IT'S IN THE BAG

We marketers have been inundated with buzzwords lately, especially this one: consumer-generated media. Just scratching the surface, consumer-generated media runs the gamut from blogs and ratings sites, to v-logs, podcasts and moblogs. Then there are the likes of Converse Gallery or Nike iD that are taking consumer-generated media into the next-level of marketing.

Consumer-generated media and marketing presents an interesting marketplace where customer loyalty in the future will be based more on the experiences consumers have with brands than what they rationally think about individual products or services a company offers. If brands in the future will be built on individual consumer experiences, why shouldn’t successful marketing campaigns be built on the same foundation?

That's why I just freakin' love this product from messenger bag brand Timbuk2. This uber-cool bag brand has made its bones catering to the hipster set -- those boys and girls who tote messenger and DJ bags on their shoulders.

The company's latest and greatest is the artist's canvass bag, a messenger bag that gives the consumer a blank canvass to customize with any sort of tag, graffitti or text that they can imagine.

The flagship Classic Messenger features a center panel of 100% cotton, untreated artist's canvas (#10 duck) surrounded by black Cordura panels. Now anyone can paint, draw, stencil, or otherwise embellish a bag... making it truly one of a kind...using paint pens, acrylic paint or Sharpie markers to create a unique masterpiece!

Timbuk2 is obviously listening to its customers -- the b-boys and b-girls that are all about customization, street art and self-expression. How cool is it that these bags are designed to give it to them!

Comments

[Kare Anderson]

The local Timbuk2 story has gotten so much positive visiblity - and new funding. I think the next stage, in keeping iwth your theme, is for them to find other niche markets of hipters who need a sturdy "travel" bag and like the association with bike messengers. For example, I asked my hper-active 8 year old son if he'd like one, sized for him, to take to school and on outings. Showing him some photos of bike messengers whizzing down Montgomery Street in downtown S.F. financial district won him over in a micro-second... being a Mom and a marketeer I thought, who not add some rules of the road inside:
Be alert.
Look around.
Avoid the crash when you can weave around it... but I do go on...Also think they'll do some SmartPartnering to get introduced to prospective customers by firms thsoe people already knwo and trust... but that may be because I have SmartPartnering on my mind, from finishing a book about it.