brand can mean a lot of things to a lot of things to a lot of people these days.

we’re hearings about consumer goods and retail products living and dying based on ‘brand’ as actual product has little true differentiation. we know that consumers have the control - that they dictate what the brand is. we’re also seeing millions of dollars being spent/invested in brand development, strategy and deployment.

Here’s Seth Godin’s definition of brand:

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. (source)

i think he’s on to something here. instead of talking about all of the assets and palettes and logo variations and guidelines and taglines and paid representatives and placements that comprise ‘major brands’ and ‘billion dollar brands’… talk about the role of a brand in a story or experience and the outcome because of it.

companies should be telling their consumers’ stories. if a product/good/brand is truly doing its job - if it is serving the customer/client and adding value by enhancing or creating an experience, then telling the consumers’ stories will, by default, be telling the brand story.

the vids below are examples in a specific industry - spirits - but i think the spots do a great job of telling stories about people. you find yourself understanding them not only in these instances, but imagining the back stories as well as projecting into the future and being able to construct what very well could be. you are thinking about people and experiences and thus the brand evolves from a usage situation into much more. it is a part of a lifestyle, a component in a process, an element in a look, a feel, an atmosphere. the brands assume characteristics of those who have purchased it, or, is it vise versa? the blur is the goal.

what brands should tell your story? what are the brands that, removed from your life, would remove part of your story?

and my very favorite (messaging and execution)

Crown Royal - Boss -

You’re a brand and you want to interact with me digitally (namely via some social media piece)? Good, great, I’m all for it. Become the Stain on the Ceiling in my Shower.

I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen the billboards, I’ve seen the commercials. I’ve had the popups (and blocked them), walked by motion triggers in Walmart, even been served something similar to what my mom just wrote me in an email. Truthfully - I don’t even see/hear/feel anything anymore (jeez, that sounds horrible doesn’t it?)

You want to be affective? Become the Stain on the Ceiling in my Shower. Show up and I’ll notice you. Don’t get worse, or else I’ll paint over you. Be there; be something I can deal with; become part of my every day. Most days I won’t pay attention to you. Some days I’ll look at you and subconsciously think that you look an awful lot like what’s-that-country-called-in-Africa. Believe it or not, this adds value to my day. Get me used to seeing you, but don’t drip on my recently-shampood head.

What you want to do is get to the point where, were you gone, I’d miss you. Remember, you’re not an aggressive stain. You’re not growing, peeling or molding. You’re just there. You actually add value to my life by making me think, by adding color to my sometimes-all-to-white-shower-ceiling and by sharing with me things only a stain could know. When you’re at this point, you can affect me and call me to action, subtly, but remember, I have tolerance for you now.

Had you done this on day one, I’d have had the spackle out and we wouldn’t have shared those intimate steamy moments together. You wouldn’t have been able to gain the insight that you have (wink) and I wouldn’t have looked to you for inspiration and (don’t tell my creative or purchasing managers this) answers.

Get it? Now go Become the Stain on the Ceiling in Someone’s Shower and develop that relationship that you might not be used to, but that allows you into a world of a steamed up glass door, not the one-way mirror of the focus group room.

Of note: “No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant” - Warren Buffett

@NickSeguin