Meeting Wally Olins

He signed my book - I told him my name and he repeated
'Caf. C-a-f?'
'Yes C-a-f'
'Caf?'
'That's me!'
Head down, scribble, smile.
And my Wally Olins The Brand Handbook reads:
To Caf (nice name!) from Wally Olins, LONDON 2008

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D&AD invited student and new creative members to 'An Evening with Wally Olins' and to look at the New Blood exhibition which is currently on at Earl's Court.
'Wally Olins, renowned marketing guru and the world's leading branding expert, is releasing a new book entitled [well, see above]. The book... sets out the ground rules for branding success in the 21st century, explaining why understanding the links between business, brand and consumer has never been more vital.'

Olins gave a talk.
'A few thoughts on the future of branding'

He identified 5 big changes that will take place in the next ten, twenty, thirty years.
They may clash or cross over, but each will be important.

* a multipolar world
* new zeitgeist
* new role for corporations
* digital spaces
* sense of place

A multipolar world---
Hitherto the world has been dominated by two forces: US and Europe. Going forwards it will be a more even playing field, BRIC (Brazil Russia India China) will be influencing in equal measure.

Eames clutter ---
He presented us with a scenario: we're all parents, (the audience being mainly made up of students) and our kids look at an Eames chair we have and argue that it is ecologically unsound, probably full of lice and aesthetically grotesque. They would far rather use their ecologically ethical stool or rug they have, that cost hardly anything to build and is not costly to the environment in the long term.

Philanthropy and role models---
From conspicuous consumption to conspicuous compassion
'Giving is the new buying'
'We're becoming ashamed of buying and buying and buying'

Personal philanthropy and social entrepreneurship - 'people of your generation are a lot more comfortable with the notion of 'tithing''

What are the consequences of these key changes?---
A new role for corporations.
More libertarian, taking part in society, seeing it as a thing they ought to do.

In the old times it was the stakeholder to whom businesses were largely responsible. Nowadays it's the consumer. Gone are the days of 'greed is good' and 'you want loyalty? Go and buy a Spaniel.'

Businesses have to behave well.---
Benevolence
Corporate Social Responsibility is not an add-on - it is integral.

We will see more big corporates begin to partner charities. These craft-based organisations tend to be suspicious of brand promotion however, often charities fall down in terms of the output they generate, which Olins described as sometimes amateur, sloppy and ineffective.
To illustrate his point he remarked that HSBC would not try to tout for more business by using a clip-board brandishing young person to capture passers-by. The marketing of the charity can undermine its integrity.
However if they get it right, and some do, this can be a very powerful thing. Here Olins used the Red Cross as an example of a brand that manages to project un-vulnerability by being totally vulnerable.

There will be more emphasis on the corporate brand, less on sub-brands.
It will be about 'what it is' and not 'what it produces.'

We will see fewer more powerful and coherent charities with a commitment to co-branding and keen to generate long-term relationships.

Diageo was used to illustrate this point. The drinks group in charge of Guinness, Baileys, Jameson and many more, has launched a television advertising campaign warning consumers of the dangers of drinking too much. 'A major corporate advertising corporately on TV about behaviour.'

Digital Spaces ---

Who would have thought - facebook, You Tube, Alibaba.com.
Now it's 'famous IN 15 minutes, not FOR 15 minutes.'
The consumer will no longer treat what the provider claims as gospel.

Place ---
Nations are searching for 'who' they are and 'where' they come from.
The back of an ipod details its provenance as follows:
Designed by Apple in California // Assembled in China.
The world has seen 29 new countries in the last 15 years. A crisis of identity is taking place.
Of the central European countries, their straplines are entirely interchangeable.
Who would have thought Dubai would spring out of the desert into a City State.

'Just a few thoughts that's all'
is how he ended.

Here are some from the Q&A session that followed.

as a piece of work, designed six years or so before it is to be used it is very dramatic and works well alongside other brand logos.

If the corporation does not make a profit it will cease to exist.

We may see more use of movement and colour in our graphic outputs in the future.

Football is a surrogate for war.

People's behaviour doesn't change, there will always be an 'other' - this exists on every level. It is a basic element of the human condition.