[reposted for Carnival of the Capitalists visitors due to bloggered permalink]

Brain, Metaphor, Archetype, Brand.



Part I
Part II
Part III - TBA [*see below]

This series explores the relationship of personal motives to corporate brand identity. A core premise is that brand is as much a leadership and operational tool as it is a means to sell product. In fact, by relegating Brand to afterthought status you create real problems for yourself and your people. The examples and ideas in the series move from historic to current, business to metaphysics, psychological to geometric. Deeply resonant brands have often become that way often not by design, but by intuitive accident, by tapping into universal but little discussed standards of human decision-making. The central fact of brand from this perspective is that it is dimensional and real and packed full with primal meaning and opportunity. It is far more powerful than we suspect.

Brands, as well as people, function more effectively when they're connected to something other than themselves. It's called "context". Carefully considered, contextually resonant companies do several things well, and often automatically: They generate a sense of ownership and pride which reinforces a self-regulating culture of merit. The more this approach is imbued in an organization, the less complex the challenge of management becomes. Likewise, the more connected that consumers, employees and stakeholders are in their purpose, the clearer and more fundamental each relationship becomes.

But this only happens when brands are allowed to reach formulations where certain relationships are accorded equal weight and value. Only then do we approach what equates to a sustainable, meaningful brand model in terms that people care about: Dimensionality. 3-D. That's the real world, messy and emotion-laden as it is.

Again, self-identification and brand identity are intricately joined. We're all looking for some thing, some need to be filled, some group to identify with, some reason for sharing our energy and effort and money. Companies, through their brand identity, have powerful opportunities to be part, if not necessarily all, of the answer to that search. The benefits of a company placed in this indispensable position should be obvious. The requirements are geometrically simple. And they include four elements any sensible business person should insist on when judging the utility of a message, idea, project or plan:

1. Coherence
2. Relevance
3. Resonance
4. Internalization.

It must make sense. It must apply to what we do. If must be meaningful enough that we don't forget. It must be powerful enough that it points out and crystalizes what we already think, but couldn't enunciate before. It makes us damn proud. It feels right, because it's already "us". Lastly, it moves people because they handle the moving.

* The third and final post will cover the idea that meaningful Brand is ubiquitous and it's job is to mobilize affinity amongst employees and consumers. This happens when its language and implementation is allowed to influence and power the mix of all functional activities that affect the customer. Brand can be a liberating and powerful, strategic and tactical story. And all the elements of an organization can play a part and benefit from the telling.

I hope you enjoy the series. Any comments are welcome.