Mr. Bowie: The courage of self and relevance . Photo: Jimmy King
Brand as subject
To really have a brand connect more, we have to understand it much more as a subject, an organic entity rather than an object to force and steer. Understand that it has its own needs, will and path. This means bringing a certain sincerity or respect to a branding process that is not easy to promote and is often taken for granted. The business players around it have their own agenda(s) which are mostly (and rightfully) all outcome driven. We also have time in the mix: Past, present and future that aim to hold their own promise of brand success. Historically, consultancies have principles, methods and tactics to connect brands to people and promise brand elevation, more recognition, awareness, etc. Obviously, all these pieces make for a very complex blend of intention, ‘truth’ and will. The short answer to how to make a brand more loved is there is no method, no blueprint and no single path just to establish a sincere story or ‘core’ at its center. Sounds easy but it is the most difficult thing there is. Brand can drive the bottom line but only if there is love for it. Without a story that connects there is no love. Without confidence there is no attraction.
Rhizomatic input. Tomás saraceno at Venice Art Biennale
The old ways are failing
In 2020 brand love is built very differently than 10 years ago and next year it will be different from today. There are few constants left, two of them are the STORY of a brand and the SINCERITY that we need to inject into the branding process at all times. The old ways of branding through graphic consistency and the abstract array of vague and non-committing positioning statements are failing as we speak. In a world where we can prototype in real time, test all our responses and measure nanosecond results who wants to spend 250K on a visual system that promotes beautiful wallpaper as the “answer”? Or on an non-actionable “position” that puts another layer of complexity in front of an already complicated product? And how can we prove what connects our products to customers other than testing messaging while building our system? With all of this change the meaning of strategy and the value of design has shifted fundamentally. That well executed logo becomes a narcissistic self-serving exercise if it is not solving the issue of a stagnating brand. And it very rarely does. Do I find more comfort in the beautifully rendered design of a tail section than in the way I’m receiving a message that my flight is delayed? Are we hunting for rock solid strategies or organic mutable scenarios that bring people to the brand?
Outdated linear ways of branding based on graphic consistency.
The story at the core is created by an ever changing context at the same time it is holding it together.
A new design palette
Design today has rightfully become the means to an end and not the answer. Sadly graphic and brand designers have missed the chance to expand their toolkit. Naive and blue-eyed graphic designers leave school with an outdated understanding of craft. Or they are staying put in agencies for far too long to develop an interdisciplinary range. Designers need to be honest to themselves and accept that we have now too much ‘good design’ but not enough thinking. Graphic design has been reduced to a remote overnight service, expendable and endlessly churning. The new (brand) designer needs to reclaim their role as the driver of a holistic solution. She is as much a disciplined thinker, researcher, strategist and writer as typographer. In extension teams in studios need a totally new make up of engineers, writers, behavioral thinkers, producers, etc. Hands and brains need to be in one body. Everyone understands the objectives, everyone solves. The long outdated production-centric role of the project manger as the only holistic connect to the client needs to be rendered obsolete. To truly build an agency that is built for this world requires much courage.
It’s not about the logo. It’s about you.
What it takes
Without sincerity and confidence at the start of any creative action, the action itself is already doomed. Without finding the core meaning of a brand there is no true idea for design. Here I am not talking about the solid, heavy floor of the traditional, strategic brand pyramid with its position, attributes, mission, values (are any of those ever truly useful to make decisions? Anyone?). I’m talking about having no floor to walk on but to still be confident to move. The only thing we need to do, is to get to the nucleus of a brand knowing itself and then to have courage and confidence to believe in it. To agree on a single, clear and actionable thought. Only if other people share that thought we can make them believe in us. We can keep changing and evolving the way we tell our story and change its emphasis without ever losing the core. For that, we need the courage to rethink our principles, reposition the value of design and reconsider the resources that build brands. To recognize the underlying causes that actually lead a brand to be needing any sort of marketing action.
400 years of Hamlet. Same story…
….and the skill of always telling it anew.