When all the stars are gone…

Why bring back Indiana Jones anyway?  Why not just create a new action-adventure hero, the expectations will be lower, the film perhaps better as it’ll be free to do it’s own thing..?

Well, of course it’s an established, cherished brand.  You say ‘Indiana Jones’ to people, they’re immediately interested.  It’s a shortcut that brings to mind all the associations those first three films gave us.

And in an age where building new brands is more expensive than ever (trying to cut through all the rest of the brand noise is very hard indeed), you might as well try and reproduce something which can play on the associations the public holds with a certain brand.  Because you start from a higher base, and you shift more units.

Like Cadbury’s did with Wispa; there was a residual brand image in people’s heads, all Cadbury’s had to do was reactivate it.  Much cheaper than building a new chocolate brand.

And of course bands do it too; endless numbers of acts from decades past can be found traipsing round the touring circuit having reformed because people prefer to listen to something familiar.

But what happens when all the old movie stars die, the bands get sent to care homes and so on?  Where will the next generation of big name stars come from then?  Perhaps people will be forced to create and appreciate new things, and not just the semi-warm cultural rehash of leftovers we so often get served today… ]]>

• Category: rivetings
• Tag: Brand