This is not a post about the return of vinyl, although I am considering raiding my parents' garage to recover my old albums. In fact it was inspired by a passage in a book called The Nature of Marketing, by Chuck Brymer. He's the CEO of the ad agency DDB in New York. While I won't dwell on the details, the book is about digital communities. Apparently their behavior resembles swarms of bees, or flocks of birds, or shoals of fishes. If you feel like one of the flamingos in the flying sequence of Out of Africa, Brymer is talking about you.
Along the way, he mentions a campaign that the agency ran for Brazilian brand Brastemp, which makes stolid domestic appliances like refrigerators and washing machines. The agency wanted to create "an emotional connection" with the brand. Its research uncovered the nifty Brazilian concept of the "B-side", which of course refers to the B-side of a record. In Brazil, the B-side is a metaphor for all that's spontaneous, alternative, refreshing and authentic.
"This attitude then became a design philosophy for Brastemp, with products emphasizing the B-side of life (such as) refrigerators that dispensed cans and frosted glasses for party lovers..."
I sat up when I read this. I love the concept. The A-side of life covers all the things that are obligatory and predictable: work, exercise, food shopping, cleaning the house...Not all of these things are entirely devoid of pleasure, but they are somehow forced on one. The B-side is the unexpected, the hedonistic, the purely pleasurable: a posh restaurant mid-week, a day on the beach, drinks with friends, an afternoon movie, a random art gallery, a day off, a last-minute weekend break...or, indeed, a new music track.
I don't normally make New Year's resolutions, but here's one that should be reasonably easy to stick to. More of 2009 will be spent playing the other side of the record.
I wish you a Happy New Year. And a lot more B-sides.
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