Brand perspective from a Renaissance man
Note to brand builders: Consider yourselves descendants of that fellow on the left. Leonardo lived in far different times, and he worked for popes and princes instead of global corporations, but like us he was often challenged to grasp what mattered and make it timeless.
We may not remotely approach his inventive genius, or the depth of his art, but we are, fundamentally, walking the same path. He used his gifts to grow new worlds of meaning. So do we. He was no friend of arid dictates, half-truths, doctrines, dogma and the closing of minds. And neither are we. He observed with passion, looking for revelation in life itself. That’s also where great brands begin.
Man is the measure of things—and of brands
To Leonardo, man was the measure of things. Life was a vast platform for man to enjoy, to explore, expand, engage. Five hundred years later, the same is true for brands. Man is the measure of brands. Brands are “the customer inside the product.” They add a vibrant human dimension to artifacts that would otherwise drone on, never reaching their potential—and depriving customers of theirs.
The power of perspective
Brand builders and Leonardo share another strength: an infinite regard for perspective. Leonardo helped discover and develop the power of perspective in Renaissance art. It was a revolutionary new way to articulate reality, to render three-dimensional scenes on flat, two-dimensional surfaces. Thanks to perspective, landscapes could breathe, prosaic tableaus blossomed into wondrous glory, and paintings became a deep visual and emotional experience.
Brand perspective: human depth and dimension
Brands do for business what Leonardo did for art. They articulate a new customer reality that opens things up. Business needs brand perspective because companies usually conceive products in only two dimensions: cost and quality. The resulting products are often culturally thin. They can easily fall flat.
Brands change this equation because they provide a third, human dimension that adds depth to the company, to the product and to customers themselves.
Products are 2D. Brands are 3D.
You can think of it this way: perspective opens the eye; brand perspective opens the customer. Products are 2D. Brands are 3D. A 2D world only takes you so far. Move up to 3D and you and your customers have the world at your feet.
