Mimeo Lounge

Country on my Mind

Posted on November 13, 2007 at 3:45pm, written by Jeff Grill, VP Marketing

I used to hate country music.  To someone that grew up on Long Island, “country” was that music sung by people with funny hats, odd accents, and instruments that aren’t found in the school marching band.  Of all the radio stations in town the one with the country format was sure to be the one that would be announcing a format change in 6 months.

Recently something changed.  The songs that used to sound odd, now sound mainstream, and the artists that dominate “pop” just appear odd.  With Britney Spears’ antics and the failure of rap to evolve, Top 20 Radio just doesn’t seem to make sense.  As for country, it’s not the country of 20 years ago.  It seems as if country music and my listening tastes met somewhere in the middle.  Somehow Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift are just more interesting than Courtney Love (you have to love Taylor Swift when she accepted her Country Music Association Award with the statement - “This is definitely the highlight of my Sr Year - she’s in high school).  While pop looks like it is trying too hard to retain its appeal Country is just getting started.

Now how does this relate to printing?  It shows that brands need to adapt to the changing environment.  Contexts continually shift as the customer looks for new best fit compromises to their complex set of needs.  It’s what we are trying to do with Mimeo.  The co-creation of a dynamic brand that reflects the values and needs of our customers.  Now excuse me as I go look for some grits.

Tags: brad paisley, brands, britney spe, carrie underwood, country music, courtney love, kenny chesney, marketing, mimeo, taylor swift