The death of cool (good riddance; long live communities of interest).
by Charlie Tims
In its last years The Face feature a monthly barometer of things and people that were �up� in the cool stakes and things that were �down�. Towards the end it became impossible to tell the difference between the lists. Unwittingly the primary espousers of �cool� seemed to be admitting that our hyper-obseletism had killed any hope of a grand message of what might and might not be cool.
Back to the cool list. Interestingly top of the pile are The (nearly defunct) Libertines. They are perhaps to indie what Lawrence Lessig is to Demos. If you want to read the lead singer�s diary it�s online, if you want to see them you can go round to their flat and if you want to talk you can probably find a mobile number somewhere. Basically, the slippery world of remaining cool has been circumvented by building a community of interest. Building a cultural institution if you like (this is something we're thinking about in a new demos project inconcert).
I don�t know if Demos is or isn�t cool. But this does seem to suggest that if cool is dead, then in a certain sense, so are brands. If you can�t make something cool for more than 20 seconds, then you don�t really have a brand do you? (does anybody know if that McDonalds question mark worked?)
But if brands are dead, then are ideas too? And if ideas are dead, then does that mean think tanks are done for? Social Capital, Disorganisation, ProAms; is it just hype? Probably a step too far; it probably just means that ideas aren�t fortified by brands, but, in policy terms, by the people who ultimately will be affected by them.
Basically brands and cool don�t make policy, communities of interest do. But unfortunately brands don�t make communities of interest, we do. But how?
The Libertines and Razorlight publish their mobile phone numbers, PutMeDown.com aspires to let a community of thousands of writers edit its magazine, but for policy makers, is opening the door enough? If I don�t know how, how can I co-produce?
Jaded, at midnight, it seems hard to see credible sustainable policy into practice being facilitated by anything other than some kind of professional development. Out of steam. Help please?
Paul Paul
doesn't hyper-obsoletism just make cool impermanent, rather than impossible?
and haven't the best brands always been underpinned by fantastic products (see the James Surowiecki article The Decline of Brands Paul M posted to a while back)?
and aren't communities of interest still animated by ideas?
and isn't this really about the democratisation of judgement - the confluence of values and capabilities that makes it desirable and feasible to define cool for ourselves for a while, to customise cool not buy it off the shelf?
and if that's scary isn't it also empowering, about saying that our identities are ours to shape in a way our grandparents never dreamed?
and given the importance of institutions in supplying us with the raw materials with which to fashion those identities, to inhabit our values, isn't that the most energising case of all for working to change organisations (including our own) from within rather than simply bombarding them with ideamissiles from without?
your posts seem ever so gloomy about think-tankery Mr Tims. don't give up on it yet.
David Lee
two conflicting thought on this.
1) the death of cool is actually about the personalisation or individualisation of cool at the expense of the corporatisation of cool that we saw throughout the 90s. Its about cool being about how you live your life, not how some transnational corporation suggest that you should. Its about networked technologies and communities of interest allowing for a reconstitution of cool based on merit and personal recommendations, rather than the expensive hype of an advertising campaign. its about e-bay cool over pepsi max cool.
2) but then when companies like the marketing outfit Cake (see http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cache:Y1sjRGSL2hsJ:www.cim.co.uk/mediastore/cool_brands1.pdf+cake+marketing+cool&hl=en&ie=UTF-8) have a ''hotlist' of the 100 cool people in the country, who they send their latest products to in order to create a manufactures buzz, or when similar companies use the net to create viral marketing that looks like the real deal, when really its been paid for by commerical interests, the the picture gets more complex. For example, when diesel (55dsl) opened up a new store in the west end of london their marketers paid graffiti artists to daub sublimal messages on the streets of portobello road (another achingly 'cool' destination) to create a sense of an underground buzz. thats why cool isn't cool anymore, because of the way real cool is hijacked by the big brands turning creativity into commerce.
check out this quote from the url above
BrandLeaders, an initiative from The Brand Council, identified through a dedicated judging panel the UK brands with the strongest cool credentials. These brands are targeted primarily at the 18-35 age group, they are brands that are perceived to have that x factor, a cool edge that in part attributes to their success. Consumers desire to own and purchase products and services under these marks. Yet what is perceived to be cool can change very dramatically, so very careful management is required and constant refreshment needed. Cool BrandLeaders were deemed to be ‘brands that have become extremely desirable among many style leaders and influencers. They have a magic about them, signifying that users have an exceptional sense of taste and style.’
mark lawn
I agree about cool, it actually means "fai, praise pratedise". I remember the days when looking up the word itself and was developing some photo,s the same hour of a Capability Brown garden. The next week photo,s were permenently prohibited from the garden. Cool 5 yrs ago was not working with a bailef (enforcer) in the fENS England yet it would be cool now. Likwise driving a Peorgeot 505 Saloon , ex French police car , diesel. The writer Ramsey Dukes has some good views about magik and theories. For example, women stereo types(sorry Emma i actually mean architypes but you willnot understand me so i lower my status so you can judge me quicker and quietly and get it over)
a)the mother type( big breasts)b) the daughter c)the amazon(hight legs, small breasts d) the witch.