How Cool Brands Stay Hot- Joeri Van den Bergh and Mattias Behrer

So this post is a summary of all the most useful stuff for my project taken from the book How Cool Brands Stay Hot: Branding to generation Y. by Joeri Van den Bergh and Mattias Behrer. The first version of the book was published in March 2011 and I am using the updated version with new case studies published in March 2013. I would also like to point that I am using an eBook version of the book therefore page numbers will not reflect each other or the printed version of the book due to zooming capabilities. For this reason I have been less vigilant with page numbers.

Some of the sections/quotes I have pulled out relate to how brands connect with consumers in general and others have specific references to Hollister and Abercrombie.

The following video gives an intro to some of the areas covered in the book which is focused on Generation Y (13-29 year olds (In 2013).) It also gives background information on what defines Generation Y.

QUOTES FROM THE BOOK:

“If young people get positive feedback when consuming your brand, it will be more likely to find an emotional connection with them. This will lead to a stronger place for your brand in a youth's self identity.” P43

“Youngsters join animal rights movements, become members of political parties or organize social actions with their youth movements. Brands and products are not spared from their critical judgements. Company processes, origin of goods and advertising are studied and can be used as a symbol of protest. Other brands embrace this idealism by explicitly supporting good causes.”

“The length of a Time cover story has dropped from 4,500 to 2,800 words in the past 20 years. Average news sound-bites have slipped from 42 seconds in 1965 to a present-day low of 8 seconds. We want more entertainment better and faster.” 

“For Generation Xers, brands were communicating status and had to express that they were winners. For Generation Yers, brands are toolds for communicating who they are”

“Your brands needs to mirror the values and identity of the youngsters you are targeting. Brands that communicate a similar view of life will be more appealing.”

“To experience brands in exciting environments contributes to arousal. Positive emotions are one of the most important reasons why this generation of stimulation junkies will be loyal to your offer.”

“Gen Yers put more trust in people and social connections. Hot brands value the role of employees, shop personnel and ambassador clients to defend and spread their DNA.”