This deck aims to demonstrate that marketers shape a wrong targeting for the social brands, focusing only on demographics and "average" consumers. But analysing average behaviors can only drive to weak and non relevant communication pillars, then a strong dismissal of consumers against brand digital properties. This demonstration has been presented during Digital Shoreditch 2013, Future Brands day, by Laurent Francois

1. @lilzeon
The revenge of subcultures
the real value of an idea in social media
@lilzeon

2. @lilzeon
Laurent Francois
Social media and
digital strategist
MD of French Ideas & Digital
director of Re-Up
Fashion blogger
Co-creator of
Hit-Bag.com
@lilzeon
LaurentFrancois
laurent@french-ideas.com
thisisReUp.com

3. @lilzeon
OK, we’re supposed to be
so much more engaged
thanks to Social Media

4. @lilzeon
But we’re not.

5. @lilzeon

6. @lilzeon
A lot of brands actually don’t
deserve our engagement

7. @lilzeon
Brands suffer
from a lack of
cultural relevancy
at the very early
stage of their
marketing process

8. @lilzeon
The madhouse:
the targeting…
Research
•Market insights
•Surveys
•Benchmarks
•…
Definition of an
average
consumer
•Customers’ journey
•Moodboards
•…
Strategic
development
Campaigns
Average
relevance
Frustration Unbelievability Dismissal
Average Comms

9. @lilzeon
…while the big mission of brands
nowadays is to provide an
intangible thing: happiness

10. @lilzeon
“If you want to live in a world in the
future where there are fewer
material goods, you basically have
two choices. You can either live in a
world which is poorer which in
general people don’t like, or you can
live in a world where actually
intangible value constitute a greater
part of overall value”
Rory Sutherland, TED, Life lessons from an ad man

11. @lilzeon
The
intangible
value lies in
subcultures

12. @lilzeon
[Subculture] © Merriam Webster
1
a : a culture (as of bacteria) derived from another culture
b : an act or instance of producing a subculture
2
an ethnic, regional, economic, or social group exhibiting
characteristic patterns of behavior sufficient to
distinguish it from others within an embracing culture or
society <a criminal subculture>

13. @lilzeon
Subcultures
used to have a
bad reputation
Chicago school: subculture is related to
deviance, mental disorders and “inadequate
socialization” Burt (1925) & Bowlby (1946)

14. @lilzeon
And this fear is
still present
within brands
organizations…

15. @lilzeon
Consumption: less & less related to explicit
social status, economic or political trend,
except in the margins. It’s more about making
choices that create a meaningful self-identity
Anthony Giddens, 1991
…whereas the
role of brands is
to drive new
behaviors (and to
change current
trends)

16. @lilzeon

17. @lilzeon
“subculture as a compromise solution
between two contradictory needs: the
need to create and express autonomy &
difference from parents and the need to
maintain the parental identification”
Phil Cohen, 1972
Subculture is a huge
vector for brand, an
in & out journey
between the
current and next
norms

18. @lilzeon
“Subculture is a system of values, attitudes,
modes of behavior, and life-styles of a social
group that is distinct from but related to the
dominant culture of a society”
Yuniya Kawamura
Subculture is a way
to analyze
consumers as a
whole through
tangible and
manageable prisms

19. @lilzeon
New technologies
are made for and by
subcultures anyway
“New technologies are subcultures media, an
optimization of users engagement. Twin role:
online, to gather people, « real world », to
testify the milestones of the community”
Hodkinson (2002)
“Memes can transfer information horizontally
and across large distance via carriers such as
the internet. Unlike genes, memes are
transmittable via any medium capable of
recording & relaying symbolic information:
language, gesture, art, the written word, film,
music, fashion”
Rian Hughes

20. @lilzeon
Subcultures
applied to
brands

21. @lilzeon
“There is no mainstream.
There are many streams”
Bennet, Kahn Harris, 2004

22. @lilzeon
Subculture
X
Attitudes
BeliefsExpectations
Socially
designed
brand
interfaces
Social CRM
#Cultures
1- Set Up a dynamic strategy

23. @lilzeon
2- Get ready for the recorded history: create hyphenated-identities with customers

24. @lilzeon
3- Subcultures happen in real life; social brands will soon co-earn real spaces
Subcultures are now concerned with “surface”
and self-authentication: status & and spatiality
should provide individuals with more freedom
in consumerism and fluid identities
David Muggleton

25. @lilzeon
As a conclusion: play Assasin’s Creed
Video games: a mix of
story + narratives
Success of a video games
depends on UX and
capabilities
Immersive design is
going to be the new
social design

26. @lilzeon
Sources
Slide 1: ©lilzeon
Slide 3: http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Services/consulting/technology-consulting/deloitte-on-technology/aade2c6a536f7310VgnVCM1000001956f00aRCRD.htm & Mangarden.com
Slide 4: http://imgur.com/gallery/aRta8Fw & http://www.liveworld.com/the-blog/sxsw-sneak-peek-social-media-engagement-its-time-to-evolve/
Slide 5: http://www.tnsdigitallife.com/view/social-brands/talk/both/all/not-interested
Slide 6: McDonald’s Facebook Fan Page
Slide 7: Chanel Ad + Fight Club
Slide 8: http://hipish.free.fr/graphics/feelings/heart_broken/?p=7
Slide 9: BMW, Coca-Cola, Zappos
Slide 10: Time & The Economist
Slide 11: ©lilzeon
Slide 13: American Psychiatric Association Archives
Slide 14: Forbidden Worlds
Slide 15: Topshop
Slide 16: Mercedes Benz, Nike, American Apparel
Slide 17: Trendwatching
Slide 18: Yuniya Kawamura
Slide 19: Reddit
Slide 20: https://www.change.org/petitions/disney-say-no-to-the-merida-makeover-keep-our-hero-brave
Slide 21: http://www.digitaldads.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ddc-holder.jpg
Slide 22: ©lilzeon
Slide 23: http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2013/04/data-science-of-the-facebook-world/ & ©lilzeon
Slide 24: Samsung
Slide 25: Ubisoft

27. @lilzeon
• Thien Nguyen for her daily revenge of subcultures
• Vu Quan Nguyen for his pervasive insights
• Tristan Nicolas to remind me that value should be tangible for our clients
• Stéphane Moïssakis for his time sharing his passion for good writing and
gaming industry
• Chris Aldhous, Pierre Humeau, Goodpilot(s)
• Our readers on our fashion blogs
• Sputniko! who opened my eyes
• The so many people I talked to on Gtalk, Twitter, Facebook (…)
• Regina Atienza, cover-girl on this deck, explicit slasher, on-going muse
• The guys who keep on writing books, not only blog posts
• My cat, because he’s a participant observer of this strange GIF culture
• The new shareholders: you, me, us
Acknoledgements

28. @lilzeon
THANK YOU!
laurent@french-ideas.com
thisisReUp.com