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Emotive Branding

March 24, 2013 — Jerry Holtaway

Capitalizing on the Human Dimension of Professional Services

I find it ironic that many of the most people-driven enterprises in our economy – law, architecture, consulting, and engineering firms – are often the most superficial with branding. For most professional service firms, “branding” is only about logos and color palettes. It seems branding’s only goal is to project a serious, professional, and trustworthy identity. Unfortunately, this limited view of branding leads most professional service firms to the same bland destination. Indeed, the Internet is littered with the drab, me-too, institutional websites of professional...

March 14, 2013 — Tracy Lloyd

Emotive Branding: The Path to Meaning (and Kick-Ass Creative)

At Emotive Brand our goal is to make brands truly meaningful through emotive branding. Emotive branding is about transforming the way a brand reaches out to people and the way people respond back to that brand. The key is meaning. As we add meaning to the things a brand does, the people vital to that brand’s success start to care, think, talk and do more for the brand. As a result, emotive brands thrive across all business measures. But what is meaning? And, perhaps more important, how do we add meaning to brands through emotive branding? We focus on meaning because we noticed the remarkable...

March 4, 2013 — Jerry Holtaway

Rational vs Emotional: With Brands, It’s Not “Either/Or” It’s “Both/And”

Neuroscience is telling us that every “rational” decision is surrounded and influenced by emotions. As such, brand decisions are neither rational or emotional – they are invariably both. But how do you work with an insight like this? How do you bring an emotional dimension to your brand, especially if today it is emotionally neutral? How do you change the behavior of your brand – and the people behind it – so that every interaction is either striking, or responding to, a relevant emotional chord? How do you do this in a way that isn’t seen as exploitative,...

February 10, 2013 — Tracy Lloyd

When People See Their “Best Selves” Reflected in Your Business

I recently had the opportunity to interview Gianpiero Petriglieri, Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at INSEAD, Europe’s top business school. Following our fruitful talk, I reflected on a thought from our interview. We were talking about how people identify with leaders, when Professor Petriglieri said: “Leadership happens when you attract others through your thinking, your beliefs, and your behavior. Or more precisely, when others come to see their best self reflected in your thoughts, beliefs, and actions.” I related Gianpiero’s observation to the...

January 30, 2013 — Jerry Holtaway

Brand Strategy: How To Escape Commodity-Ville Through Emotions & Meaning

We spotted a nytimes.com report that highlighted the fact that cars today – across the board – are more dependable than ever before. To quote David Sargent, spokesman of J.D. Power and Associates, “There are no really bad vehicles anymore.” This hasn’t always been the case. Ask anyone over 40 and they’ll probably know this definition of “Ford”: Fix Or Repair Daily. But, as with so many things, it’s getting easier and easier for competitors to level the playing field. Standing out today is harder than ever. Welcome to Commodity-Ville, next stop...

February 8, 2012 — Jerry Holtaway

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...

January 5, 2012 — Jerry Holtaway

“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...

November 3, 2011 — Tracy Lloyd

If You Believe Your People Are Engaged, Think Again

We recently came across an old, but provocative article in The Economist entitled, “Corporate culture: The view from the top, and bottom”. It detailed findings from the “National Governance, Culture and Leadership Assessment”, a survey based on thousands of American employees “from every rung of the corporate ladder”. Key findings from our perspective: “41% of bosses say their firm rewards performance based on values, only 14% of employees swallow this.” “27% of bosses believe their employees are inspired by their firm. Also only 4%...

October 27, 2011 — Jerry Holtaway

Why Emotive Branding Prompts Tension – And Why That’s Good

The process of emotive branding takes our clients to a new and unexpected place. It’s a real eye-opener. Our clients suddenly see new possibilities for themselves, their colleagues, their customers and their brand. At the same time, they feel tense. And that is good. Why? Consider this extract from Viktor Frankl’s book, “Man’s Search For Meaning”: “What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwile goal, a freely chosen task…i.e., the existential dynamics in a polar field of tension where one...

July 18, 2011 — Jerry Holtaway

The Meaning Hidden Deep Within Your B2B Brand

For decades many B2B brands have been able to prosper by taking a “business as usual” approach to the marketplace. This means they have been able to build their brands exclusively around their product propositions. But as B2B brands look out into the world today they see changing expectations in the marketplace. The people making decisions about their brands are looking through a new set of filters. They are looking to align with brands that are aligned to their own personal values. They look for, and appreciate, gestures that speak to the brand’s sense of humanity....

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