Over the two-plus decades that Adweek has bestowed its Brand Genius Awards, building a successful brand has changed a lot. And not at all.
Sure, the 10 master marketers in our class of 2014 are proven experts in the comparatively new arts of social media outreach, in crowdsourcing, in creating the sort of content that’s so much fun that nobody even notices that it’s advertising.
But marketing—the best marketing—has always been about the fundamentals: Making a product desirable, imbuing the desire with relevancy, and weaving a brand into the fabric of life itself.
Witness Mark Crumpacker, who demonstrated that chain restaurant food can satisfy locavores. Or watch Paul Crandell, who proved that a GoPro camera is actually a peek at worlds we’ve never even imagined. Or watch Cheerios’ Camille Gibson, whose vision reminded us that diversity is as important as a good breakfast.
With equal parts insight, emotion and intelligence, these Brand Geniuses prove that no matter how times have changed, the best marketing always shows ourselves back to us.
View the Brand Genius winner class of 2014:
Paul Crandell, GoPro | Mark Crumpacker, Chipotle | Michelle N. Fernandez, Canon USA | Camille M. Gibson, General Mills | Trudy Hardy, BMW of North America | Matt Jauchius, Nationwide | Quinn Kilbury, Newcastle Brown Ale | David Melançon, Benjamin Moore & Co. | Shane Smith, Vice | Dana White, UFC
