Re: UKNM: The truth about the value of Coke's brand

[Lois Grayson]

Shit! Now I'm going to have to find/visit/contact the History of Advertising

Museum (yes it does exist) and get to the truth. If I ever trace the ad (and

I'm so mad I'm convinced I've seen it) and can verify it's impact I'll let

you know.


As Mike pointed out Christianity actually appropriated the (originally

Scandinavian AFAIK) pagan myth of a beneficent woodcutter and overlayed St

Nicholas (Santa Nicklaus - hence Santa Claus) on top of it in order to

encourage the embryonic faith of innocent people; much as Christians built

baptisteries over ancient Celtic Wishing Wells in the 15th Century in

Cornwall

And early Victorian Christmas cards do portray FC in brown and green

woodman's clothes - SOMETHING provoked the cultural change, and I've come

across no other explanation


Being a Brand Goddess (TM) I have to believe in the power of marketing or

I'd disappear


Lois



----- Original Message -----

From: Sam Carrington <

samcsensei [dot] co [dot] uk

>

To: <

uk-netmarketingchinwag [dot] com

>

Sent: Monday, September 11, 2000 9:58 AM

Subject: Re: UKNM: The truth about the value of Coke's brand



> AFAIK the "Red and white father Christmas invented by Coke" myth is

> exactly that - the viral power of the message behind the myth being such

> that you have believe the story, and re-reported it as fact. I could be

> talking rubbish of course. I think the image of father Christmas also

> has a lot to do with pagan symbolism, Fly Agaric mushrooms and lots of

> other things I know nothing about.

>

> Lois Grayson wrote:

> >

> > Interesting additional point (IMHO) about the power of Coke as a brand;

it

> > was so immediately powerful it changed the image of Father Christmas; he

> > appeared in up until late Victorian times as a kind of green/brown

garbed

> > woodman type character until Coke created the red/white bearded jolly

> rotund

> > chap that's now our traditional image. All with one simple ad! That's

why

> > Coke's Christmas campaigns exude so much confidence.

> >

> > Cynics might say that they no longer believe in branding (or Father

> > Christmas) but that's just so much urban edge shit - a fashionable

> position

> > assumed for effect rather than a deeply held opinion. Or so I reckon.

> >

> > Lois

> --

>     sam carrington  //  senior web developer  //  sensei.co.uk



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