6. Brought To You By
Branding is everywhere now, as it has been for many years, dominated by names like Apple, Aston Martin and Ikea. Companies that define what's trendy or cutting edge, something to aspire to or covet. But these current brands, whilst so cool and important right now, are they going to last the way others have? For a brand to really be cool it has to have a timeless quality, taking us back to the beauty of the 1960s as the Mad Men defined what was cool and a guy like Don Draper came along to tell you just what you should be buying. Enduring brands like Volkswagen, Campbell's Soup, Coca-Cola, Lucky Strike, Kodak, Hilton Hotels, Jaguar and Samsonite Luggage were already building their brands in the 1960s with striking ad campaigns long before companies like Apple even existed. And in doing so, they created enduring, homely brands that we all know and love, and continue to bring us interesting adverts and stylish products today. Coca-Cola is still the favourite and their Christmas advert brings a smile to our faces every year, while Volkswagen still dominates the automotive market with quirky campaigns. The 1960s had branding that had to be a little more clever, intelligent and catchy, with less ability to be direct and more need to be charming, to persuade the customer. The cool yet ruthless way in which we see the Mad Men deliver these business ideas makes us long to be a part of it, to delve into that world and define the very notion of cool.