Humility

Humility.  One of the first things forgotten by brands and their agencies.  We love to make a product or brand more important than it really is; to make its promise far bigger than its reality.  For a long time I've felt that what brands really need is a dose of humility, and the great contemporary brands like Innocent, Nike et al seem to more often than not get this.

Well, there now seems to be some fact to support this opinion.  A study from the University of Georgia  shows that too much hype can be detrimental.  This builds off a lot of work in the field of affective misforecasting.  Worth a read.

Comments

[Dylan Trees]

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery" (Dickens)

"Advertising promises something, brand delivers more, result consumer happiness. Advertising promises something, brand delivers less, result consumer misery" (Dylan Trees)

[Asi]

hallelujah.

the times where bad brands/products won't be able to be disguised behind clever marketing are coming fast...

[rukallstar]

this makes total sense. you always dwell more on the bad times than the good. dickens said it well too.

humility is a great quality in a human being, why would be any different for brands. in the end we only relate to things as humans, not entities