Enjoy the holiday season

Moments and memories …

I chose to postpone my Monday blog this week until today in order to piggyback on the holiday spirit.

This past week I spent time with the former VP of purchasing for a national clothing chain, who I jokingly refer to as "Needless Markup." OK, so that joke didn't garner even a smile, but it did open the door to a broader discussion of marketing and society’s drive towards an aspirational brand.

We agreed that the true spirit of the season is never forgetting the deeper meaning: that gluttony reigns supreme and the larger and more expensive the gift, the more love you are providing AND should expect in return. We confirmed that extended joy only comes when you can post your new found booty on Facebook to ensure others can be swept away with your very personal moment.

He pointed out how some brands actually increase their logo size or the amount of application times its applied to an item during the last quarter of the year. This meets consumers psychological demand to promote to others their newly donned accessory.

Red seems to be the best marketing trick of them all. Sorry Santa.

The brand he referred to as "the emperor without clothes" (yes, I congratulated him on the pun), the marketing Houdini is Christian Louboutin. The bottom of the shoe dons a red sole to ensure all are aware of your perceived good taste and ensures one’s attempt at projected envy can be applied with each passing step. Amazing marketing and killer advertising has made this brand aspirational.

Once the red wears off you are forced to buy another to ensure the cycle of idiocy continues, genius! One problem is that the exact same shoe is manufactured under a different label (sans the red sole) for less than half the cost. When a focus group was given both shoes they said the brand name was better made and more comfortable, 90% of the time.

I support that 90%, life it not about quality it’s about quantity and one should never be seen in those "lesser shoes."

So remember years from now, this holiday season will not be remembered for those superficial things like family, laughter, sharing, health and love.

(Today's blog has been proudly sponsored by America's Gross National Product.)

Gregory Salsburg
CEO/The Big STIR
STIR-Communications
Miami | New York | London
c: (561) 386-8064
o: (305) 407-1723
e: Greg@STIR-Communications.com