Chasing cool

Management often gets caught in the marketer’s twilight zone: Chasing after the most elusive of marketing aspirations. Cool brands have the “it” factor – that certain attitude, style and appearance to which people are magnetically drawn. This leads ambitious corporate executives to constantly demand of their marketing teams, “Make my brand cool.”

"Chasing cool" is A Dangerous Attitude, and the reasons are explained in an article by Alex Wipperfürth, which will be included in his forthcoming book, Brand Hijack.

His proposition:

Do the suits in the boardroom really want their
brands to be defiant and oppositional? No, what
they’re most likely striving for is mainstream
acceptance laced with some topical cachet.
Therein lies the fallacy of cool: It’s not really
what you want to chase. There are several reasons
why.

The article details the reasons why 'cool' is attainable but just barely and it isn't for everyone. The author has some pretty cool ideas. Not that there's anything wrong with that.