Red: hottest brand of 2006?

Red feels to me like the hottest brand of 2006. This is the venture started by Bono to raise money for AIDS in Africa, not through charity, but by creating cool, "must-have" products with leading brands. The companies selling these products donate part of the profit to fight AIDS.

The first one to sign up in the UK was American Express, followed by Gap, Motorola and most recently, Apple iPod:

John Grant over at Brand Tarot wrote an article on Red which gives a good explanation of why its such a powerful brand, with an edited version of his key points being:

"1. Run by a charismatic, passionate leader who draws the gaze of the world’s media: Bono
2. It has a killer design idea. In a confused cluttered, post-traditional world it stands out a mile - and stands for something.
3. Its all about enthusiasm. Despite half a century of ‘cool’ and half a millennium of ‘chic’, the ultimate core value of consumer culture is enthusiastic participation.
4. It makes playful connections with other brands, sparking off each other
5. Its a GOOD brand. Not selfish, but good for the species. It starts with a cause, a manifesto, an agenda for change."

One interesting angle on the Red story is the fact that the partner brands have to partner with Red to integrate a social dimension. I wonder if its not stronger to have your own agenda, such as Dove and its Campaign for Real Beauty, which was discussed in an earlier post?

5-minute workout: if you were to have a social dimension to your brand, what would you campaign for? Would you then campaign with your own agenda like Dove, or "borrow" a social cause like Red's co-branding partners?

5-minute workout:
 

Comments

[isabel marant outlet]

I wonder how you got so good. This is really a fascinating blog, lots of stuff that I can Get into. One thing I just want to say is that your Blog is so perfect!

[Gulbaram]

- Good points. I've often wedeornd if there's some group with a name like People for Ethics in Marketing or Association of Ethical Marketers . If not we should form one. The problem with that is that the reason some marketers use those tactics is because they work on a certain element of the population. While some of us started feeling insulted and jaded long ago, others still click the links, give up their info, and make purchases. Marketing doesn't have to make sense to be effective. Sad but true.I could go on. We should do lunch.February 7, 2011 12:53 pm

[David Taylor (from Where'sTheSausage)]

Fiona, you are right that any brand activity that campaigns on a social cause must make it easy for peopel to participate. This is where the true power of the idea comes from.

[Fiona Fitz]

I love the Dove and Campaign for real beauty platform - both from a brand and a social perspective. However I would say that if a brand is going to invite you to "help in anyway you can", then there has to be investment in making this possible. I spent a few hours trying to find out how I could help but it doesn't seem like this is a real invitation...which is disappointing and weakens the potential power of this platform for Dove.