Infamous brand quotes — Part II
Since one martini never seems all that productive, I herewith serve up the second pour of my infamous brand quotes. (Part I is here.) The purpose of these selective sips is to open minds to a world of brands as deep and rewarding as culture itself.
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Brand sensibility
Brand sensibility is the perceptive power to see untapped value in products and customers, and the creative power to bring that value to life.
Brand builder
A sensible type (see above) who creates new markets by creating new customers—through the brand.
Conventional brand icons are their own worst enemies.
Conventional brand icons are their own worst enemies, trapped in their own rigid molds. They’re sitting ducks for brand iconoclasts, the new non-linear brands that spin up in days to create customers on the fly. The new icon is the stream of value, socialized.
Sustainable brands
Brands fueled by customers.
Brand experience
What the product experience can’t do.
How to determine the context of a brand
To determine the context of a brand, ask what the brand is a “brand of.” For a snapshot answer, simply observe its customers. They tell the truth about a brand.
Brand innovation
Brand innovation is the practice of changing the customer’s world beyond expectations. A brand innovates when it frees customers from the constraints of prevailing brands, or commodities, or conventions. As a rule, innovative brands make new contributions to culture.
Brand emotion
What brands aim for when they can’t deliver brand experience, or brand value.
Brands as creative engagements
For customers, a brand should be a creative engagement with life, opening doors, revealing truths and enabling new selves to be born.
When the brand is complete, the customer is finished.
Brands must continually reinvent themselves and their customers, or drown in message mire. The brand is a shared, open-ended journey. In the old days, brand essence was set in stone to anchor timeless brand monoliths. No more. Today’s customers move faster than brands. The brand mission is to lead with leaps of meaning. Brands are the new map, and metabolic. Act fast. Think small. And iterate, iterate, iterate.
Brands are code
Brands are code. They are algorithms of adventure, discovery and delight. They are written in a language called CUSTOMER. More here, and especially here.
Brand trust
Brands work for the customer, not the company, and are paid in trust. Brand trust is earned; there’s no free lunch. Brands that slack get sacked.
Brand relationships begin inside the company
To assess a company’s brand relationships, first observe how that company treats its employees. Companies usually treat their customers like they treat their employees. A proactive company culture is the first step toward a proactive brand culture.
Packaging
The wrapping of products with the need to sell them.
Marketing vs. brands
Marketing targets customers. Brands arm and train them.
Elevator pitch
An elevator pitch is the attention span of money. Brands elevate customers, not pitches.
Brand mission
A brand without a mission is a brand without a prayer. The brand mission is a customer mission to escape commodity culture.
Brand epiphany
Brand epiphany is that magic moment when a customer discovers himself or herself through the brand. The brand is catalyst, and means.
Brand touchpoints
Brand touchpoints put customers in touch with vital parts of their lives. If they don’t, they’re mostly brand gestures.
