What’s Next in Marketing & Advertising: The Naked Brand

As part of AdWeek DC 2012, I had the opportunity to attend a screening of a documentary entitled, The Naked Brand.  The beauty of this film is that the producers, Jeff Rosenblum and Jordan Berg, didn’t set out with a script or even a concrete idea of what the film would be about. Instead they set out simply just asking the question: “What’s Next in Marketing & Advertising?” And they asked some big names including: Keith Weed the CMO of Unilever, Alex Bogusky of Common, Yvon Chouinard the CEO of Patagonia, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Plank the CEO of Under Armour, and many more. Interview after interview exposed a common thread-successful brands are those that offer quality products at reasonable prices, a solid customer experience, and are open and honest with consumers.  Thus the title, The Naked Brand.

At r2i, we’ve been prophesying the dawning of the transparent (naked) brand for the past 2 years. We were certainly early in identifying the trend, as we were with brands as publishers. Perhaps our mistake was not finding marketing leaders and influencers to join us on the soapbox. Hats off to Rosenblum and Berg, the only issue I have with this film is the fact that r2i didn’t come up with the idea first! DRAT!

For those interested in viewing the film. It will be available on Hulu and Netflix in mid-November. Key takeaways will include:

1) Brands need to focus on creating superior products and superior customer experiences.

2) Brands need messaging that is authentic, clear and concise.

3) Brands need to be socially and environmentally conscience.

And if you would like a sneak peak, here is a link to The Naked Brand trailer – http://vimeo.com/49240817.