»lagtime.com »[ caught |n between ] noteblog »Kanye vs Zappos: when brands beef, we buy more ish »updated 2013-11-21; 09:20:20 AM

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• « Thursday « November 21, 2013

  1. datetime

     1. {11212013}
     2. {09:20:20 AM}

     content

     1. Kanye vs Zappos: when brands beef, we buy more ish

         

        (E Online)

         
     2. Kanye West Slams Zappos CEO

        How about these lyrics:

        It's amazing.
        There's a reason.
        Zappos trying to make some news this season.
        With Black Friday, fast approaching.
        They're in need of attention-poaching.
        No matter what you'll ever buy from The Z,
        A brand will act just like its identity.

        Wake up people. This is a publicity stunt.

        Above all things, Kanye West and Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, are elite brand marketers. Mr. West doesn't need branding advice from Mr. Hsieh. And Tony Hsieh sure as hell doesn't need to take branding notes from Kanye West. It's absurd that these two identity experts got into a heated argument over brand strategy that somehow "leaked out" during the recording of a podcast, which, by the way, was promoting a movie Mr. West is currently working on with writer Brett Easton Ellis.

        This fight was staged, packaged, and shipped out via social media, in order to get these muscular pop culture brands into forefront of their target audiences' minds—right at the crest of the most critical shopping season of the year.

        A brand is as a brand does.

        The Kanye West brand is all about innovation, juxtaposition, brash irreverence to the point of insult, and controversy. Talking ish is what West does, just ask Taylor Swift.

        The Zappos brand is all about choice and selection, irreverence to the point of ingratiation, speed, and sublime customer service. Reacting swiftly, and in context, is what Zappos does.

        Funny, both of these brands, in this contrived kerfuffle, this tempest-in-a-digital-teapot, end up acting exactly how we would predict from their brand signatures—they're both spinning "on brand," as we say in the biz. That's what good brands do.

        And it's probably not going to hurt either side of this argument, because West and Zappos (and by extension Hsieh) have carefully constructed their identities over the last 10 years or so, and their well-known brands serve as hedges that will protect them during goofy, ephemeral attention-getting outbursts like this ish fight.

        And that's one simple reason—amongst many—why brands are important, especially with consumer products: they are shortcuts to understanding. And in a cluttered world, full of microscopic attention spans, where anything longer than a tweet (this blog, for example) can tax the ability of many to focus, shortcuts are requisites for success. Necessary.

        Since you know going in what Kanye West and Zappos are all about at their respective cores—if they are brands that are of interest to you (i.e. if you are in their target audiences)—this faux entertainment, this fake fight, just serves as a reminder, a practically free commercial for both sides. You're thinking about them, and reacting. I'm writing about them. They have colonized your mindspace. And don't be surprised if West's much anticipated Air Yeezy 2 shoe, out of his partnership with Nike, somehow ends up for sale on Zappos.com by Christmas.

        Please get your credit cards ready.

        Just in time for holidays.

        It's amazing.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 09:20:20 AM
     3. Kanye West Slams Zappos CEO..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. popular culture
     3. entertainment
     4. tags:
     5. kanye
     6. zappos
     7. beefs
     8. shoes
     9. branding

     type

   

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