It is all about media…

Having 2 boys, a 20 year old living in Australia and a 17 year old living in Ecuador, their realities are very different, yet there are so many realities that bring them together. Family for us Latinos is one of the most important pillars of our existence, but I came to the realization (and working in advertising all these years it should have dawned on me sooner) that brand exposition across multiple channels is really well executed media or ad-hock attempts at covering consumers with messages, images and making the brand more accessible.

I took my youngest son to the Dave Matthews Band tour, and it was refreshing to go for the music. I had been to the U2 concert a few weeks earlier and was bombarded with cheesy brand experiences, and the feeling that U2 is no longer about music with a message (“Sunday Bloody Sunday”, “In the Name of Love”) but more of a corporate extravaganza.

It’s all media… how that brand experience is planned, and executed. How it can be integrated seamlessly and how music in a live setting can extend a brand. The Dave Matthews concert provided that, it was a better integration of brands, where the main attraction was the music. Sadly at U2, the music although amazing (3 hours of classics, mixed in with the new CD) was too glossy. It felt like a giant BlackBerry ad, and not in a good way.

As a Latino and a music lover I wonder how we can provide a brand experience that is about our passion point – music, without it becoming “cheesy.” I guess I have to think more about that, as we want to provide entertainment, fun, and yes – a great brand experience while we are at it. Time to put on the thinking cap!