How to Create Cool Brands and Stay Cool

Researchers at University of
Michigan Ross School of Business have identified ten characteristics than can
make a brand cool and popular among consumers. On the basis of surveys,
interviews and experiments on focus groups, the team found that cool brands are
perceived to be extraordinary, aesthetically appealing, energetic, high status,
rebellious, original, authentic, subcultural, iconic and popular.
"Brands initially become
cool to a small subculture by being original, authentic, rebellious,
exceptional and aesthetically pleasing,” said Rajeev Batra, a marketing
professor at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and a former
brand manager. “We refer to these brands as niche cool."
The study, forthcoming in the
Journal of Marketing, was co-authored by Richard Bagozzi, a U-M professor of
behavioral science in management, Caleb Warren of the University of Arizona,
and Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro of the University Institute of Lisbon.
The research details how brands
can go from niche cool to mass cool, in which they are perceived to be more
popular and iconic, like Apple. But the research could also be used by people
trying to market social issues or causes like how to make recycling more cool
for wider adoption, Batra said.
It’s the first study to
identify and validate the 10 components a brand can use to be considered cool
by consumers. It can help brands diagnose their strengths and weaknesses, and
figure out they need to do to correct their coolness weaknesses.
"Our structural model
allows managers to drill down into which component of coolness are of greater
importance in shaping overall coolness and how these might vary across
geographies, consumer segments and time,” Bagozzi said. “Our components can also
be used for pre-testing and evaluating different marketing programs."
Not all of the characteristics
are necessary for every brand and every consumer segment, but increasing any of
these characteristics tends to make a brand seem cooler. For example, Nike is widely
seen as cool because its shoes are highly desirable, look good, signal energy
and have extraordinary quality. Apple shows positive autonomy by being original
and authentic, even as it has grown to become very popular. Harley-Davidson
became cool when a subculture of outlaw bikers, who lent the brand a
rebellious, iconic image, adopted the brand. BMW, conversely, is cool in part
because it has become a popular status symbol.
“We also talk about brands that
are about to lose their cool. It’s not inevitable, but they can become so
widely used and diffuse that they lose whatever gave them coolness in the
beginning,” Batra said. “Others have maintained that coolness by staying
connected to their niche like Nike has by staying connected with athletes having
a rebellious persona, like Colin Kaepernick.”
Others, though, lose their
cool. As brands such as Quicksilver, Rocawear and Supreme expand from a fringe
group of outsiders to mass-marketed magazines and suburban shopping malls, they
start to seem less rebellious, original, authentic and extraordinary—and less
cool—to their original subcultural consumers of surfers, rappers and skaters.
Source: University of Michigan
RECOMMENDED NEWS