See this thing? The iPad with the shiny stuff on it?
300 carats of white diamonds. It's also ornamented with rare black diamonds on the home button and Apple logo on the back.
It goes for $1.2 million.
Yes, that's $1,200,000.
If I had a say, I would drag the maker, Camael, in front of the International Criminal Tribunal in Den Haag and charge them with obscene display of wealth.
Heck, let them be charged for crimes against humanity.
And all the idiots who bought this product should be deported to Somalia.
Let them eat diamonds.
And explain their purchase to starving kids.
That's what I would like to do with these people.
Actually, what I would like to do is to work with a client (somebody focused on providing customer value) and combat with them any obscene displays of wealth.
I'm sure that brand would be called "anti-capitalist" or "Socialist" by the CNBC crowd.
Even better.
A value brand doesn't need these guys.
As a brand, you actually want to be despised by that crowd.
Because Main Street will love you for it.
They are your customers, anyway.
Nothing against luxury.
I love high-end hotels.
Business Class flights.
A nice car.
But nobody needs a 300 carat iPad.
Nobody.
It feels like an expensive middle finger defying the fabric of our society.
That value brand needs to live its values, can't just market them.
It has to be of their identity, the reason they're around in the first place.
It can't be just a marketing ploy.
It requires an organization who has the courage of its convictions.
An immensely powerful platform for a brand to stand out from the value clutter.
Making a positive difference for society and its bottom line.
Who has the courage?
Uwe Hook is the CEO and Co-Founder of BatesHook, Inc. (www.bateshook.com) and a veteran of the advertising and marketing industry with the goal of building connections between people and brands. Uwe can be reached at uwe@bateshook.com.
Read all Uwe's MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Subversions.
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