Walk around any area that has a high composition of high school- or college-age people, and you will undoubtedly come to realize that two of the most important brands these kids are wearing are, get ready for it, Nirvana and Wu-Tang Clan. How did that happen?
I am a proud member of Gen X, and these are two of the most important musical acts from my younger days. These bands were about the music, but they both took a moment, or at least their management took a moment, to craft and patent iconic symbols that have weathered the years and come out on top, albeit probably symbolizing something unknown in meaning to the current generation who is touting them so publicly.
Wu-Tang launched Wu Wear in 1995. Nirvana copyrighted the smiley face logo in 1993. These were widely recognizable in the mid- to late ‘90s, and they faded out of popular culture until the last 10 years or so, with a significantly increased profile in the last five. I see Nirvana T-shirts on kids in sixth grade who weren’t even alive when Kurt Cobain took his own life. If you ask these kids to name one Nirvana song, some of them don’t even know that the shirt represents a band, much less a song that changed music overnight.
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The same goes for the Wu-Tang symbol, which you can see co-opted across social media posts and T-shirts on street vendors around Wrigley Field in Chicago, all used in ways that has nothing to do with the original flavor of Wu-Tang. My favorite of these co-opted shirts is the one that reads, “Wu-Tang is for the children.” I have to imagine that ODB is literally rolling over in his grave right now.
A great brand can last forever. And while I may be poking fun and conveying my cynicism toward this issue, the marketer in me absolutely loves that these brands are being resurrected and used to convey something to a new generation. It is a testament to the power of music as a general catalyst for motivating youth and driving new ideas in the culture.
While these brands may not be as well understood as they were when they launched, they are still able to inspire curiosity and intrigue many years past their initial launch. Funnily enough, this is what every major brand would hope to achieve when reaching out to their target audience: a long-lasting opportunity to engage with an audience, and even traverse generations.
Is there a lesson to be learned here? The simplicity of a message and iconography can help grow a brand and give it a lifetime of value. Beyond that, it’s certainly hard to say that a CPG brand can do what Nirvana has done. Still, there's definitely hope.
Here’s to hoping that these brands will stand the test of the next 30 years!<