Old School is the New Cool

This article proposes "classic" as a platform for differentiation in a context where more and more brands are turning to rebelliousness, non-conformity and irreverence, as well as a compulsion for hyper-connectivity, as the backbone of their positioning.?

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the All England Lawn Tennis Club: home of Wimbledon, the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.?Besides enjoying the match between Victoria Azarenka and Tamira Paszek (6-3, 7-6 in favour of the Belarusian), I came to a number of observations, which I would like to share with you on this occasion.

Wimbledon is a brand whose promise, personality and territory have been built around the concept of the classic.?Everything at Wimbledon is committed to upholding the original values of tradition, sobriety and elegance.?Players must wear white, and are named "Mister or Miss", as appropriate; advertising and branding are virtually non-existent; judges wear 1920s-style uniforms; spectators drink champagne and enjoy strawberries and cream; and the use of technology is non-existent, except for a couple of demonstrations that go unnoticed.

We adopt a brand to the extent that it allows us to distinguish ourselves, and we seek, paradoxically in the same exercise, to belong.?In this context, the most popular platform has been that of rebellion, irreverence, non-conformity.?Apple, Harley Davidson, Camel, Levi's, Virgin have been built on the promise of being the brand for those who seek to be outside the establishment.?The irony is that so many are "outside the establishment" that they themselves now constitute the mainstream.?

Now it turns out that an effective way to differentiate oneself is precisely to flaunt oneself as part of the establishment, which curiously no one is now part of.

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