The power of the brand

Martin Lindstrom conducted an interesting experiment to see how brands affected our children. Most of the childen, in their pre-teens recognized brands by their logos and music jingles even though the logos were partially obscured. Even brands like Gucci didn't escape their recognition. Being bombarded by ads on radio, TV and billboards, these images become subliminal affecting our buying decisions without us even knowing about it.

My daughter inherited my Thinkpad a while back when I moved to a Mac for iPhone development. Recently she complained about the notebook being very hot and the battery not being very effective. Her tone led me to reply that although it was over a year old, her Thinkpad was one of the best and powerful notebooks on the market today. I don't think the message landed because all she said was "Maybe next time you shouldn't buy IBM". That, my friends, could be a signal of the beginning of the end for the venerable giant.

Seriously though, it did show that while the Thinkpad was a icon for us business types, it is not for Generation Y. I doubt my daughter would have said the same about my Mac which she grabs from me at every available opportunity. Functionally, either the Thinkpad or the Mac would amply meet her needs but that's not the point, is it? That is the power of the brand.

So the message to all the dads today is, if you want to be a hip dad, buy a Mac. Your kids will love you for it.