The instant MSP reality

Citation

Lindstrom, M. (2007), "The instant MSP reality", Young Consumers, Vol. 8 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/yc.2007.32108dab.001

The instant MSP reality

The instant MSP reality

Martin Lindstrom is author of BRANDchild and BRANDsense

Recently, I visited Disney World. But my impression of the place was somewhat different to that which attended my last visit to the park some years ago. The parking lots were empty; the entrance was eerily deserted; even the once-lengthy queues for attractions were only minutes long.

What was wrong? Was there something special about the day that prevented the world’s children and parents from converging on the place in their usual fashion?

Well, let me tell you this apparent abandonment is not being suffered by Disney World alone. Coca-Cola has reduced its four-storey merchandising store in Las Vegas to just two floors. The move seems almost a metaphor for the crisis the icon company is currently facing. McDonald’s, too, is experiencing the same trend: a steady reduction in visitor numbers matched by a steady reduction in share price.

There are many reasons for this phenomenon that spring to mind. My feeling is, however, that we are heading into a new era in which permanent branding strategies fail to relevantly address an ever-changing world with ever-changing demands.

What we have on our hands is the “Instant Generation”, a generation which is not equipped with any patience, which is supremely brand literate, and which expects quality in every detail as a firmly held right.

Coca-Cola, Disney and McDonald’s have all been around for ages. But this blessing may also be a curse. These great companies, household names, were born in a generation for which technological interactivity, instantaneous communication and rapid gratification of shifting desires were matters of science fiction. Just like the machinery that accompanied everyday life a few decades ago, the marketing machines that still support these companies were, and remain, huge. Such massive pieces of infrastructure do not move easily, and nor did they need to in the days in which consumer behaviour was, but contemporary standards, steady, stalwart and dependable.

But those behaviours have changed. They are now driven by individual vicissitudes, changeability made possible by a vast array of consumer options, a deep and searching knowledge of them and the communication and fiscal tools required to acquire them. This is the proving ground for the MSP generation. That is the “Me Selling Proposition” generation. The consumer generation preceding this current one was the USP generation (“Unique Selling Proposition”) to which brands were presented based on their unique differences. Before that the ESP (“Emotional”) generation for which emotional drive controlled the consumer’s selection. This followed the OSP (“Organisation”) generation, to which the organisation’s values were communicated as the chief means of driving consumer choice. And pioneering the lot was the BSP (the “Brand Selling Proposition”) generation for whom brands became so cultish that choices were made on the basis of brand identity rather than product relevance.

So, what is the MSP? The MSP is all about the consumer, not the corporation, running the brand. “Me”, the consumer. I change the brand, I form the brand and I almost own the brand. In fact, I feel ownership of it. I do not feel ownership when visiting a Disney theme park, or a Coca-Cola merchandising emporium. It is an impressive phenomenon, but not one you can necessarily build yourself.

Companies for which interactivity has formed a basis are armed to handle the enormous demands of consumer feedback they get from the MSP generation. And it is this feedback that informs their brands’ development and decisions. The great old companies are used to working the other way round: developing brands and having consumers adapt to and accept them.

Needless to say, all this bears crucially on the way brands will develop in future.