ICM - Leeds Design Agency

Some people would describe Charlie Brooker as a harsh, aggressive, bitter and sometimes slightly grotesque man, while others treat him as the messiah that has been sent to show us all the true nature of our crumbling society.

The strong reaction that his personal brand creates, means that he is able to command more influence and respect over his followers. It sets him apart from his contemporaries.

He has created a character who is outspoken and opinionated, possibly a caricature of himself. His tone is consistent across his media outlets –
First read Charlie Brooker’s screen burn.

Then watch Brooker on Reality TV:

You’ll probably have made up your mind about him now and see how strong his personal brand really is.

Brooker presents himself as the ultimate critic, the leader of the cynics and so the cynics worship him. He doesn’t necessarily engage in conversation with his loyal followers, just as Seth Godin doesn’t really, but his aura is enough to keep his faithful listening and reading. As a result, he could probably sell anything…

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Apple have long been renowned for the power of their advertising, the rise of the iPod was largely down to genius marketing. However, up until a few months ago I didn’t own a single Apple product, despite working in a design agency.

My decision to get an iPhone was based purely on wanting the internet on my phone and since I didn’t have an iPod I thought it made sense to choose iPhone over Blackberry. For a while I was really disappointed because the battery was poor and I felt a bit ripped off. Then Apple launched the ‘Dilemmas’ ad campaign and started showing me all the amazing things my phone could do. So I started looking at applications, thinking what I needed and how to solve the problems.

Last night I finally fell into the marketers trap. The particular advert I saw featured an application that would help me with my monthly budget and expenditure. I’m good at spending all my money on useless things, so I thought, ‘that will help’. £2.99 later and I was ready to plan my budget and feeling pretty pleased with myself. Then my housemate started laughing at me and I realised the irony. They’d played on my weakness and won.

Here is an example of the advert – I think you will see what I mean:

And here is a funny spoof:

For more application fun and games visit Apps and Hats...

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Sony’s new advert in the outstanding Bravia series focuses on movement, changing from the colour theme of the other ads. The making of video is a great example of how to build interest before the actual ad is released:

For more info check out Kate Nettleton’s blog on Brand Republic.

We look forward to seeing the finished artic…

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