Imperfectly appealing: the self-ironising brand

Melanie Howard

In this article Melanie Howard argues that artfully-applied self-deprecation can be a powerful generator of authenticity for brands.

Imperfectly appealing: the self-ironising brand

Melanie HowardFuture Foundation

Artfully-applied self-deprecation can, particularly for big brands, be a powerful generator of authenticity, says Melanie Howard

Lifting a spoon of yoghurt to her lips with pleasure, Nicole Scherzinger tumbles from a picnic table, an ordered chaos of picnicware around her. Her hair is messy, but in a nice way. On her dainty nose, a dab of Müller Püd chocolate dessert so perfectly circular as to appear to have been mechanically impressed or made by a Renaissance draughtsman. She laughs at herself, everyone laughs too - oh what a time was had....

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