Who's Cooler?
Every once in a while, while at a watering hole or sitting around the office, I find it mildly entertaining to play "Who's Cooler." You pick two well-known celebrities and ask every one in the vicinity which of the two is cooler, and they just have to pick one. No justifications, no arguments, no reasons - just pick one and move on. Let's try it: Who's cooler - Peter Jennings or George Clooney? See isn't this fun? How about Christopher Walken versus Lebron James? Sometimes the decision is easy, sometimes not, but for some reason once you start this game, it can be hard to stop. Oooh, who's cooler - Steve Jobs or Chopin? That's a tough one.
The thing is, everyone has their own idea of cool. That's why you're not allowed to argue about WHY one person is cooler than the other. I will say, however, that their are two people who consistently trump everyone else as the kings of cool - who for certain reasons, are almost universally considered cool - Paul Newman and Tom Waits. I said we're not allowed to argue why people are cool, but I'll tell you why I think certain people are generally considered cooler than others. They consistently take risks and face possible failure. And it's not just me who thinks this. I'm talking about cool people, but Gene Pressman and Noah Kerner explored what it takes for some brands to stand out from others in the arena of cool. Our conclusions match, and you can see what I mean by diving into Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today's Cluttered Marketplace.
When you think about companies and products, who and what do you think of when you think cool? Take a second....La di dah....ready? I guarantee at least half of you thought iPod or Apple. I'd be willing to bet that a fair amount also said Target. And for those more into sports than others, I'm guessing Nike popped into a few heads. So what is it about these companies and products that makes them cool? Well, that's what this book explores.
Oh, I forgot to mention this: we're not talking about cool as just a passing fad. We're talking about companies that have produced lasting cool - companies whose brand is so recognized as exciting and "in" that we can't help but notice them. That's what you are all looking for right? You don't want a one-hit wonder; you want to build and grow your companies, and establishing yourself as something unique is essential to your desired success.
By delving into a wide variety of venues and exploring the success and failures of the past few decades, Pressman and Kerner have discovered some pretty universal trends and patterns behind cool. They looked at music, food, magazines, fashion, hip-hop culture, spirits, companies, products....you get the point. Like I mentioned before, here is one of their conclusions: "Brands are effectively developed when companies take substantial risk -- and face the possibility of real failure -- in order to open up the opportunity for real success."
Listen to a Tom Waits album from each of the last four decades and you will hear as many different styles of music and songwriting as Andy Kauffman had personalities. Were they all great? Maybe not (I tend to think that for the most part, the answer is yes), but he kept taking risks, kept risking failure, and kept building his fan base. The result is that he's so widely viewed as cool that I tried to get tickets to a Chicago show a while back; I went online 15 minutes after the tickets went on sale and didn't have a chance. He's that cool.
The same goes for Paul Newman. Not only did he explore a wide range of movie roles, he risked his ultimate cool by being, well, generous and kind - by slapping his face on salad dressing. Did this dilute his cool. Heck no.
OK, so the overall point here is that if you want to appeal to today's super-savvy consumer, you have to be creative, stand out, and make your brand cool enough to last. Chasing Cool not only uncovers the trends behind coolness, it helps teach you how to apply these trends and lessons to what you are doing on a daily basis. The book also includes interviews with more than seventy of today's most respected innovators. I'm sad to say I don't remember coming across a Tom Waits interview, but hey, he's just too cool for school I guess.
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