I feel that stations have mostly had the opportunity to broaden their scope beyond brand recognition through news and local community involvement that rises above programming content.
A New World Approach to Branding
In the more relevant field of research on
contemporary branding, the historical and more conventional approach had been
focused on the prevalence of companies popularizing names in the acquisition of
goods and services. In the field of present-day marketing and sales, we find a
more applicable approach or modern understanding in the branding of consumer
products presented by the CEO and founder of BrightMark Consulting, Jane
Cavalier. Formerly one of Madison Avenue’s rising stars.
Cavalier left to form BrightMark in 2001 in order to create powerful brands
independent of advertising campaigns. Jane taught branding as an adjunct professor at the
Yale School of Management and NYU Stern School of Business. She has led large-scale re-branding
initiatives for ExxonMobil Worldwide, Samsung, U.S. Navy NAVAIR, and Boston
Children’s Hospital. She has helped brands like Citibank, American Express,
Sotheby’s and AT&T craft brand advantages in new markets, and brands like
Johnson & Johnson to protect their brand equity. Her understanding of brand
renovation offers that the pandemic has been a
cocoon, bringing people, organizations and even brands through a real
metamorphosis.
There is a shedding of the old-world view and
the emergence of a fresh, new orientation. This new world perspective is
shattering traditional consumerism and work behavior as buying things doesn’t
matter as much as learning new skills, experiencing more of life, sharing with
others, and having greater control and freedom. It is a time of epochal change
for humanity where people are disoriented as they face unthinkable events and
uncertainty, and where brands have a new role to play.
Brands that Serve Rather than Sell
In our new world, which is far too complex for
human beings to understand, people need emotional stability, strength, and
stamina more than ever. As they face unprecedented volatility, uncertainty,
complexity and ambiguity (VUCA world), people are vulnerable to fear, anxiety,
distrust and despair. We need new cues within our culture that inspire,
empower, enable people; cues that guide positive actions, provide comfort and
unleash more human potential so people can grow. Modern brands can become these
cues.
Unlike traditional brands which are primarily
designed to drive consumption (often to the point of driving up great personal debt),
modern brands can deliver value in a different way that still supports positive
purchase choice. They can focus on giving people greater agency in the world
and helping them to grow with the products/services they represent. In other
words, instead of the brand end game simply being consumption, the new end game
is empowerment and personal growth. These brands will deliver “preference” by
helping people to feel: 1) their place in the world, 2) comfortable with
uncertainty, and 3) what it means to be truly human.
Cultural Cues to Strengthen Humanity
The mind constantly tells itself stories of the
future and brands can shape those stories. In a radically transforming world
that can be daunting, if not terrifying, brands can positively lead people to
the future even if that future is totally unclear. Because they are conceptual,
brands can free the mind to safely explore newness, so people become more
comfortable with novelty. They have the power to clarify the vague and help
people come to grips with feelings and forces that don’t exist in concrete form
e.g., estrangement, love, courage, sacrifice. If you are familiar with the
power of myth, then think of brands as modern myths. If designed for the unique
challenges of the new world, modern brands can become positive social forces
that strengthen people at a time of great vulnerability.
Although a unique attribute of a product/service
remains part of the credible reason-why a brand can do what it stands for, the
new functional and symbolic brand purpose should focus on helping people
navigate the invisible friction of the new world. Fundamentally, brands can
play a big role in our uncommunicated interior mental life. By recognizing
their role to serve and strengthen people amidst chaos and uncertainty, these
brands will become extremely socially relevant and valuable to people and
society.
I believe most brands have lost meaningful
relevancy over the last 20 years despite the hundreds of millions of dollars
invested in them. Only a few dozen e.g., Apple, Nike, Patagonia have morphed to
align with the new world and stay strong. Moving into the future, brands that
inspire, enable, and liberate people to expand and grow will dominate the
culture.
Brands are
Important Cultural Artifacts
In an interconnected and interdependent world
increasingly ruled by technology, brands are priceless artifacts of humanity
that indicate what matters most to people. We are emotional, intuitive beings
despite our best efforts to be rational. We are relational beings thrust into
an increasingly transactional environment. If we do not work to maintain and
deepen our humanness, we may very well risk losing it. Brands can touch us,
pierce our consciousness, remind us and drive us to push our human potential.
The struggle to adapt to the new world is real
with no end in sight. As people search for meaning and purpose amidst a world
they cannot understand, they need development tools not rhetoric. Just as
ancient peoples relied on myths, brands are the myths of today spread
throughout the culture and have the ability to become part of a toolkit to
re-build humanity and society. But to be relevant, they must acutely reflect
what we are experiencing, especially the unspoken and the invisible. People do
not need brands to sell them things anymore by promising identity or
unattainable dreams, rather they need brands devoted to strengthening their
resilience, enabling growth, and reminding them of what it means to be
human.
Philip Jay LeNoble. MBA, PhD. Senior partner in
System 21©.
drphilipjay@gmail.com 303-795-3662
Michael Guld. Senior partner in System 21©
Michael.guld@guldresource.com 804-356-7006
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