The brand "ethos"

Ladies and gentlemen, there are five words that will be of keen importance as you begin engaging in building the next generation of businesses in the 21^st century:

Culture, DNA, Values, Purpose and Meaning. 

The understanding and embracing of these concepts will be key in determining the amount of success you have in today’s marketplace jungle. Everyone is looking for the best sized and shaped machete to help them in clearing a passage.  

For all intensive purposes many traditional ideas around ‘product’ development, strategy and marketing are dying (if not already dead). Eulogies are being written daily and it’s not a matter of if they’ll be read, but a matter of  when.

Since 2007 when I started blogging, I’ve had my own musings on these ideas and how they are playing out everyday in front of our eyes. I’ve also read a lot of great blog posts, too. But just a few days ago I came across a video hitting this message on all cylinders. 

By far, this is one of the best three minutes I’ve come across since I’ve started blogging. In large part because it expresses so succinctly the very ideas we profess here at Cnvrgnc (something I rarely come across).

Ralph Santana, Senior VP-CMO of Samsung lays it down… 

What are you in the business of?

or

About 20 years ago a movie came out called Other People's Money. It starred Danny DeVito as Lawrence Garfinkle, a corporate raider who sets his sight on New England Wire and Cable, a small-town business run by family patriarch Gregory Peck. 

Towards the end of the movie Danny DeVito makes a speech to shareholders of the company. He's  trying to persuade them to take a buyout instead of trying to stay with a company that will soon be obsolete. His argument: the future of cable production is fiber optics, not metal (which is the bread and butter of the company).

With the advent of new technology, New England Wire and Cable was in a precarious situation. They were in the business of wire and cable, not communication. 

Now whether it's twenty years ago, last year or five years from now, the central theme of the movie is ever present: What are you in the business of?

Steve Jobs once said when he was at NeXT "we aren't creating computers.  We are creating bicycles for the mind."

If you look at Netflix and how they operate, their actions say "we're not about late fees, movie rentals or DVDs by mail, we're here to bring you home entertainment."

Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, will tell you that they are in the business of delivering happiness. They just happen to sell shoes to do it. Now as they say, money can't buy you happiness, but a deal worth about 900 million dollars with Amazon might buy you some time to help you figure out where it is...

Looking at certain sectors of print media, many are learning the hard way that their business needs to be news, not newspapers. 

Thinking differently about what you offer customers will allow you to see new opportunities. Today's market demands that your business model be agile, fluid and creative. I'm sure static is not an idea you'd want to be closely tied to. What you want is a business focus with unending possibilities. 

I can't live without my radio...

                                                                                               photo by Ivan Corsa

When it comes to 'brands' New York's is arguably one of the most dynamic in the world. As the most populous city in the United States, it exerts a powerful influence over global commerce, finance, media, culture, art, fashion, research, education, and entertainment (to name a few).

Not saying the purpose of a brand is to be influencial on such a large scale, but there are certainly perks should that be the case. 

Regardless of the realm or amount of influence, the goal of a brand is to attract; attract individuals, customers and/or communities. How do you do that? By creating desirable places, attractive spaces, useful services and enjoyable experiences that keep folks coming back for more. You must generate 'products' that people want or want to be a part of.

New York does this. 

Interestingly enough one of the most creative products to come out of New York (or any US city for that matter) in the last 30 years has been Hip Hop.  

Hip hop itself created ideas, culture, products, entrepreneurs, economy and the list goes on. One of its most significant emblems (in its early years) was the boombox.  

Just this morning I came across an NPR video on the Core77 website about Lyle Owerko's documentation of the '80s designs of this classic. 

Right here and right now is often what it's all about. But sometimes you gotta go back to really know, appreciate and understand where you are. 

The evolution of 'brand'

                                                                                                       image by glennz

In 2010 what's a brand?

Let's go back to then, do an abridged historical journey, and we'll see how we got to now.

According to Wikipedia 'brand' is derived from the Old Norse brandr, meaning "to burn." It refers to the practice of producers burning their mark (or brand) onto their products.

The use of brands can be seen on Egyptian Tomb walls dating back to 2,000 B.C.  and for over 4,000 years, brands have been used for identification on both livestock and humans. 

Brands in the field of mass-marketing originated in the 19th century with the advent of packaged goods.   Industrialization moved the production of many household items from local communities to centralized factories. When shipping their items, the factories would literally brand their logo or insignia on the barrels used. And as they say ther rest is history.

Fast forward just a liiil' bit....

In 1997 Tom Peters writes a Fast Company article titled "The Brand Called You" and at this moment the traditional idea(s) of what determined a brand, would begin to change. The concept of a "brand" can now be directly correlatd  to the nuances of the human element. 

A handful of years later in 2003, Marty Neumeier, in his book The Brand Gap, states that "a brand is not a logo, an identity or a product, but a person's gut feeling about a product, service or organization." This becomes even more interesting as the brand becomes the impression that people walk away with. 

Seth Godin even drops a gem himself..."A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another."

What I like about the idea of a "brand" in 2010 is that it is not static, as it shouldn't be. In many ways it is a living and breathing thing. Expanding and contracting according to the nature of what it is that's being represented. A brand can be an organization's unique process,  a company's business model, or even a city itself. It's all about the idea of what something is and how that tranlates to how people relate to it.

We live in challenging, dynamic and interesting times. The re-imagining of what a brand can actually be has only just begun.

A Radiant Brand

What happens when you are a strange man in a strange land? When different interacts with the unfamiliar? When you are the first artist of African descent to become an international star in the 'white art establishment'. There is no precedent. So what rule book do you follow? What rules do you play by? This was the life of Jean-Michele Basquiat.

Over the years, I've taken brief glimpses into Jean Michele's world. Last night, though, after seeing Tamra Davis’s new documentary, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, with never before seen home video footage of him, I have a much, much deeper appreciation for who he was and what he brought to this world.

He was heralded as a genius. His playing field was expansive as he drew inspiration from Ancient Egypt, anatomy, Darwin, Bebop, Picasso and graffiti to name a few. These influences seem disparate, but on his canvases, intersections of these worlds were created. Their convergence allowed the remarkable to happen. Whether by intent, his Brooklyn upbringing or simply by the hand of God, Basquiat had a vocabulary all his own.

In 1983 (about five years before Jean Michele's death) a close and symbiotic relationship began forming between him and Andy Warhol (famous for converging the disparate worlds of pop-art and fine art); from Basquiat, Warhol drew energy and a link to the contemporary art scene. In return, Warhol gave his colleague a healthy-living spirit and business advice.

When thinking about this relationship, it brought to mind a quote of Andy Warhol's in which he says "being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art...and good business is the best art."  Now as much as I appreciated Basquiat's talents and revolutionary thinking, he had terrible business acumen. He kept his money hidden all over his apartment, never had a bank account and spent money on parties and heroin. Reading Warhols' words, if good business is the best art...Basquiat wasn't quite there. 

As the movie title says he was a radiant child, but he was unable to become a radiant man. Brilliant in creativity but without the ability to thwart self-destruction. Without the personal tools to navigate the world of high art, his evolution was cut short.

When I wake up every morning, my thoughts are  focused on the art of building my brand. Trying to establish a successful business that makes money, is creative and offers value to the world. So often this is not the case. Brands sell you style with no substance, goods with no aesthetics or efficiency with no soul. Unfortunate in each case.

It's difficult trying to strike that right balance. Knowing how to play to your strengths, while learning how to minimize your weaknesses. 

When it comes down to it though, those who practice art (in its best sense) do this, at whatever cost, and in the process strive to produce a truly radiant brand.