Cultural Perception

You would've thought after 5 years of going to BYU I might've spent at least some time traversing downtown Provo - but as I gazed at the twinkling lights of center street walking hand in hand with my sweetheart on Saturday night, I realized that I have been depraved of downtown Provo my entire college life. I feel like it's the giant party that I never got to be a part of until now because I was the dorky librarian kid that was always locked away in my room.

As I stepped out of the car and into downtown Provo, I was engulfed in a culturally enriching experience that I wasn't entirely prepared for. And I'm not just talking about the culture of Provo couples dining on a Saturday night (a culture I actually joined that same night, one I highly recommend). That night I had hoped to introduce my friend to Provo, but instead we were both introduced to three entirely different cultures.

First we found Italy. That is, Gloria's Little Italy. 

We were surrounded by the smells, decor and artwork of Little Italy. It was astounding. The best part, though, was the accordion music in the background. I turned to my friend and said, "It would be perfect if the accordion player was real." We turned the corner, and there we discovered a live accordion player! Serenading the masses with a jovial smile on his face. 

As we left the restaurant, we looked across the street where there was some sort of carnival going on. Little did we know that we would stumble into Latin America for over half an hour. We enjoyed a live mariachi band, fresh tortillas at every turn, and Spanish speakers yelling, laughing and dancing with their families.

We danced out of the carnival and on down Center street, wondering what other sort of cultures we could find. We saw rows of restaurants and shops that seemed promising - a French bakery, a building with a large fountain inside, an antique store with a life-sized stuffed Ostrich. But then we were stopped by this interesting sign:

And this thought provoking statement:

We looked into the @bigdoornetwork, and found a video production company that has taken their little corner and made it their own. The moment you step onto their pavement, you know immediately that you have stepped into the world of the Big Door.

Just like a few hours earlier, how we knew we had stepped into Italy.

Just like we knew we had stepped into Latino America.

Isn't that what branding is about? Creating your own little world and inviting others to step inside? Isn't that what Target and Nike and Coke has done, creating a perception of their own reality using a certain repetition of color, font, shape and scale? So that the moment you look at one of their advertisements, you know that you are in their world before you even see their name.

If they do it right, a company can almost create their own "culture." Then, just as an Italian accordion player can take you right back to Italy, a flash of red and white can take you right back to Target. 

That, my friends, is the power of perception.