Sunday, August 12, 2007

Brandbench: Small can be BIG

Today I'm taking a look at best practices in positioning - the act of putting something in a certain place within the mind of your audience by providing context. Sometimes differentiating your product or story from the competition is as simple as presenting it from a new perspective.

Take the work of photographer Tamra Hayes, shown here with one of her recent pieces "White Spider". Now I was sitting just a few feet away from Tamra for most of the day she took this shot, and yet I never even noticed this cute little guy. He's beautiful - but it's all a matter of perspective, and I needed Tamra's practiced eye to bring him into my field of vision.

Or for a different take, french storytellers Helene Giraud and Thomas Szabo from Minuscule delight in the wonders of small. "Minuscule" recently won the prestigious international Pulcinella award for "TV Series for All Ages" for innovatively creating a world from real life footage and 3D characters, using humour and sound effects for adventurous stories. "Minuscule" shows insects in their day-to-day existence as if we were right there with them. The characters and setttings are very, very small - but the story and heart is BIG.

So we've covered the impact for artists and storytellers - how about from a community perspective?

It's likely that you've heard of CuteOverload.com, this community of cuteness reaches 65,000 broadband visitors a day with an estimated 90% of their audience comprised of women around the age of 25. That's a lot of floppy ear sightings.

CO founder Meg Frost loosely governs her chosen blog posts by a series of posted 'rules'. Rule #14 states that "If an everyday, small item makes you look small - it's cute." Further describing this phenomenon, Meg explains "Would you just look at the size of that green Post-It® note next to this kittens' "litter box"? Now, look at the Post-Its® on your desk—now look at the kitten. Repeat!"
The power of small is clear - it's BIG.

Take a moment to look at your story, marketing campaign, product positioning, etc. and ask yourself - "Could small be my new big?"

1 comment:

Tamra said...

Have you seen this anti-cute blog?
http://illustrationfridaynight.blogspot.com/