining impressed viewership (me!).
Previously a devout follower of Dazed, I'm now following Swan & Cottweiler's pages on like every channel. #ShamelesslyAdmitting. Maybe the style is more about what I like... But in the end, they have my faith, following, and blog post, hehe. #PowerOfContent
No comments:
Post a Comment