Somehow, one just knows that cool brands were not constructed in such a systematic manner. Bottling the essence of ‘cool' and branding it in order to achieve wealth and fame is not how things happen in the cool world. And besides, doing so would not be in the spirit of ‘coolness'. Perhaps the real question is: why do we find these creators of ‘cool' so fascinating? Even seeing these names in the first sentence might have done the trick.
The point is that ‘cool' is not only something everyone wants to be, it is something everyone thinks they can define, until they have to. When I put the question to a couple of people whose opinions I thought might be valuable, ‘Cool is … well, cool', sums up the overall response from the conversations. It was a sentiment expressed either at the end of an unsuccessful attempt to find words to capture the essence of ‘cool', or at the beginning of the conversation, uttered in disbelief that one would even want to scrutinise the concept so closely.
But while it might be difficult to define what makes a human being cool, surely its easier to define what makes for a cool brand? Not so. We use a range of descriptors for brands that tend to be confused with ‘cool'; things like ‘exclusive', ‘classy', ‘stylish', ‘sophisticated' or ‘discerning'. They're all powerful and evocative characteristics of some of the most successful brands in the world, but they're still not necessarily ‘cool'. On the other hand (and just to confuse things further) they're not mutually exclusive to ‘cool' either.
But all is not lost. We can go some way to demystify the magic of cool brands by looking at what makes cool brands so appealing. Firstly, cool brands are refreshing, which means they have to contain an element of originality, the kind that leaves one with a ‘why didn't I think of that' sentiment. The originality might be an improvement on another idea, or something that already existed but had not yet been packaged innovatively for people, think iPOD. Either way, it has to invoke freshness and newness to the brand. You can fake an original concept, but you simply can't fake originality.
Closely related to originality is authenticity. Cool brands don't have an ounce of pretentiousness. You have a brand like Converse, which represents everything authentic, behaving as a street canvass and allowing people to express themselves whoever and wherever they are. Playstation (the Playstation vs X Box is a discussion for another time) is another brand that leaves one with that sense of realness, in spite of the unreal world they sell. They don't try too hard or commit the fatal brand sin of saying ‘I'm cool'.
A more common articulation of the attribute of authenticity is the need to be real and transparent. This is spurred on by the current feeling consumers may have of being let down by big brands and businesses economically and/or socially. Suddenly being decent and responsible is so cool and we seem to have come full circle.
To remain authentic, a brand needs a generous dose of self-belief, which is very different to arrogance. Self-belief is also derived from the strength of the brand's offering, and while competitor brands are considered in formulating strategy, they do not dictate it. What's important about self-belief is its ability to resonate with and attract people (after all, there's nothing quite as attractive as self confidence). The confidence to know that you have created something that is relevant, appealing and adds value to people's lives. Just consider brand philosophies captured by such powerful slogans like ‘Just do it', ‘Keep Walking', ‘Impossible is Nothing' and ‘Think differently'. They inspire us, make us think, challenge us and they all manage to connect with their audience at a deep level. Of course common (brand) sense dictates that the brand philosophy should naturally link to the intrinsics of the product. Otherwise a brand might appear too pretentious.
A further hallmark of ‘cool' brands is their ability to remain relevant. It is imperative that they never lose sight of the product they represent and the audience with which they wish to connect. Relevance might call for perpetual innovation/reinvention - think of brands like Madonna, evolution - Stoned Cherrie or even to remain constant - Jack Parcell. Most good brands remain relevant by adapting to the younger sector of the market through different generations. On the other hand, the really cool brand is the one that can be used by different generations at any given time - brand that can bridge the generation gap.
Even though these iconic brands may cut across age, young people will always remain the custodians of ‘cool', they are the thermometer of what's cool and what's not. They create street culture in all the major cities of the world - no matter where they are. They are street wise, and cool brands need to have ‘street cred'. The market might not be able to afford the brand but the connection is emotional, making it aspirational. Having the finger on the pulse of street culture is particularly challenging. The green issue for example, is an increasing factor in the sustainability of brands, including the cool ones. Some years ago Green Peace was on the fringe, but lets look at who is ‘tree hugging' now. Not many trend watchers picked this up in the very early stages.
Finally, brand identity plays a crucial role. Apple and its logo seem to sound and look better than Microsoft when it comes to cool.
From the above, it is safe to assume that there is a better chance to create a cool brand if you are playing in the lifestyle categories like entertainment, fashion, cars, food and beverages, technology. A brand in a category like financial services, would have to be exceptional and differentiated from its category to attain the glory of coolness. It might be popular, have strong brand awareness, be well- known, enjoy immense loyalty and significant brand associations (valuable for any successful brand, including cool brands) none of these should be misconstrued as cool.
On the face of it, then, to create a cool brand, one needs to start in the lifestyle category, brand, get some street credibility, keep innovating to stay relevant, display a sense of self belief, never ever be pretentious, strive for authenticity and come up with something unique . If only it was so simple. Unfortunately, there's no secret recipe for the elusive ‘cool' brand magic and ‘cool' is far more than the sum of the characteristics outlined here, as those who've designed the T-shirt will tell you.
Maybe I should give one of those cool people a call!
