Brands are people too!

So just randomly today I was trying to figure out why the "Get a Mac" commercial spots, you know the ones where Justin Long matter-of-factly says "I'm a mac", were so successful. I think its because by putting a face to the brand, apple did something that we all do naturally. People quite naturally personify things they interact with. Just yesterday I called my printer "evil" when it refused to print one of my final papers this morning. I realize that printers usually don't have a sense of morality but this was an example of how people apply human characteristics to things in their environment. Brands have for a long time have tried to give a "face" to their brand and apple has taken this quite literally. By making a brand a person instead of a logo they have seemed to reach people on an emotional level. Many firms have recently tried to connect with their consumers by allowing their employees to blog or having a representative twitter and I believe this is all an attempt to give a personality to their brand. Brands are people too, but there are many firms who still resist this type of advertising. Instead of the classic way of advertising where a person passively stares at a commercial on TV, I think a good ad should be a start of a dialogue between the consumer and the brand. People quite naturally endow brands with specific qualities and advertising firms can use this behavior in order to shape brand preference.