This post will investigate the idea of cultural branding introduced by Douglas Holt, as well as will look into a specific example of a brand that uses this concept.
Cultural Branding
As written by Liz Moor in her book The Rise of Brands, „Branding has taken on a new significance in the last fifteen to twenty years (…)” (Moor, 2007, p.15) The idea of cultural branding was introduced by Douglas Holt. As explained by him in his book How Brands become Icons, the cultural branding approach rely on a performance of a myth. As written by Holt, „(…) Identity myth embedded in the brand leads customers to associate the product with category benefits, to spread the myth by word of mouth, to emote, and to gather together.” (Holt, 2004, p. 35) In this approach, the value of a brand resides in it specifics of cultural expression – the cultural contents of the myth and the expression of it in communication. (Holt, 2004) In his book, he compares this idea with three different, classical models of branding: emotional, mind-share and viral. But, as he argues, only a brand with a cultural brand model can become iconic. (Holt, 2004) In her book Naomi Klein has a more critical look on the idea of branding. She explains that the idea of branding came around 80s, as a result of a „collapse” of big manufacturers due to production of too many things. The whole idea of branding was introduced by companies such as Windows, Intel, Nike and Tommy Hilfiger. (Klein, 1999) As she writes „What these companies produced primarily were not things, they said, but images of their brands. Their real work lay not in manufacturing but in marketing” (Klein, 2000, p. n/d) Her main concerns about the brands is how they control the news channels, how the sponsorship and the creation of content by the brands makes stuff meaningless. Klein written her book as a criticism of the corporations and capitalism. In her speeches and articles she refers a lot to an anti-globalization movement that took place in Seattle in 1999. Ten years after the release of her book and the protests taking place, she writes „One of our movement’s challenges back in 1999 was that, in the midst of the euphoria of the dot-com boom, few were interested in hearing about the downside of capitalism. Ten years later, perhaps our movement’s time has come.” (Revisiting No Logo, Ten Years Later, 2010) In one of her speeches, she says „The point is, today everyone can see that the system is deeply unjust and careening out of control. Unfettered greed has trashed the global economy.” (Occupy Wall Street: The Most Important Thing in the World Now, 2011) She sees today’s world as a world falling even deeper into what she explained in her book in 1999.
What gives Red Bull it’s wings:
One would argue that Red Bull company uses the emotional branding model. As explained by Holt in his book, the emotional branding rely on a interpersonal connection between the brand and the customer, treating the brand more like a religion, and overall a deep relationship with the brand. But, as mentioned before, Holt points out that a brand that does not use the cultural branding model cannot be iconic. And Red Bull is definitely an iconic brand. Red Bull GMBH was established in 1984 and it’s most important product – Red Bull energy drink was first introduced on the Austrian market in 1987. Nowadays, the brand does not rely too much anymore on the advertisement of the energy drink itself, but it tries to sell their myth – the myth of a particular lifestyle you can achieve while consuming their product. The „Red Bull gives you wings” slogan is itself a „myth” promise from the brand, pointing back to the energetic properties of their product.
But how then Red Bull is an iconic brand, and how the cultural branding model and the idea of myth works here? The myth of this brand is developed through the concept of sponsoring in sports. Red Bull sells their myth of a young, risky athlete through their sponsorings and participation in different sport categories around the world. From Formula One teams and other racing classes to Freestyle Motocross, Skateboarding, Football, BMX and even Air Racing, Red Bull is the most iconic brand in terms of teams and athletes. They own numerous teams (Red Bull Racing, Red Bull Salzburg, Red Bull Junior Team, Repsol Honda to name few), but also sponsor individual athletes such as Ryan Sheckler, Adam Malysz, Mark Webber, David Coulthard to mention just a few from thousands of them. The role of the consumer in the relation with Red Bull is not only the interaction with the brand – it is the personalization of the brand’s myth to fit the customers personal story. People around the world share their personal stories in terms of the usage of the product, but also in terms of for example being a spectator in a sport event where Red Bull had it’s contribution. Red Bull as a brand became iconic not just because their product, which is recognizable in most parts of the world, but the lifestyle they are trying to impose and sell to their customers. Because of that, to tie back once again to Douglas Holt – Red Bull as a brand follows the cultural branding model.
I hope that my post made you understand more the model of cultural branding and what it entails. I hope to see you here with my next post, bye!
Reference list:
Holt, D. B.
(2004). How Brands become Icons. The Principles of Cultural Branding. Cambridge Mass.: Harvard Business School Press. (Chapters 1 and 2) (SB HF 5415.153/ SW HF 5415.153)
Klein, N.
(1999). No Logo: no space, no choice, no jobs: taking aim at the brand bullies. New York: Picador. (Chapter 1 and 2) (SB HF 5415.152/ SB HF 5415.152, see also https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/k/klein-logo.html)
Klein, N.
(2009). Revisiting No Logo, Ten Years Later. Retrieved from: www.huffington post.com/naomi-klein/revisiting-no-logo-ten-ye_b_359372.html.
Klein, N.
(2011). Occupy Wall Street: The Most Important Thing in the World Now. Retrieved from: http://www.thenation.com/article/163844/occupy-wall-street-most-important-thing-world-now.
Moor, L.
(2007).The Rise of Brands. Oxford / New York: Berg, pp. 15–38. (chapter 2).