Mmm Aston Martin and iPhone.. yummyness!
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Wishbone Ash,

ooops sorry, misheard you!

Yep, Mark, I tend to agree with much of your post.

Brands do need to update periodically, but not to the detriment of previously held ideas & brand perceptions and certainly not to the exclusion of older, loyal and valuable clients...

I think the Aston toppled the iPhone for 'cool' because it is a more exclusive and therefore perhaps authentic brand to own.

Think about it.

Almost everyone has an iPhone now.
So how 'cool' is it to have what everyone else has?
How authentic does it make your story when you have what everyone else has.
Ty is right when he says "it is the best mobile computer on the planet", which is different from being cool.

In that vein, Stuarte is makes a good point when he says 'product' is king. This is especially true in a product driven market place, like automotive or technology. But I do not believe product comes first. Product should be defined and created to deliver the brand idea.

I think Madonna is pretty cool as a brand. Primarily because she has successfully reinvented her brand so many times that it is clear she really does understands what is central to keeping her brand idea true.

Perhaps, the secret to a cool brand is authenticity.

Authentic brands are not about marketing. They are not products. They live inside the company. And they are held and enacted of the people, by the people and for the people!

There is a suggestion that this is the key to 'cool' brands in the world of social media;
Social Media Demands Authentic Brands

Always be Tommy Hilfiger

(Am I showing my age?)

Anyone who voluntarily
has £100,000 worth of motor on the streets has significantly more money than sense. But I guess that's the point.

Having spent the past 20-odd years doing brand-related stuff (market research, advertising, brand development, articles etc), and the past two years helping clients make sense of the crisis (see Consumed book) I think the whole "brand" thing has become a bit too obsessive and up itself. It's become the long tail that's trying to wag the dog. Everything is regarded as a brand - not just products and companies but countries, people, books, ideas, websites, animals, political parties, periods of history, regions of the universe, philosophies, sexual orientations, parts of the body, times of day (ed: enough daft brand examples)

The net-net is that there are a few "make you feel moist" brands that have the world drooling, and all the rest. And now, I hope, we're realising that it's PRODUCT FIRST. If the product is good, the brand will follow. If the product is bad, the branding might kill it.

FWIW I've bought a number of products over the past year or two despite never having heard of the brand until I looked at the category, e.g. Kata camera bags.

Naturally!

I just dont think gadgets are cool and you know, for a brand, I like the Cadburys "Not only is the glass half full its one and a half glasses" mentality.
Aslo a bar of cadburys has seen me out of more tricky situations that any gadget!

(23 years x 12 months = 276 bouts of PMS striked with pregnancy moods...yup! lots of people should thank cadburys!)

Guiness - dont you just love it when you see that silky black velvet pour into an ice cold glass....

Sally, next time you carry out your obviously in-depth market breakdown & survey, pleeeease allow me to accompany you.

Your investigative analysis sound excellent to me

I love the Aston Martin and my dream is to own a vanquish! seeeeexy and so cool!

Warm Regards, Demos Flouri

There is nothing "cool" about an iPhone.
It's the best mobile computer on the planet (or is that the iPad?) but it isn't "cool" in the slightest.
It's a geeky thing and highly UNcool.

An Aston Martin is cool and classy and indicates you have most likely researched where to drop your cash rather than heading straight to the nearest Ferarri garage. (Although for the money you pay the interiors on some of the new ones are a bit ropey in my opinion.)

pint of guiness and a bar of cadburys

yup ;-)

All very subjective naturally, but 'cool' is relative to ages and generations.

I consider Aston Martin rather 'cool' but I daresay my kids probably don't.

...& Apple 'cool' - hardly!

Used to be Apple....of course.

But they are just too big all of a sudden....goes to show that it is possible to massive and cool though.
Also makes you wonder how other people can design phones and stuff like that (e.g. BT, Dell) that are so bad. I reckon the coolest brand should be a fashion label though.