A review to the slow crash of our system, the birth of an alternative movement. Why are makers and local businesses getting trendy again?
The raise of independent business
Marta Vidal s3536421 Who made you? 2015 RMIT
Index
5-11
Introduction
12-17
Why are traditional brands failing?
18-23
The maker movement
24-27
Conclusion
28-29
Resources
Today marketers compete with clutter rather than their own competence. This will only increase as brands continue to muscle their way into people’s devices and lives. Saturation messages and visual imput is getting to it’s limit.
Today, consumers have discovered the marketing trick.
They no longer advertising slog pay attention to Most try to avoid marketing messages at all cost, feeling saturated of the yelling of brands at their ears and eyes all day long.
care about gans nor they o big signs.
The times are changing and people have discovered that what was supposed to make them happy has only bought anxiety and frustration to their lives.
Is there being a social awakening? If there is, is this movement global?
How did this
It was during the 90s when various cultural movements sprung as a response to a saturating and plastified 80s decade. Magazines such as Adbusters and the culture jamming movement, as well as Reclaim the Streets and the McLibel trial configured a movement that nowadays is still fighting against mass-production.
related to anything: from movie stars and athletes to grassroots social movements. Brands were interrupting people’s everyday lives at every turn, leaving no space for anything else that wasn’t consumption, and in the end generating a space full of white noise where everything overlapped everything else.
Artists such as Ron English introduced the culture jamming in the galleries and art world. He was part of the culture jamming movement, which modified or hijacked socially known adverts. For Ron English, his art was self-coined as POPaganda. But it was street art what gave a huge push to the philosophy of anti-branding, taking the social message to the streets. At that moment, marketers were obsessed with youth and pop culture, feeding society with whatever was considered “cool”. It was the moment when big brands had their names Photo above from the McLibel case, where two citizens took McDonalds
happen?
to court and after 14 years eventually won.
Reclaim the streets Reclaim The Streets was originally formed by Earth First in London during the Autum of 1991. It was born as an anti-road protest, reclaiming the streets as a public space owned by the
Adbusters magazine
community. They were against the car as main mode of transport and oposed resistance to the dominance of corporate forces in globalization.
Anti -consumerist and pro-environment printed magazine founded in 1989 which generate
discussion with controversial images and shocking messages. It denounces capitalism.
Ron English
American contemporary artist, he explores and experiments with the language big brands and advertising use. Trough
Graffiti and street art started to turn into dark social humour during the beginings of 21st Century. Bansky extended the practice of stencilling controversial images in street walls so anyone could see it. Not only him but many artists work directly in the street spreading a whole awakening philosophy which has impacted many citicens minds.
paintings or collage he has created his own style “Popaganda� which is based in a social critique.
Graffiti
Why are trad brands failin
ditional big ng? Are they really failing? What went wrong?
For many years brands have been selling us stuff makings us believe it was our real need. And it worked for some decades. But today, having spoilt ourselves with all kind of useless treats, a fraction of our society is realizing that only when a brand responds to the real wish of a community, only then it’s value becomes real.
At some moment in the last Century, the word “brand” got mixed up with the word “logo”, so for many marketers the creation of a brand was reduced to visual identity. Actually, today the term “brand” has been so over used in the marketing vocabulary that it’s meaning has become meaningless. So now brands are changing their face and appear to us as stories, kindly inviting us to be part of their world. It is this whole new concept of “storytelling” which marketing focuses now.
“Manufacturers no longer produce products and advertise them, but rather buy products and brand them.”
- Naomi Klein, No Logo
And this means that it’s got to the ricidulous point that we don’t pay for what we are buying but for the feeling of possesing that. We pay to feel, to experience. Probably because people’s lives are so empty of real experiences that they pay to get some (just that they’re not real).
So what brands are doing is playing with human attention, hearts and minds trough stories. Logos don’t matter one bit if they ever did, it is the story and the myth behind the brand (the most powerful way of communicating a message) what marketers use to catch our attention.
NOLOGO It’s been 15 years since the first publication of Canadian author Naomi Klein’s book “No Logo”. For many, No Logo is considered the genesis of the alter-globalization and anti-branding movement; it puts words to the history and evolution of big companies and their invasive strategies, as well as wrote about several movements that were flourishing against them. This sort of anti-branding “bible” is divided in four parts: no space (invasion of the brand in our lifes), no choice (about monopole and censure), no work (about depressed workers or proliferation of autonomous) and no logo (present moment and movements against). NoLogo had a huge impact in society discovering the marketers tricks: it was read in universities in many different sectors and awakened people from different paths. It was one of the detonants of nowadays awareness of the situation.
RE-VALUATING As it can seem that today nothing has changed (brands have experienced their big expansion in the last 15 years), the truth is many natural social reactions have also been born during the last decades. As we have more access to information we clearly know about bad working conditions and the violence of human’s rights in certain parts of the world. Even if our reaction isn’t going to be radical from one day to another; our conscience reminds us all this information when we buy, and will slowly make us want to change our habits.
Traditional big brands are slowly failing because people’s values are changing. Fast and cheap aren’t in fashion any more.
- Quote inspired by “Beach Culure” reading.
American artist Brabara Krueger made a whole serie of collages during the 70s critizising consummerism. Artists activism also influences society’s mind change.
Big brands have two classical ways of controlling the market; one is trough market dominance and the other trough aggressive invasion of a region.
it’s impossible to plan a coffee monopole. Consumers value too much their cafés and are conscious of the power of their freedom of choice, making Starbucks have to close because of lack of clients. An example of this last one is the And this example can be applied multinational brand Starbucks, which to many other big chains, while focuses in a geographical zone proliferation of small and efective and opens one café after another competence businesses give consumers in every main avenue, literally attractive alternatives to the invading the space, forcing their classical options. competence and small cafés to close. So since consumers use the power of But Starbucks’ technique failed their choice, they now decide which not just in Melbourne, but had to goods they want to buy according close down 70% of their stores in to their personal values. Terms as all of Australia. Looking at the quality and sustainability are in coffee panorama in Australia, there people’s minds today, and the offer is such an offer differentiation of products that adjust to their and a high quality standard that values make old chains slowly die.
The maker
movement Since post World War II we citizens had been completely removed from the making process. And that’s one of the main reasons why we consume -specially foodwith no limit. But in the last years something known as “the maker movement�, which started as a small geeky community, is getting bigger and bigger.
As Klein explains in No Jobs, manufacturing jobs moved from local factories to foreign countries known as “export processing zones”, in which they have no labor laws. In the places where there is no manufacturing people work mainly in the service sector, being completely removed from the production chain, but consuming all the products that are made far away. This new economy takes people to not value what they are buying, resulting depressive and unbalanced for all of our society. Why do we get happiness from material world? Why are they some objects that we appreciate more than others? There are some objects to which we have such an emotional attach we couldn’t live without them, even though we don’t need them in our everyday lives. These objects are usually those who someone has given us, or that it took us a lot of effort to get them. They are objects that carry feelings and memories, effort and subjectiveness.
Concepts of maker or local doesn’t have to mean market or adorable. This shop in Melbourne has been designed by a local studio and sells local designers clothes.
If we understand an object as an entity with the capacity to carry emotions, then the fact that we love hand made things makes sense.
- Quote inspired by “World of goods” reading.
This emotional component only fits when there is somebody, somewhere, some feeling or some reason to link the feelings to. During the last decades all this mass-production / mass-consumption system has dehumanized our world and devaluated the importance of feelings. And it’s now when a reaction to that 80s and 90s frivolity grows and the maker movement is slowly succeeding. The proliferation of new tools such as laser cutting or 3D printing, as well as powerful Internet, have helped in a way to the maker movement, but many times this movement is based on going back to traditional ways of doing things: home made food, drinks, curious clothes, hand-made gifts… The maker values the joy of knowing why is he doing what he’s doing, as well as puts all his effort in doing that well. Even if it’s for himself or for a customer, he is doing it because he wants: he has made an election in life, nobody has forced him into it - mainly because nowadays it’s not the easy way of making money. So when a customer buys one of the makers’ products the feeling is completely different to buy a mass-produced one. The consumer appreciates imperfection, appreciates the characteristics that have made that object unique.
This need of the consumer of feeling “homy” and “loved” in the middle of our frivolous world was understood some years ago by the big brands, which completely changed their image and their retail spaces with “casual” environments and “always smiley and happy” sellers. McDonald’s turned green, Starbucks had couches and Zara released an Eco Collection. But after a time the consumer realises it is fake, they are no real feelings behind that new scenery.
Cafés are a social space where a neighbourhood connects, social net gets stronger as people feel comfortable and familiar.
The maker movement is about independent decision taking and not being told what to do. There is no more trust in the government or the institutions, people don’t expect anything and a feeling of autosuficience is growing again. There is a trend in wanting to grown our own food, build our own house‌
After tasting the bitter taste of first world work addiction or stress 24/7 we’re not talking any more about money but about self-satisfaction and happiness. When travelling to the third world we find people that certainly have no rights, no land, no education… but do have a community. And in terms of social satisfaction maybe it is the absence of established rules what makes people not hesitate in doing, making, creating whatever they need. People will open up a restaurant if they need so, or renovate their house, or get together and build something for their community. As they expect nothing from the institutions they’re independent and auto-sufficient, they take the responsibility of the situation and change it as far as they can. Maybe our economical and social crisis have made us loose faith in the system, and as a response to that people have started to take responsibility and change the situation instead of waiting for the solution. So when everything is over planned, there is no need of makers or entrepreneurs because all the needs are covered. But what happens when this plan is ineffective?
Cycle of crisis (understood as change) is activated: dissatisfaction starts to grow, sadness and community depression, and after that a whole new determination and finally action. And that’s the story of what’s happening now. The planning didn’t work, so that’s neither good nor bad, just a part of nature’s cycle,
the end of a system and the birth of change to other regions and social a new one. layers. Could this be an ephemeral trend? Just a fashion, an attitude? This evolution is mainly impulsed It could be, but eitherways it is a by the youth of a society. Young positive virus, if getting control cities or communities have a strong of our lifes becomes trendy it means influence in change, they don’t act something good is happening. passively or uncritically but they recontextualize and reformulize And it’s slow. And it’s ok that it the present. As our generation has is slow, that’s how real changes grown up in a moment of change, should be. But it is increasing. sacrifising some traditional values is not as dramatic as it can be for our parents. Young comunities break the ordered and the “what is expected from them” trough their attitude and creativity. “Rebel cities” or communities may seem crazy or utopian at first, but change slowly expands and influences others. And this is what I can read from nowadays situation: a slow change in several neigbourhoods of big cities such as Melbourne or Barcelona, and the expansion of this
as a conclusion... So my answer to the main question of this essay is yes, we have been pasive actors many years, but we are slowly becoming active. The system constructed for us is falling. More and more people realize their lack of freedom and decide to do something to change. The maker movement is increasing and social values are changing. We can be free if we really want to be free.
Resources
Berger, A. 2010, The objects of affection: semiotics and consumer culture. First edition, Palgrave MacMillan, United States of America. 1933. Woodward, I. 2007, Understanding material culture. First edition, Sage Publications Ltd, United Kingdom. 2007. Booth, D. 2002, Australian Beach Cultures: the history of sun, sand and surf. First edition, Frank Cass, London. 2002. Danesi, M. 2009, The power of mythic symbolism in popular culture. First edition, Palgrave Macmillan, United States of America. 2009. Lim, E. 2015, “Cities for citizens: Lucinda Hartley�, Assemble Papers, April, viewed May 2015. Douglas, M. 1990, The World of Goods. Towards an Anthropology of Consumption. Editorial Grijalbo, Mexico. Dawson, T. 2013, Branding Strategy Insider, viewed May 2015.http://www. brandingstrategyinsider.com/2013/11/the-fall-ofthe-anti-branding-movement.html#.VVKf6Nqqqkp Howe, L. 2014, When personal preferences build political partisanship, viewed May 2015. http:// www.civilpolitics.org/content/2010-11-the-bigsort/ Mescall, J. 2010, Starbucks in Australia, where did it go wrong?, viewed May 2015. http://www. abc.net.au/news/2008-08-07/32188 Conference: how can fashion be sustainable? Conference: What your stuff says about you. Sam Gosling.