Corporations and the concept of “indie”

When corporations target ‘indie’ groups, are they tapping into the right focus group study? The year is 2009 and when you look around, you’ll see more and more brands calling for support of the ‘indie scene’, ‘indie is cool’, ‘indie indie indie’.

What is this concept of ‘indie’?

We prepared marketing proposals for Clients who were interested in targeting youth markets. But it was seriously funny that there were times in the boardroom where we’d be laughing inside when one particular client couldn’t tell the difference between indie and Indian (true story!) and asked halfway into the presentation why we were proposing for them to target only ‘Indians’.

Independent, or ‘indie’ was about young people going their own way, living their own dreams, wanting to be creative. As an independent community promoter, a writer, performer and an early pioneer in the scene, it dawned on me that when a corporation buys into the indie concept, it’s about aligning their brand to fit youth (Gen Y) perceptions, and of course – it’s about how many products they can sell to that market. It’s about, ‘What your event, or your proposal can do for my brand NOW. How much sales can I increase’. Now that, is the reality. And that most decision makers are still of the Gen X or Lost Gen stature.

I take my rose coloured glasses off my face and rest it above my head.

So I am the link between the needs of the corporate bigwigs and the independent scene. I’m the bridge, me this hybrid Gen-X’er who sits on the border of Y. And I will keep on trying until I get it right. After a few partnerships and understanding our corporate clients’ mindsets better, I’m confident to say, we’re almost there. There IS such a thing as win-win. At least for now. I’m working hard on making it win-win …