Enjoying a brand called Brand while listening to a Ramones tribute band

So last night I made my way to Pakhuis Wilhelmina, a funky former warehouse turned live music venue in Amsterdam to see what turned out to be a surprisingly excellent Dutch Ramones tribute band. (Click the photo to enlarge.)

While the band was terrific, they only knew about ten songs and considering most Ramones tunes clock in at less than three minutes we heard each song twice. The crowd didn't care, getting more into it on the second go-round. (I think I heard Blitzkrieg Bop three times, but I can't be sure).

So I look up to the chalkboard menu to see the brands of beer they serve. I see they helpfully say "brand" before listing Heineken and the others. Hmm… which beer shall I have?

Wait. Hang on.

I notice that most people are drinking Brand brand beer.

Okay, then.

Naturally I order one and engage the bartender. The beer is very popular he says (I could see that already). He says Brand brand beer is now owned by Heineken, "like every other beer".

Actually, Brand beer is pretty darned tasty. So tasty in fact, that I quickly drain it and order another.

As I had arrived early - I had visions of the Ramones tribute band practicing counting off "one-two-three-four" really fast - I had time on my hands to think about a Brand called brand.

To be honest, I was cracking myself up. Really.

The rest of the crowd must have thought I was deranged as, alone, every few minutes I would laugh out loud. But then again, this is Amsterdam and really now, what's strange behavior in this town?

Anyway, I was reminded of my college friend Kelley MacDonald who married Les Kelley and is now named, well, Kelley Kelley.

All I could think of was the brand manager for Brand brand beer. What a job that must be!

I kept running through various Abbott and Costello “Who’s on first” scenes in my mind:

MEETING SOMEONE AT WORK FOR THE FIRST TIME

Colleague: "Hi, I'm an accounting manager!"

Her: "Hi, I'm a brand manager."

Colleague: "So am I, but what do you do?"

HIRING AN AD AGENCY

Her: "I'm looking for an agency to help me market Brand."

Agency boss: "What brand?"

Her: "Yes."

AT A MARKETING CONFERENCE

Attendee: "What do you do?"

Her: "I'm the Brand brand brand manager."

Attendee: "Too bad about the stutter."

Anyway you get the idea. It was a fun night.

Hey, if the Brand brand brand manager sees this, please say hello.

Comments

[Cesar]

"Brand" means "Fire" in Dutch.

[Keith Jennings]

This reminds me of the Jerry Lewis character Herbert Herbert Heebert in the movie The Ladies Man. A friend of mine is named Nu. Could you imagine Nu's New Rules?

Not much online about the Brand brand, other than Brand is the family name of the founders.

I have to try that beer. Hey ho, let's go!

[David Meerman Scott]

Cesar - thanks! I was wondering.

Keith - Nu? Wow.

[Kate]

My brother is in Amsterdam right now. I'm going to make him get some of this beer! It's social marketing in the making!

[Jen]

You're such a dork! What a great post. Enjoy Holland!

[twitter.com/mpkaplan]

The irony is tremendous. The definition of the word "Brand" is "A trademark or distinctive name identifying a product or a manufacturer."

I just wonder how much the marketing group paid to name it. Maybe it was a joke or a stroke of genius, perhaps. I guess the names "draft", "beer", "mug" or "pint" were too obscure.

[AJ]

We at TBWA\ work for Brand. You probably won't believe that the CSDs last name is Brouwer. Brewer in English... Cheers, AJ

[David Meerman Scott]

AJ - Damn. Now that's cool. But what does "CSD" mean?

[Igorverhoeven]

David,

The brewery goes back to 1340 and was bought in 1871 by ... Frederik Brand !

I don't think he had a Brand brandstrategy back than. I wonder if the marketingterm "brand" even existed.

If you know a little Dutch you can find all this at www.brand.nl ! No joke !

Regards, Igor (we shortly met, just before you left# MP2010)

[Remco Janssen]

To be precise, it's the oldest brewery in the country. According to the (Dutch) wiki on Wikipedia the beer wás available in the US from 1981 till 1991 in the unique white bottle - so you might find some overdate ones as a relic on ebay, perhaps?

Still a funny observation!

[Dara Bell]

Somehow heard that you were a Ramones fan. My favourite is Londons calling. They seem to have autosuggestion down to a tee, combine that with your drinking strong European beer and its an easy sell.

[David Meerman Scott]

Dara - London Calling is a Clash album. (I love both The Clash and the Ramones. - I saw both live back in the day).

[Amelia Vargo]

Great observation - I love this sort of thing. It always makes me chuckle! Thanks for brightening my Monday morning with a giggle!

[David Meerman Scott]

Thanks Amelia! I'm still chuckling and it was two days ago!

[John-John Arnold]

So you did some `Personal Branding´ in Holland?

Cheers,

John-John Arnold
On the Green

[KR_Edit]

There is a similiar situation in Hungary. There is an old soft drink: Márka=Brand.
So: "I'm the Brand brand brand manager." - Én a Márka márka márka menedzsere vagyok. in hungarian.:)

[David Meerman Scott]

That cool KR. Many thanks for sharing.

[Moz]

Londons calling = Ramones?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!

;)

[David Meerman Scott]

Moz - I agree. But I wanted to be more polite to Dara