How life moments create brand icons

How Life Moments Make Brand Icons by: Christophe Fauconnier and Riccardo Cristiani Some ideas are ‘special’ to the brand because they define the brand’s personality. Others are special to the individual because they define where they are today.

When the brand and consumer autobiographies collide, the result is an emotional bond that cements a lasting relationship that can provide life long return. When a brand creates an emotional connection at the existential cross roads of life, an icon is created. When brands become icons they have the hidden advantage of existential significance (meaning) that others brands can only dream of. In this article we go in search of these life moments and we try to offer a framework by which to better tap into the power of meaning.

We are meaning makers?

The short story of humanity is one of meaning seeking and meaning giving. This little advantage of our species has given us a huge competitive advantage over the rest animal kingdom, which we as a species and innate marketers have used and abused. Our ability to conceptualize; to frame and to imagine has given us the ability to shape personal and social identities and face the dilemmas of a more self-aware living. Our ever changing state of awareness are strongly related to the life stages of our live and the context of our living realities, and both are forces that create fertile conditions for the creation of brand icons.

As human beings, we are the only creatures on Earth able to question our existence and look for sense making narratives of life. Some call these coping narratives, others growth narratives, but in essence these narratives allow people to face specific existential dilemmas of life.

Every life stage has a new calling, and serving these callings can make brands icons of deeper meaning. We go through different life stages and life moments that have a very high relevance in the evolution of our identity and the existential questions we pose ourselves.

SEASONS OF OUR LIFE Erikson was the first psychologist to give more importance to existential life questions across the seasons of our life. He felt the course of development is determined by the interaction of the body (genetic biological programming), mind (psychological), and cultural (ethos) influences. That is also why the life stages

became so important in his theory of “ego psychology”: they represent different moments, well defined by our genetics, in which our psychology is constantly negotiating between our innate drivers and cultural influences/ social expectations. Each transition moment creates opportunities for iconic brand development. Walt Disney built its empire nurturing the hunger of kids for fantasy, imagination and playfulness. Apple tapped in the need for self-cultivation and self-distinction of young adults. While Harley Davidson offers an alternative escaping solution to the numerous demands and high pressure of adulthood’s responsibilities.

The definition of our identity is strongly determined by how we go through these periods of our life and the way we answer our existential questions (in our effort to put together our individuality) changes with our disposition to the events of life.

The way we deal with relationships, work, personal wellbeing, self-realization, usefulness and expectations for the future are strongly influenced by the stage of life we are going through. Our genetics create those changes that are at the basis of our social structure and we need to rebuild our identity in accordance to the new life stage existential question.

This ongoing process influences all our decisions: from the choice of getting married or stay single to the choice between a brand of butter or another. It is a subconscious process that only sporadically reaches the surface of our consciousness. We are deeply driven to build our identities such that allows us to answer our existential questions and make us feel that our life has a meaning.

Brands nowadays understand that the way to create more relevance in people’s lives is by talking to a deeper level than the simple surface of rationality. What however is still missing is a more clear connection with the human existential questions that people deal with. To understand these questions in the different life stages that we go through during our development and speak to those doubts and dilemmas in a way that can help to face them more easily.

How Life Moments Make Brand Icons by: Christophe Fauconnier and Riccardo Cristiani The rise and fall of identity Borrowing some of Erikson’s thinking we can break down our life span in six different stages and look at their fundamental existential question: 1. Toddlers: 2 to 5 years 2. Tweens: 6 to 12 years 3. Teens: 13 to 18 years; 4. Young Adults: 19 to 35 years 5. Adults: 36 to 55 years 6. Mature Adults: 55 + years

TODDLERS Who do I belong to?

Age Span: 2 to 5 Years Phase: Play Age Ego Development Outcome: Initiative vs. Guilt Basic Strength: Discovery & Dependence This first part of childhood is all centred on the relationship with parents. The main existential question of “who I belong to?” represents our initial realization of a differentiating identity from them. It is the beginning of our individuality shaping process and, how Erikson stated, the ego development outcome is the negotiation between initiative and guilt. Indeed we tend to project ourselves in the world of adults as stronger, bigger and more independent. Playing is for us the way to explore our identity and to push ourselves outside and back in the parental circle.

During this period we experience a desire to copy the adults around us and take initiative in creating play situations. We make up stories with Barbie’s and Ken’s, toy phones and miniature cars, playing out roles in a trial universe, experimenting with the blueprint for what we believe it means to be an adult and besides being a single individual. We also begin to use that wonderful word for exploring the world—”WHY?” At this stage we usually become involved in the classic “Oedipal struggle” and resolve this struggle through “social role identification.” If we’re frustrated over natural desires and goals, we may easily experience guilt. This is mainly related to the relationship with the basic family because at this stage they are the main representatives of the social structure. The downside of initiative is often accompanied by a sense of betrayal and guilt towards the former identity: the triad mother, father and kid.

Coping mechanism: playing and imagination allow us to test the world without exposing ourselves to its raw reality. They represent our explorative strategies that make us taste the world but still keep us within the protection of the parental gates.

Possible role of brands: Brands need to reinforce this mechanism of initiative and dependence. They need to allow us to imagine ourselves to go out and face the world but at the end of the day taking us back among the reassurance of the familiar walls.

Disney and Mattel are big examples of brands that serve this dilemma. They offer us an endless world of fantasy and imagination where we can live whichever life we want (going to work, marring, fighting, using magic, be strong) without losing our sense of belonging and dependence from our parents.

TWEENS Who is like me?

Age Span: 6 to 12 Years Phase: Learning Age Ego Development Outcome: Industry vs. Inferiority Basic Strengths: Method and Competence During this stage, often called the Latency, we are capable of learning, creating and accomplishing numerous new skills and knowledge, thus developing a sense of industry. Doing so we increase our sense of competences and we are able to grow a stronger perception of ourselves as separate and autonomous entity. However we learn that this feeling is associated to a specific structure and method that we are taught to follow. It is the lesson from the social structure that starts to exert its pressure in order to mold and integrate our identity.

This is also a very social stage of development where the groups of relevance open up beyond the parental circle. As the world expands a bit, our most significant relationship is with the school and neighbourhood.

Parents are no longer the complete authorities they once were, although they are still important.

In this dimension of more shaped identity we tend to look around us to see who is like us. We realize that our term of comparison is not only the far away, aspirational and unreachable adult world. We can look at the other kids around us and build with them a more “equal” relationship that requires a stronger sense of self-awareness. That is also why if we experience unresolved

How Life Moments Make Brand Icons by: Christophe Fauconnier and Riccardo Cristiani feelings of inadequacy and inferiority among our peers, we can have serious problems in terms of competence and self-esteem in the following stages.

Coping Mechanism: challenging ourselves and comparing with others are our new strategies to cope with this life stage. Since adults are not anymore our only terms of comparison we now feel that we can fit in our peer group and try to excel somehow.

Role for Brands: Brands can play an important role in both helping to improve ourselves and/or by giving us a sense of excellence and superiority over other kids.

Nintendo, Marvel and Total Girl (magazine) are examples of brands that serve this dilemma. They give us ways to deal with our skill and competencies, increasing our sense of individuality and allowing us to fit in and be better than our peers (smarter, more powerful and prettier).

TEENS Who can I be?

Age Span: 13 to 18 Years Phase: Adolescence Ego Development Outcome: Identity vs. Role Confusion Basic Strength: Devotion and Exploration Adolescence, more than any other stage, is a moment of transition between childhood and adulthood. The cultural expectations exert their pressure by asking to the new teen to demonstrate his abilities. At the same time in this stage we feel that we are more able and capable to decide and act upon our choices and decisions although society is still limiting many options and possibilities. This often contradicting expectation makes life definitely more complex as we attempt to find our own identity, struggle with social interactions, and grapple with moral issues.

That is why this is the moment which we probe ourselves in different contexts, situations and relationships in order to discover our real nature and what we can be.

Often this process goes through playing different roles and joining different groups to see if we get accepted or refused. Thus, it is no surprise that our most significant relationships are with peer groups.

Our task is to discover who we are as individuals separate from our family of origin and as members of a

wider society. Unfortunately for those around us, in this process many of us go into a period of withdrawing from responsibilities, which Erikson called a “moratorium.” And if we are unsuccessful in navigating this stage, we will experience role confusion and upheaval.

A significant task for us is to establish a philosophy of life and in this process we tend to think in terms of ideals, which are conflict free, rather than reality, which is not. The problem is that we lack experience and find it easy to substitute ideals for real experience. However, we can also develop strong devotion to friends and causes.

Coping Mechanism: role exploration and identification are our main strategies to cope with the adolescence’s dilemma. We are not kids anymore but not adults yet.

We go through disorientation and upside-down feelings that lead us to look for clear ideals. They can be either good or bad, with black or white perspectives as long as they redefine our identity and place.

Role for Brands: Brands can offer something to believe in and relate to in an intense way. They need to help clarify who we are and what we can be giving us direction on how to get out of the confusion.

Sony Play station, Coke, MTV, Facebook and many fashion brands are examples of brands that strongly serve the adolescent dilemma. They represent anchors in the rough sea of this transitory life stage and give the reassurance to define ourselves without losing the connection with others.

Brands that successfully connect with teens offer a single minded invitation to join their ideal of a world of coolness, happiness and connection.

YOUNG ADULTS What should I be?

Age Span: 19 to 35 Years Phase: Young adulthood Ego Development Outcome: Intimacy and Solidarity vs. Isolation Basic Strengths: Affiliation and Determination The official beginning of adulthood brings a higher level of moral and societal demand. As young adults we are expected to adapt, find our own place, role and relevance within the mature culture.

How Life Moments Make Brand Icons by: Christophe Fauconnier and Riccardo Cristiani Culture and society expect us to take more personal commitment. We are finally single individuals who are entitled and expected to make choices with more lasting effect (where you live, your partner, having a family, choosing a career and a life style). This brings about a higher requirement for self-awareness, defining the person we want to be, and the desire to express who we are. Our identity is now much more shaped and our self-cultivation becomes the central focus of our future endeavors.

At the same time this is also the stage where we seek more seriously one or more companions and love. As we try to find mutually satisfying relationships, primarily through marriage and friends, we generally also begin to start a family, though this age has been pushed back for many couples that today don’t start their families until their late thirties. If negotiating this stage is successful, we can experience intimacy on a deep level.

If we’re not successful, isolation and distance from others may occur. And when we don’t find it easy to create satisfying relationships, our world can begin to shrink, as in defence, we can feel superior to others.

Coping Mechanism: here affiliation and self-growth are our strategies to answer our existential question and move along with our life. Stronger connections and a path to follow are the two pillars of young adults life stage.

Role for Brands: Brands must help in this process by facilitating this affiliation and by fostering the self-cultivation process. Through mechanisms of adding value to the self and guiding through the steps of building a future, brands can tap easily into the life of young adults.

L’Óreal, Apple, Nike, Heineken and MatchMaker are examples of brands that have a high relevance in this life stage. They offer ways to nurture our individuality with a sense of reward and pride, or to facilitate connections in a world of reduced physical contacts.

ADULTS What have I become?

Age Span: 35 to 55 Years Phase: Middle Adulthood Ego Development Outcome: Generativity vs. Self absorption or Stagnation Basic Strengths: Production and Care

Adulthood is the phase of facing life with full responsibility. The identity is completely shaped and we look at our choices and history as way to understand better what we have become. Goals and objectives have been reached or are nearly grasped. We are no longer responsible for only our selves, but other people depend on us (wife/husband, children, work colleagues, parents, etc.).

Work becomes most crucial during adulthood because it provides context to find new stimulation and meaning.

We put great effort in finding confirmation of the path taken and showing to others our achievements and success.

At the same time we become more aware of our surroundings and the society we are part of. The significant task is to perpetuate culture and transmit values of the culture through the family (taming the kids) and working to establish a stable environment. Strength comes through care of others and production of something that contributes to the betterment of society, which Erikson calls generativity, so when we’re in this stage we often fear inactivity and meaninglessness.

As our children leave home, or our relationships or goals change, we may be faced with major life changes—the mid-life crisis—and struggle with finding new meaning and purpose. If we don’t get through this stage successfully, we can become self-absorbed and stagnate.

Coping Mechanism: since much has been built and chosen and still a lot has to come we tend to protect and treasure what we are and what we have. Assuring stability and comfort makes us feel safe and confirms that we deserve all the trust and responsibility we have.

However this attitude is often accompanied with a compensation strategy where we discharge and unleash all the pressure of expectations.

Role for Brands: Brands can address these two dimensions. From one side they can help in treasuring and reinforcing stability. From the other they can assure space for escape and carefree.

Volvo, Microsoft and Barilla are examples of brands stating and reinforcing the search of stability and protection. Their promise is safety and comfort around the family. On the contrary Harley Davidson, Marlboro and Jack Daniel are examples of brand that offer an escape from the demands and the pressure of adulthood responsibilities.

How Life Moments Make Brand Icons by: Christophe Fauconnier and Riccardo Cristiani MATURE ADULTS “What can I still be?”

Age Span: 55+ Years Phase: Late Adulthood Ego Development Outcome: Integrity vs. Despair Basic Strengths: Wisdom Erikson felt that much of life is preparing for the middle adulthood stage and the last stage is recovering from it.

Perhaps that is because as older adults we can often look back on our lives with happiness and content, feeling fulfilled with a deep sense that life has meaning and we’ve made a contribution to this world and society. We are looking for a feeling of integrity that assures us that our life had a sense of direction and moved towards a specific purpose. Our strength comes from a wisdom that the world is very large and we now have a detached concern for the whole of life, accepting death as the completion of life.

We are now able to look at the world with more objectivity and acceptance, having been softened by our life experiences and sense of accomplishment.

The generated families are most often the social point of reference. Our grandchildren are the concrete living symbol of our passage on this world and fill us with hope and reassurance that life will keep going after our death.

On the other hand, a life of closure, loneliness and external over pressure may lead us to this stage with despair regarding our experiences and perceived failures. When looking for too much external confirmation and recognition we may limit our wider perspective, putting us in a feeling of failure and dissatisfaction for what has been done. In this condition we may fear death as we struggle to find a purpose to our lives, wondering, “Was the trip worth it?”

Coping Mechanism: in this stage close to the end of our life we search for ways to be relevant. Most of the time putting our experience at the service of others is a way to leave a sign of our passage and build a sense of self-worth. On the other hand going back to a life of carefreeness and childhood is a way to forget and push away the fear of death.

Role for Brands: Brands can help in both dimensions: fostering our sense of integrity and achievements or promising a world of renewed youth where we can forget about age and still enjoy life fully.

Lexus, Rolex and Civas are examples of brands that emphasize the sense of achievements and satisfaction about the path we followed in our life. Wii, Ben & Jerry’s and ClubMed, on the contrary, are brands that help us to go back to the full pleasure of enjoying life with a carefree attitude.

CONCLUSIONS Some memories are ‘special’ to the brand because they define the brand’s personality. Others are special to the individual because they define where they are today.

When the brand and consumer autobiographies collide, the result is an emotional bond that cements a longlasting relationship. The most powerful bonds are those which enable us throughout our life moments — where we have to face new challenges. When brands connect with who we are at any specific moment of our life and help us to answer questions that guide us in the search for relationships, commitment, personal well-being, self-realization, helpfulness, faith, materialism and hope, they become iconic. These are the things that fulfill our life. By focusing on the existential dimension of being a person, brands can serve beyond reason.