from? Are you proud of being from that town/state/country? And what kind of brand does it bear?
This subject has intrigued me for years. When you're growing up, you have little to no idea how your home is perceived by outsiders because: a) you usually don't even know there's anything outside of your backyard, and b) your kindergarten class may as well be the entire planet.
Then late last year, I noticed that this topic piqued the interest of another brand strategist, Kristina Dryza, in an article on BrandChannel.com (highly recommended) about Lithuania, its global perception, and its plans to overcome certain reputational challenges.
I live in New York City, a geographical brand without equal. However, I'm from Columbus, Ohio, which for some reason has been plagued with an inaccurately negative (at least to me) brand equity, manifesting itself in questions like "so what's it like in the South?" and "don't they grow potatoes there?" Most encounters I have with people who are not familiar with the state usually progress quickly to the defense stage, wherein I inform them that Ohio's the sixth most populated state in the Union, invented the airplane, can claim the first American in orbit and the first human being to touch the moon as its native sons, has five cities of over a million citizens (only two other states can claim that), has the second-most US Presidents to its credit, and on and on.
After the discussion, I should like to think I've changed that person's perception of The Buckeye State. And even if I have, my brand campaign has about 250 million Americans to go.
Conversely, Connecticut and Michigan have sterling brands, and the dirty secret is that they've been the recipient of some kind of invisible, 200 year-long subliminal campaign that somehow ends up here. For instance, the state north of my native Ohio is soaked in NASCAR, gun-totin' militia, and bowhunting; the state north of my current home, save for a few uber-wealthy towns, is hardly the tartan plaid landscape the rest of the country believes it to be. Just ask someone from either. They'll be the first to nod their heads in agreement.
So how does this happen? Firstly, it's all in a name. Ohio sounds like Iowa and Utah and yes, Idaho -- each hardly battling California for top of the hip heap. Conversely, Connecticut and Michigan don't sound like anything else on the planet. Score one for the Constitution State and Wolverine State (and the American Indian tribes responsible for those names). They were differentiated right off the bat.
Next -- and I know I'll earn some detractors here, but stick with me -- Lake Erie's shores notwithstanding, Ohio is landlocked. Michigan and Connecticut have hundreds of miles of shoreline (freshwater and saltwater, respectively). Don't think that's important? Remind yourself where the vast majority of the United States population lives. It's extremely difficult to be "cool" or even accepted without water supporting your brand. Check out the migration patterns of humanity since the dawn of time. Ask your own psyche. You'll see.
Now I'm sure both you and I can think of dozens more reasons, but those are just the first two I continually find supported as I conduct my own Brand Lab whenever the discussion begins. Movie and TV portrayals, political dynamics, contributions to pop culture, etc... The list of why places are perceived the way they are goes on ad infinitum.
All I know is, there are cool places everywhere you travel, right alongside the shite. Same goes with people. But the brand perception of a place is an interesting look at how human brains buy brands and first develop them internally, then strengthen them collectively.
In fact, it is the core argument of branding itself. Cities, states, and countries can be viewed as multimillion-employee organizations, unconsciously building a brand along a strategy that's more like an invisible compass. We're not briefed per se on how to represent our suburbs or home states to the rest of the country and world, and so rarely recognize the importance of brand until its sown so far and wide that it takes decades to move the meter even a fraction.
Once I was on an overcrowded train from Paris to Madrid, sweating in a four-person berth with five elderly, shoeless Moroccans. Though they spared no conversation among themselves, I could no more understand them than I could a mute collie. I sat alone reading. After jostling uncomfortably for hours, one older man asked me in broken English (there's branding right there: he knew by my clothes that I had to be a Brit, Canadian, or American) where I was from.
I told him, "The U.S., sir. Ohio" -- the second part more out of habit than of trying to explain this to a man who assuredly had never heard of such a place. His response was something to the effect of a polite "Oooooh," which I took for a gratuitous nicety, but what came next absolutely blew me away.
He said, "Clee-lun Blowns?" and grinned like a child. This man -- who at roughly 1,000 years old looked as if he'd never seen a TV in his life, let alone would know what football much less the Cleveland Browns were -- asked me about my favorite NFL team. He made the association instantly: Ohio = Cleveland = Browns. He musta seen something somewhere and it stuck (probably wondered if Jim Brown owned the franchise or something).
One could object by asserting this event speaks more to the Browns' branding successes than The State of Ohio's, but I'd argue against that here. The old Moroccan didn't respond to a mention of orange helmets, Sam Rutigliano, or Lou "The Toe" Groza. He reacted to the word Ohio.
Maybe that's the moment my internal "hometown brand" argument was sparked. Not only was I exhasperated at his cultural knowledge and the quick, albeit miniscule, connection we'd just made, but that I was the one who misjudged HIM. I looked at this guy as an elderly man from a far-off place who couldn't possibly have any inkling about Ohio, and gratefully, I was wrong.
Just goes to show you that the "fractal geometry" of experiential association, particularly involving geography, is a phenomenon unexplained, a process hardly trackable, and a system uniquely human.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
The world's biggest brand? Why,
God of course. Oh blasphemy.
A brand isn't only something you can buy with money. In fact, a brand cannot be purchased with money at all. Remember, a brand isn't a product on a shelf, but rather, the story the mind recounts when receiving stimuli about the product. It's merely a bookmark to a tale that grows organically.
Knowing this, what, then, would represent the largest brain-bookmark on the planet?
The one that millions upon millions of people worship daily, rule in the name of, fear, marry under, devote their lives to, kill for, receive comfort from, make sacrifices for, and pray to for assumption on their death beds.
Now you're getting the picture. (It's arguable that Family ranks above God, but I'd respond by asking you, "By what do most cultures swear oaths in a court of law?" — legal courts being the one theater sanctioned to decide between life and death.)
Certainly, there are as many ideas of "God" as there are brains. The great philosophers have made history, livings, and enemies debating its meaning. Tribes deep in the Amazon, who wouldn't know Marlboro from margarine, may be among its most loyal consumers. Even people who don't believe in God at least exhibit a strong opinion. And think, just one written perspective on this marque, The Bible, is the highest-selling book in history.
What a brand.
Now, this approach to branding may not be popular with many, but it should be heeded if you're in the industry — because share of wallet ain't what you're after if you're committed to building a dominant brand (or even a good one). It's mindshare you seek, because everything within the gray soup of the human brain competes for one of these hallowed, rare bookmarks. Like Charlie in Wonka, everyone wants a ticket to the Promised Land, but a mere sliver of a fraction actually get their hands on one. (And even when some do, they break the rules the moment they get inside.)
This is what we're up against for brainding. I know a lot of people treat some brands like they may actually be God (i.e., NASCAR fans), but I'm not appealing to Tide with Bleach when a loved one falls ill. Sounds stupid, huh. But if you really think about it, bookmarks for commodities a million light years outside of Maslow's Hierarchy — say, Miracle Whip — have a snowball's chance in Hellmann's of grabbing the ever-elusive brain bookmark.
Kinda puts things in perspective now don't it.
PROVOCATIVE TANGENT ALERT: A favorite of my many oddball branding conjectures is that one religion above all others has unwittingly shed light on, and benefited greatly from, the fundamentals of branding — because ultimately, those fundamentals are just those of the human brain anyway (remember, the word is "fundamental" after all).
Missionaries have spread its simple story and logo for generations, and with great success mind you. Its exposure frequency is high, and for the most part, its consistency is unrivaled.
Christianity — with one man (a father and a holy spirit), 10 commandments, 12 apostles, and a simple-for-anyone-to-copy logo, the cross — is one of the most amazing brand parallels I can conjure from the last two millennia.
Think about it: nothing difficult to remember; it promises huge benefits; it's all-inclusive; its mystery disallows it from being fully consumed; its claims are near-impossible to disprove; and most of all, its only cost (in the scheme of my four Brand Currencies) is Time. And heck, that's even at your own discretion.
Boil it down to the cross — a symbol any child can replicate perfectly, and which tells the entire story of arguably the most powerful social dynamic in history with two perpendicular lines.
Amazing.
A brand isn't only something you can buy with money. In fact, a brand cannot be purchased with money at all. Remember, a brand isn't a product on a shelf, but rather, the story the mind recounts when receiving stimuli about the product. It's merely a bookmark to a tale that grows organically.
Knowing this, what, then, would represent the largest brain-bookmark on the planet?
The one that millions upon millions of people worship daily, rule in the name of, fear, marry under, devote their lives to, kill for, receive comfort from, make sacrifices for, and pray to for assumption on their death beds.
Now you're getting the picture. (It's arguable that Family ranks above God, but I'd respond by asking you, "By what do most cultures swear oaths in a court of law?" — legal courts being the one theater sanctioned to decide between life and death.)
Certainly, there are as many ideas of "God" as there are brains. The great philosophers have made history, livings, and enemies debating its meaning. Tribes deep in the Amazon, who wouldn't know Marlboro from margarine, may be among its most loyal consumers. Even people who don't believe in God at least exhibit a strong opinion. And think, just one written perspective on this marque, The Bible, is the highest-selling book in history.
What a brand.
Now, this approach to branding may not be popular with many, but it should be heeded if you're in the industry — because share of wallet ain't what you're after if you're committed to building a dominant brand (or even a good one). It's mindshare you seek, because everything within the gray soup of the human brain competes for one of these hallowed, rare bookmarks. Like Charlie in Wonka, everyone wants a ticket to the Promised Land, but a mere sliver of a fraction actually get their hands on one. (And even when some do, they break the rules the moment they get inside.)
This is what we're up against for brainding. I know a lot of people treat some brands like they may actually be God (i.e., NASCAR fans), but I'm not appealing to Tide with Bleach when a loved one falls ill. Sounds stupid, huh. But if you really think about it, bookmarks for commodities a million light years outside of Maslow's Hierarchy — say, Miracle Whip — have a snowball's chance in Hellmann's of grabbing the ever-elusive brain bookmark.
Kinda puts things in perspective now don't it.
PROVOCATIVE TANGENT ALERT: A favorite of my many oddball branding conjectures is that one religion above all others has unwittingly shed light on, and benefited greatly from, the fundamentals of branding — because ultimately, those fundamentals are just those of the human brain anyway (remember, the word is "fundamental" after all).
Missionaries have spread its simple story and logo for generations, and with great success mind you. Its exposure frequency is high, and for the most part, its consistency is unrivaled.
Christianity — with one man (a father and a holy spirit), 10 commandments, 12 apostles, and a simple-for-anyone-to-copy logo, the cross — is one of the most amazing brand parallels I can conjure from the last two millennia.
Think about it: nothing difficult to remember; it promises huge benefits; it's all-inclusive; its mystery disallows it from being fully consumed; its claims are near-impossible to disprove; and most of all, its only cost (in the scheme of my four Brand Currencies) is Time. And heck, that's even at your own discretion.
Boil it down to the cross — a symbol any child can replicate perfectly, and which tells the entire story of arguably the most powerful social dynamic in history with two perpendicular lines.
Amazing.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Tags. They may be on
the periphery of the brandscape per se, but what the hell has gone on with advertisers and their responsibility compasses -- or is it just the widespread effect of our intolerably poor education system? If you find a way to screw up your tag -- the limbless mission statement that it is -- then you might consider a return to memorizing daytime TV schedules and standing in line at Kinko's begging the antiChrist for your first shot. [Er, FedEx Kinko's. My braind's still trying to wipe that merger off the disk.]
Seems the agency workforce has become the latest vertical to be assumed by the roving mass of uneducates, similar to how the government did decades back. In the same way, the standard of excellence has disappeared. And no one cares.
Allow me to whine, opine, and pine for the intelligence of yore. The Mazda Summer Sales Event spot I just witnessed includes in the dialogue of a hapless Toyota representative: "This Mazda 3 drives as good as they say." How could anyone client-side allow this through?
Of course, this joins the ranks of such Copernicus-level grammatical wonders as "Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood" and "Where You At?".
Is it any wonder American kids can't speak proper-like? Why should any child be expected to use the predicate nominate in an educated manner when the almight television can't?
[Yeah yeah yeah. I know. There's "Think Different", which purposely eschews grammar rules as a structural matter of course. Yeah, you and I get it. (And okay, I love it. But my Apple bias is sickening.) Anyway, that tag wasn't stupidity. It was point-clarity.]
SOAP-BLOX EXTRA: We all know Coke's "The Real Thing", right? Let's look at the only tags this brand has had in THIRTY-FIVE years:
- It's the Real Thing. (1970)
- I'd like to Buy the World a Coke. (1971)
- Coke adds life. (1976)
- Have a Coke and a Smile. (1979)
- Can't Beat the Real Thing. (1990)
Simple, understated brand advancement.
Currency:
Information
---------
Time
Seems the agency workforce has become the latest vertical to be assumed by the roving mass of uneducates, similar to how the government did decades back. In the same way, the standard of excellence has disappeared. And no one cares.
Allow me to whine, opine, and pine for the intelligence of yore. The Mazda Summer Sales Event spot I just witnessed includes in the dialogue of a hapless Toyota representative: "This Mazda 3 drives as good as they say." How could anyone client-side allow this through?
Of course, this joins the ranks of such Copernicus-level grammatical wonders as "Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood" and "Where You At?".
Is it any wonder American kids can't speak proper-like? Why should any child be expected to use the predicate nominate in an educated manner when the almight television can't?
[Yeah yeah yeah. I know. There's "Think Different", which purposely eschews grammar rules as a structural matter of course. Yeah, you and I get it. (And okay, I love it. But my Apple bias is sickening.) Anyway, that tag wasn't stupidity. It was point-clarity.]
SOAP-BLOX EXTRA: We all know Coke's "The Real Thing", right? Let's look at the only tags this brand has had in THIRTY-FIVE years:
- It's the Real Thing. (1970)
- I'd like to Buy the World a Coke. (1971)
- Coke adds life. (1976)
- Have a Coke and a Smile. (1979)
- Can't Beat the Real Thing. (1990)
Simple, understated brand advancement.
Currency:
Information
---------
Time
Sunday, August 21, 2005
So what makes
a brand great, anyway? These days, there seem to be as many answers as there are brands. And what does “great” mean? To answer these questions, let's review the subject at hand.
Since the advent of electronic mass communication in the United States -- and the increased dependence on advertising and other commercial communications -- the idea of “branding” has gained in importance, though few people can agree on when it actually started or just who is primarily responsible for it. Many believe that branding didn’t become a standalone discipline until the big British ad agencies began recruiting brand planners in the 1980s. Others claim branding has been an influential dynamic since cattle herders in the American West began steaming their ranches’ unique “logos” into the sides of their wayward four-legged products (the dawn of package design, perhaps).
What most people do agree on, though, is that a brand is the emotional universe that surrounds a product, regardless of what it may be. People, places, pizzas all call to mind some subliminal story behind them, built on interaction -- physical or non-physical -- over time. This emotional “symbol,” comprised of everything one knows and feels about a product, is the brand.
Using this definition, then, we see how important it is to launch a brand with utmost care, and then sustain its integrity wherever it may be experienced by a consuming mind. Remember, the “brand recorder” inside everyone’s head is always on. Every single impression affects, positively or negatively, a brand’s standing with each consumer. Therefore the product must be quality, or the brand has little chance of surviving. This truth will become self-evident, regardless of the money spent by any company or agency on any branding activity. Walk the walk or else. (See also: New Coke.)
Branding, then, is not merely designing logos, though visual identity is an important element in the branding equation. It is, rather, the relentless, focused attention paid to nurturing this experiential saga, and the tacit refusal to participate in any initiative which may denigrate or run contrary to the story that the managers of the brand -- otherwise known as the brand stewards -- are charged with maintaining.
Which brings me to the first point of what makes a great brand. Brand stewards, as I mentioned above, are professionals whose sole purpose is to serve, protect, and advance a brand. But against what is this progress measured? How do they know if one communications activity is potentially dangerous for a brand, and another is safe? How is each marketing endeavor not up for public debate at headquarters every time one is planned? Because the best brands are built on a solid brand strategy -- the framework within which every step taken by the brand is executed. That’s why.
Brand strategy is a relatively new science, made up of equal parts consumer research, sociology, media integration, and good old fashioned intuition. Those best at building strategies are the people/companies with the most information about their consumers, and with the brains who’ve seen lots of brands succeed and lots of them fail. Only after watching a few sure-fire bets crash and burn does one’s intuition begin to sharpen.
That said, a standard brand strategy consists of objectives based on the comprehension of four basic elements: the target audience, the competitive landscape, the product/service mix, and the unique advantage. For the experienced brand steward, this is rank oversimplification, but all good brand strategies bring to the table at least these four attributes. Together, they form the fundamental backdrop for the long-term roadmap for the brand, or the brand plan.
The brand plan (often built in two-to-three-year increments) is to brands what a media plan is to broadcast; namely, the outline of every single touchpoint a message-receiver will have with the brand over a period of time. Advertising campaigns, product launches, web sites, PR bursts, events, package re-designs -- everything in the brand’s impressionistic universe — must be accounted and planned for accordingly. This is the thoroughly detailed story brand stewards wish to sell the consumer, knowing full well that few, if any, consumers will be exposed to the entire story.
So if all these variables take so much work to get right, yet there are still no guarantees, what makes a great brand? In my opinion, all successful brands have the following in common:
Adherence. Stick to the brand plan. No ifs, ands, or buts. (NOTE: if you find out midway through a brand plan that one of the four basic elements has changed sufficiently to warrant a re-direction, of course, make the necessary changes. Marketplace shifts and new trends are ubiquitous, and reacting to them early is critical.) No one involved with the brand should drive it arbitrarily. Telling more than one story confuses consumers, which is tantamount to a false promise. And that could spell years of expensive re-building.
Responsiveness. You can’t please everyone all the time. With this in mind, deal with changes or problems quickly and honestly. Visine and Perrier were endangered species when it was discovered that their products had been tampered with. The people driving these brands (in these cases, mostly public relations) moved swiftly and responded proactively. They are both still category leaders today. You can’t predict disaster, but you can do your best to prepare, and then to move rapidly.
Patience. You’ve heard it’s a virtue. They were right. Great brands are not built overnight (contrary to popular dot-boom wisdom). You’re in it for the long haul. An ad campaign may bring a sales spike, but it’s only a blip in the life of a great brand. Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, and Nike, to name just a few, understand this. If you perform research to prove increased brand equity month-to-month, you most certainly will lose your mind. (And probably your best brand steward personnel.) Stay calm, keep looking ahead, and remain confident in a coherent, cohesive strategy and plan.
Your great brand will thank you someday.
Since the advent of electronic mass communication in the United States -- and the increased dependence on advertising and other commercial communications -- the idea of “branding” has gained in importance, though few people can agree on when it actually started or just who is primarily responsible for it. Many believe that branding didn’t become a standalone discipline until the big British ad agencies began recruiting brand planners in the 1980s. Others claim branding has been an influential dynamic since cattle herders in the American West began steaming their ranches’ unique “logos” into the sides of their wayward four-legged products (the dawn of package design, perhaps).
What most people do agree on, though, is that a brand is the emotional universe that surrounds a product, regardless of what it may be. People, places, pizzas all call to mind some subliminal story behind them, built on interaction -- physical or non-physical -- over time. This emotional “symbol,” comprised of everything one knows and feels about a product, is the brand.
Using this definition, then, we see how important it is to launch a brand with utmost care, and then sustain its integrity wherever it may be experienced by a consuming mind. Remember, the “brand recorder” inside everyone’s head is always on. Every single impression affects, positively or negatively, a brand’s standing with each consumer. Therefore the product must be quality, or the brand has little chance of surviving. This truth will become self-evident, regardless of the money spent by any company or agency on any branding activity. Walk the walk or else. (See also: New Coke.)
Branding, then, is not merely designing logos, though visual identity is an important element in the branding equation. It is, rather, the relentless, focused attention paid to nurturing this experiential saga, and the tacit refusal to participate in any initiative which may denigrate or run contrary to the story that the managers of the brand -- otherwise known as the brand stewards -- are charged with maintaining.
Which brings me to the first point of what makes a great brand. Brand stewards, as I mentioned above, are professionals whose sole purpose is to serve, protect, and advance a brand. But against what is this progress measured? How do they know if one communications activity is potentially dangerous for a brand, and another is safe? How is each marketing endeavor not up for public debate at headquarters every time one is planned? Because the best brands are built on a solid brand strategy -- the framework within which every step taken by the brand is executed. That’s why.
Brand strategy is a relatively new science, made up of equal parts consumer research, sociology, media integration, and good old fashioned intuition. Those best at building strategies are the people/companies with the most information about their consumers, and with the brains who’ve seen lots of brands succeed and lots of them fail. Only after watching a few sure-fire bets crash and burn does one’s intuition begin to sharpen.
That said, a standard brand strategy consists of objectives based on the comprehension of four basic elements: the target audience, the competitive landscape, the product/service mix, and the unique advantage. For the experienced brand steward, this is rank oversimplification, but all good brand strategies bring to the table at least these four attributes. Together, they form the fundamental backdrop for the long-term roadmap for the brand, or the brand plan.
The brand plan (often built in two-to-three-year increments) is to brands what a media plan is to broadcast; namely, the outline of every single touchpoint a message-receiver will have with the brand over a period of time. Advertising campaigns, product launches, web sites, PR bursts, events, package re-designs -- everything in the brand’s impressionistic universe — must be accounted and planned for accordingly. This is the thoroughly detailed story brand stewards wish to sell the consumer, knowing full well that few, if any, consumers will be exposed to the entire story.
So if all these variables take so much work to get right, yet there are still no guarantees, what makes a great brand? In my opinion, all successful brands have the following in common:
Adherence. Stick to the brand plan. No ifs, ands, or buts. (NOTE: if you find out midway through a brand plan that one of the four basic elements has changed sufficiently to warrant a re-direction, of course, make the necessary changes. Marketplace shifts and new trends are ubiquitous, and reacting to them early is critical.) No one involved with the brand should drive it arbitrarily. Telling more than one story confuses consumers, which is tantamount to a false promise. And that could spell years of expensive re-building.
Responsiveness. You can’t please everyone all the time. With this in mind, deal with changes or problems quickly and honestly. Visine and Perrier were endangered species when it was discovered that their products had been tampered with. The people driving these brands (in these cases, mostly public relations) moved swiftly and responded proactively. They are both still category leaders today. You can’t predict disaster, but you can do your best to prepare, and then to move rapidly.
Patience. You’ve heard it’s a virtue. They were right. Great brands are not built overnight (contrary to popular dot-boom wisdom). You’re in it for the long haul. An ad campaign may bring a sales spike, but it’s only a blip in the life of a great brand. Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, and Nike, to name just a few, understand this. If you perform research to prove increased brand equity month-to-month, you most certainly will lose your mind. (And probably your best brand steward personnel.) Stay calm, keep looking ahead, and remain confident in a coherent, cohesive strategy and plan.
Your great brand will thank you someday.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
I remember asking
one of my finance-major college buddies once if there were other economies besides the financial one. "Why were you guys divinely endowed with the responsibility of overseeing the only supply-demand machine out there?" Of course, what I knew then about business was granular compared to now (and what I know today ain't much either), but that was the beginning of something that would be nurtured by my feeble mind for years.
Back to the question posed lo those many years ago. My buddy Karl replied, "There are other economies you dimwit. It's just that the financial one is the easiest to work with, because first, humans invented it, and since then it's been constantly refined and applied to every aspect of our lives. Next, it's pretty much the only way globally agreed upon to determine the value of things that can't be touched or held, like work and experience and talent. From there you can quantify anything, tangible or not."
Okay, fair enou----
OH MAN. ADVERTISING BREAK. Just now saw the "Cross the Road" spot for Burger King for the first time. CPB's fantastic, but you've got to give the most credit to the client. Someone there has the guts to actually approve this work. Everyone oughta take this as the shining example of how client/shop relationships should work. Of course, advertising is one small element of "brainding," but we'll get to that more later.
"Ugh," I thought. Fast forward a decade and it hits me. Brands are as important to business and consumers as they are invisible. So why so much hoo-ha about brands?
A brand is, simply, a story the brain tells after exposure to a stimulus.
Why else is one of the three primary elements of branding "Constancy" (alongside Clarity and Consistency)? That's just another word for "remind." Operative syllable there: "mind". Branding is a science of the brain. No, we're not brain surgeons, but getting in touch with our inner neurologists wouldn't hurt.
As we know, the brain instantly reacts to stimuli with a story of all the good, bad, ugly, and indifferent chapters of that thing -- a logo or a smell or a mention or a TV spot or even another story -- and its relationship with said brain. And since we interact with these things constantly, the story is always being updated and re-told. The values we assign fluctuate not unlike the numbers on NASDAQ.
My argument is that brains and brands work with an economy built upon four currencies: Money, Information, Loyalty, and Time. (Yeah, I know that spells MILT, but I'm not smart enough to make that useful or funny.)
So, there it is, the basis of my book.
Back to the question posed lo those many years ago. My buddy Karl replied, "There are other economies you dimwit. It's just that the financial one is the easiest to work with, because first, humans invented it, and since then it's been constantly refined and applied to every aspect of our lives. Next, it's pretty much the only way globally agreed upon to determine the value of things that can't be touched or held, like work and experience and talent. From there you can quantify anything, tangible or not."
Okay, fair enou----
OH MAN. ADVERTISING BREAK. Just now saw the "Cross the Road" spot for Burger King for the first time. CPB's fantastic, but you've got to give the most credit to the client. Someone there has the guts to actually approve this work. Everyone oughta take this as the shining example of how client/shop relationships should work. Of course, advertising is one small element of "brainding," but we'll get to that more later.
"Ugh," I thought. Fast forward a decade and it hits me. Brands are as important to business and consumers as they are invisible. So why so much hoo-ha about brands?
A brand is, simply, a story the brain tells after exposure to a stimulus.
Why else is one of the three primary elements of branding "Constancy" (alongside Clarity and Consistency)? That's just another word for "remind." Operative syllable there: "mind". Branding is a science of the brain. No, we're not brain surgeons, but getting in touch with our inner neurologists wouldn't hurt.
As we know, the brain instantly reacts to stimuli with a story of all the good, bad, ugly, and indifferent chapters of that thing -- a logo or a smell or a mention or a TV spot or even another story -- and its relationship with said brain. And since we interact with these things constantly, the story is always being updated and re-told. The values we assign fluctuate not unlike the numbers on NASDAQ.
My argument is that brains and brands work with an economy built upon four currencies: Money, Information, Loyalty, and Time. (Yeah, I know that spells MILT, but I'm not smart enough to make that useful or funny.)
So, there it is, the basis of my book.
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