Oh the irony

Brands used to be confident and ballsy; shouting their slogans from the rooftops. They had jingles and proclaimed they were the best you could get. Recently though many seem to be almost embarrassed to be centre stage, and there are a host of example of brands hiding behind either irony or invisibility.

One way to attract savvy consumers who reject outright marketing, is to step out of the frame completely. "Branded Content" is becoming more popular, and it also seems to be getting less "branded"- such as Gatorade Replay, Orbit or Pepsi Refresh Everything. In these examples the brand is very much a minor player in a larger show. By not intruding the brand becomes part of something genuinely engaging.

The alternative though seems to be irony. Old Spice is in many ways a very traditional campaign where pack shots and product benefits are spoken directly into the camera, but the large dose of post-modern irony heaped on top makes the whole thing seem more knowing and wise. The caption under the original youtube video was "We're not saying this body wash will make your man into a romantic millionaire jet fighter pilot, but we are insinuating it." Similarly we came across this (on the 3 Billion blog), where a collaboration between music and a brand is prefaced by a self-depreciating warning that they are trying to sell you something. This is not something we would have seen even just a year ago.

It is early days, but it is certainly a trend to look out for, as many brands are forced to question what their role is in a world which is increasingly cynical of marketing messages.