col’s blog

image below sent to me by miss laurs, inspired (i think) by my latest internet suitor, courtesy of graphjam.

i was thinking more about the overalls dude and wuz reminded of the article from this week’s nytimes mag. excerpt:

II. FACEBOOK OVERALLS

Jack Hitt, NYTimes contributing writer: Let me give you a scenario. I’m the somewhat desperate C.E.O. of a company called Jack’s Overalls. We manufacture functional clothes, and in the era of corporate farming, our market is fading. My younger vice presidents are telling me that we need to try new media. So I’m turning to you: Why should I even consider these emerging media? Can’t I just spend my money on old-school, 30-second spots on prime-time television?

LARS BASTHOLM, chief creative officer at AKQA: Well, we do have a ton of different new media and new ways to use them. But before we get there, I would suggest that first, you take a step backward and ask yourself, How do I make my brand relevant? Overalls are a staple of Americana, a cultural icon. The question is, How can you make overalls relevant to people today, and how can you use these different media channels to accomplish that?

BENJAMIN PALMER, the C.E.O. of the Barbarian Group: Your customers in the past have been farmers. Overalls are a commodity.

ROBERT RASMUSSEN, the executive creative director of the Nike account at R/GA: Very functional. And your market is shrinking.

Palmer: So you have to create a new market. Farming may be going away, but what’s on the rise? Right now your overalls are made with special pockets and holders for farming tools. Maybe we retool them for urban farmers, as it were, and their specialized gear. You have special pockets for your iPhone and your BlackBerry, and a pocket for your headphones, another for your wallet, your subway card, your keys.

the article itself is old news … all the stuff they’re saying media companies should do to build brands, they’re already doing (and have been since the late 90’s). the trend will increasingly disintermediate advertising agencies … who needs ‘em if you have the right media partners … and within the next 5 years you’ll see brands going directly to the media companies who will, in turn, continue to grow their boutique agency-like capabilities.