Blog
Why We Love the Power of Inspiration
One of our greatest pleasures comes from unveiling to our clients something they’ve never seen before: the meaning and emotional power that’s been hidden within their brand. When our clients suddenly see their business as a purposeful, emotive and gratifying force in the world – when they see it can hold a “meaningful position” in the hearts and minds of people – their eyes open wide, their pulses quicken and their imaginations ignite with possibilities. But, for us, the most gratifying aspect of our work will come as our clients bring the power of their “brand...
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Meaning Leads to Deeper Brand Conversations, Inside and Out
Hugh MacLeod orginally did this drawing for a commission, but brought it out again after being inspired by a speech he heard about brands as platforms. As he puts it: “When you create meaning, understand your purpose, creating something worth talking about comes pretty easily.” Through our emotive branding process, we provide our client’s employees with new and helpful stuff to talk about. We give them a statement, which we call a “Driving Idea,” that urges them to reshape what they do to better align to the brand’s business and emotive goals. Built...
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Brand Love: Man Creates Lego Film to Propose To Girlfriend
We came across this on the Truly, Deeply blog: US film maker Walt Thompson spent 22 hours shooting 2,600 pictures along with unmentionable hours of editing to create a Lego inspired marriage proposal for his girlfriend of four years. As Dave Ansett, the man behind Truly, Deeply put it: “Can there be a much higher tribute to a brand than to be woven into the most important and valued moments of our lives?” We agree. Lego has attained a truly meaningful position in the hearts and minds of people the world over. And while not every brand may have the intense emotional...
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Why, In Some Respects, Your Brand’s Target Audience Should Be “Everyone”
In a New York Times interview, Ron Johnson, CEO of JCPenney was asked: Q. Who are you targeting? A. We are going after all Americans. We would like to be the store for everyone. Think about that. Rather than targeting a specific segment, Johnson goes right to the highest level. Everyone. Everyone is important. In emotive branding, everyone matters, from the customer (every customer), to the employee (every employee), to the partner (every partner), to the supplier (every supplier), to the investor (every investor), to the community (every citizen) … well, you get the idea....
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JCPenney Stakes Out A Meaningful Position
After 100 years, JCPenney has placed a new stake in the ground. They are seeking a meaningful position in the “this weekend only” world of retail. They are turning everything upside down in the hope of mattering more to people who have been left shell-shocked by a field of pushy, hysterical and “me-too” retailers. They are seizing the opportunity to bridge the “meaning gap” to more clearly see the world through the eyes of their customers. Under the leadership of Ron Johnson, who established Apple in the retail space after juicing up Target, JCPenney is...
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Is Your Brand A Constructive Or Destructive Force In Today’s World?
There’s the story of the dinner Steve Jobs had with Rupert Murdoch, at which he said, “The axis today is not liberal and conservative, the axis is constructive-destructive.” Jobs was talking about what companies do, and clearly had a message for the wire-tapping business headed by Mr Murdoch, saying he had ‘cast his lot with destructive people”. Businesses and brands have a great opportunity to be constructive in a world where this sort of destruction is all too common. One way is to identify the constructive good that already resides in...
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Bridge the Meaning Gap and Watch Your Brand Soar
We believe there’s a growing gap between what your brand needs and what people want. Your brand needs to have a stronger presence today and be a better fit for the future. This means the people in your organization need to work better together to help you achieve your goals – but, we’re guessing they aren’t as motivated and collaborative as you need. People want more meaning in their lives and are more discerning about the products they buy, who they buy from, and the companies for which they work. This means your organization has to reach out to people in ways that...
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Where Do True Loyalties Lie?
Cartoon by Tom Fishbourne There once was a time when true loyalty meant a card in the wallet. But then there was a proliferation of cards in the wallet. And along with that, a dissolution of the power of “rewards” through pieces of plastic. Smart brands see beyond the lure of rewards-based loyalty. They seek to win the respect, earn the preference, and keep the custom of people by moving to a more meaningful position in their lives. They have a way of being that attracts people on a human level. They connect to the higher ideals and aspirations of people. The way in...
Read more >Our Top 10 Posts From 2011 – Thank You Readers!
The Power Of Meaningful Stories We came across this brilliant film by Jonathan Harris which is a compilation of 365 daily photos he posted to his website starting the day he turned 30 years old. 10 Ways To Be Meaningful Emotive Brand has compiled this list to inspire brand owners and to show them what it takes to generate meaningful, profitable and enduring connections with the people vital their brand’s success.l Five Key Differences Between Emotional and Emotive Brands It’s not too hard to spot an emotional brand. It uses emotions tactically to either make people laugh or to...
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Trends – Presenting Issues
“We need help with our brand.” This statement is almost never at the top of the list of burning issues CEOs bring to the table at the beginning of an engagement with us. “We are experiencing a drop in sales” – yes. “It’s hard to find and keep top talent” – yes. “Our workforce is not fully engaged;” “Wall Street is jittery;” “We have alignment issues among leadership and with the board” – yes. In the last 24 months we are hearing about the same set of business challenges standing in the way of success for companies...
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“What Matters Now” – A Wake Up Call For Business Leaders
While we anxiously await delivery of our copies of Professor Gary Hamel’s latest tome, “What Matters Now”, we wanted to share some of the main thoughts being promoted.Clearly, the business world is in a state of flux. Hamel’s book promises to present an agenda for leaders everywhere who are eager to. . . reverse the tide of commoditization defeat bureaucracy astonish their customers foster extraordinary contribution outrun change build a company that’s truly fit for the future In this context, Hamel identifies five issues that are paramount: values innovation...
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See Your Brand From a New Perspective in 2012
Audi dramatically reshaped the viewer’s perspective of their recent offering in Shanghai using dozens of glass plates. This image made us think about what we do for our clients. We work with what is already there. We look at it from different perspectives. As we walk around our client’s brands, we start to sense the meaning hidden within. We pull out the human factors that make the brand work in a unique way. The beliefs. The attitudes. The behaviors. The feelings. The ambition. The passion. We then find ways to bring those human qualities to the surface. Our goal is...
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The Last Is For Our Warm Wishes To You
L Is For…
