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DAVID ROMAN: So one of the trends that I see and it's
specifically in the youth space--but I think the youth
space is what's really driving any market these days, is the
assumption that a brand actually has to--
a brand you really support, a brand that you really
champion, has to actually be part of your values.
You look at the brand in terms of not just the utility that
you get from the product, that you get from that brand, but
also how does that brand really fit your lifestyle?
How does that brand basically deal with social issues, with
environmental issues, with things that are
important to you.
And people take these brands much more seriously.
And so when you really are brand champion today, I think
you look at the brand in a much more complete way then
our markets did in the past.
And as a brand, we have to become much more
sensitive to that.
We have to make sure that we do actually live up to the
expectations that our audiences have of us.
And that we do it in a way that's real.
That it has to be authentic, it has to really be part of
their life, not just a message that we cobble together that
says, look this is who we are.
So in some respects, it doesn't change the marketing
role, but I think the one thing that it does do is it
holds us much more accountable.
It makes us look much more seriously at doing really the
right thing.
And I say that not in a generic way, but doing the
right thing that's going to make us relevant to that
audience, and to stick with that.
You can't change from day to day, and you have to engage in
order to know what that really is.
And that's a bigger role, more responsibility, but it also
carries much greater rewards with it.
And I think that's what's defining the
new approach to marketing.