Sunday, June 17, 2018

dads crying.

to honor Father's Day, a holiday which Michael Chabon once called "the Chanukah to the Christmas of Mother's Day" (i concur*), let's watch 3 "dad ads" that i coincidentally get something in my eyes each time i see them.

"Dear Sophie" - Google, 2011
we weren't even close to thinking of kids when this ad came out. but man, things have a way of burrowing into your subconscious.


"Father & Daughter" - Extra, 2015
i still need to learn to start folding these, so my little monster can eat them. 


"School Talk" - Ram, 2018
i literally took notes. now i have a playbook.

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so as i'm getting older and have less time, but more patience, i spend more time reading than watching. as such, let's counter the crass commercialism shown above for web browsers, gum, and full-size pickup trucks, to share a few books that speak to Fatherhood well, and also someone get something in my eye.

the Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri, 2004
upon first reading this, it was from the kid's perspective (because well, obviously), which made it one of the best books i ever read then i saw Mira Nair's film adaptation, where the boy was played by Kal Penn, and the father by Irrfan Khan. while the film was "meh" to such a great book, both played their parts to a tee, Penn as the ungrateful son wrapped up in his own drama, Khan as the immigrant father who sacrificed all and ignored said drama. upon walking out of the theater, i called my dad to apologize.



Knuffle Bunny - Mo Willems, 2004-2010
a series of three kids books, but damn if they're not good. and if the final epilogue in book 3 doesn't move you, well you're cold inside.



Pops - Michael Chabon, 2018
a compilation of essays Chabon, who's quickly becoming one of my favorite American contemporary authors, writes on fatherhood - his experiences and observations. what originally drove me was a (featured) article about travels with his son, of which is a mostly an eclectic tale, until you reach the final paragraphs' potent observation.



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so that's my piece. watch some ads, and go buy some stuff (for your dad/kids), perhaps some books? 

i'll see you soon for my next obligatory Arbor Day post. now if there were only more books about trees. 

oh wait, that's ALL of them.


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*i love my dad, and now have a greater appreciation of parenthood, but come on, moms do/deserve more. 

Tuesday, June 05, 2018

what’s in a (brand) name?

like many posts wasting away in as “drafts” - this one occurred to be walking down Fifth Ave on the way to work one cold morning, and began to coalesce over a lunch conversation with a good friend considering launching her own new brand/company. as i’m now between brands (next gig, starting 6/25), felt like as good a time to flesh this one further out and push it live. so on we go...


the most successful brands / companies (not necessarily one in the same the same) are the ones that do the thing well (and make $) in the era they were in, and continue to innovate. few of succeed beyond their founding era. for every one you've heard of below), there are tons that did not make it.

but in terms of what they call themselves - their "brand name" - across broad eras (with some overlapping),the motif is always oscillating/evolving between “what we do” and “who we are." oh, and by the way, this is all conjecture and anecdotal, i actually don’t know what i’m actually talking about, so consider all these silly thoughts with a grain of salt. it's not that there are not exceptions to these examples (that's another counter-post by someone else), but my observation is that the brands that made it beyond their founding era adhered to the brand-naming trend of the time (as mapped out below). so here we go... 

originally, brand names were more in the "what we do” camp - most literally
  • American Express (1850): originally a courier service!
  • Standard Oil (1870)
  • Nintendo (1889): 任天堂 in Kanji means ‘the temple of free hanafuda’ (hanafuda = Japanese flower cards, which is what they originally made.
  • General Electric (1892)
  • General Motors (1908)
  • IBM: International Business Machiness (1911)
  • BMW: Bayerische Motoren Werke (1917): not British, despite what Will may tell you.
  • VolksWagen (1937): literally “people’s wagon”

soon, people started incorporating their names to add some credibility. “who we are” in the most literal sense.
  • Procter & Gamble (1837): Co-founded by William Procter & James Gamble, brothers-in-law
  • Levi Strauss & Co. (1853): Co-founded by, Levi Strauss
  • Macy’s (1858): founded by Rowland Hussey Macy
  • The Campbell Soup Company (1869): founded by Joseph Albert Campbell
  • Gillette (1901): founded by King Gillette
  • JoS. A. Bank Clothiers (1905): co-founded by Joseph Bank
  • Kellogg Company (1906): founded by Will Keith Kellogg
  • Danone (1919): named for founder Isaac Carasso’s son Daniel
  • The Walt Disney Company (1923)
  • Mattel (1945): co-founded by Harold "Matt" Matson

then, brands started to go back to “what they do", albeit more product-specific
  • Radio Shack (1921)
  • DC / Detective Comics (1934)
  • Hewlett-Packard (1939)
  • Circuit City (1949)
  • Toys R Us (1957)
  • Advanced Idea Mechanics (1966)
  • MasterCard (1966)
  • Advanced Micro Device (1969)
  • Tailored Brands / Men’s Wearhouse (1973)
  • Office Depot (1986)

then things slowly started to start getting abstract about "what we do" ...moving back to "who we are" with smart use of metaphorisms (not to be confused with metamorphisms)
  • Ivory (1879) - P&G’s first real “brand” (ok, this one is from a much earlier era, but was one of the first, so give credit where it’s due)
  • Marvel (1939)
  • Visa (1958)
  • Pampers (1961)
  • Subway (1965)
  • HBO / Home Box Office (1972)
  • Microsoft (1975): 
  • Apple Computers (1976): Steve used to work on a commune/CSA (seriously)
  • Staples (1986)
  • Netflix (1997)
  • Google (1998)
  • Facebook (2004)

so where are we now? today's "new" brands use real words that evoke something else indirectly. sure many of them are/have been disrupter brands (many new entrants flush with VC cash): 
  • Patagonia (1973)
  • Image Comics (1992)
  • Vertigo Comics (1993)
  • Tesla (2003): while named after the man (1856-1943), he’s obviously not the co-founder, but his technology inspires the company’s approach 
  • Yelp (2004)
  • Chobani (2005) - derived from the Persian “چوپان“ meaning “shepherd"
  • Uber (2009)
  • Quip (2012)
  • Lyft (2012)
  • Casper (2014)
  • Parachute (2014)
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and sure, along the way there are of course the brands that mash-up words in a sometimes punny way. i’ve worked with more than a few of them, so you know their names (Pingage/Ahalogy, RevTrax, TVision, etc). all great companies (with some cool co-founders), and while some of these names make you think, others make you cringe. but the Ad/MarTech landscape is filled with more companies that fit the above "real-ish" words that evoke something (Moat, Percolate, Braze, etc.)

and sure there are even a few brands that are exceptions in our modern era, taking a page from their long-past predecessors: Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker (a completely made up name, that guy doesn’t exist...he's derived from 2 Jack Kerouac journal entry characters!)


so what? does any of this matter?
well, if you’re creating a new brand (i’m not), i think it does. 

either be hip to the era you’re in, and go with the flow, otherwise your brand might create subconscious friction in the hearts of minds of your future customers. while this is not necessarily a bad thing, but know that your brand has an immeasurably high bar to be the exception to the “brand name trend” of the time. 

but more importantly, your product shouldn’t suck (i’m talking to you V-Tech).

so there’s that.
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