A New View on the Making of Meaning
What do you do when you’re operating in an industry where almost 50% of the informed public has lost faith in you? We recently had the opportunity to speak with Dana Arnett, founding principal and CEO of the internationally renowned brand strategy and consumer marketing firm VSA Partners, on the topic of branding and its critical importance to those of us in the financial services industry.
“Sometime in the last century, the idea of ‘branding’ emerged from a relatively dusty corner of the business school curriculum to become an industry in-and-of itself. In its ascension, ‘ROMI’ (Return on Marketing Investment) also became a business concept — a form of measurement in which performance could be improved by applying quantifiable metrics to measurable results. Other evangelists preached, ‘own a brand’ and you own something just as valuable as the product or service you’re trying to sell. And while it’s true that any savvy business professional can measure, quantify, and justify effectiveness, you can’t make people believe in value until they recognize and experience it. Many of us fail to recognize the merit of this simple distinction, but for me, it’s hard to ever imagine brand in any other context.
Despite some very loud pundits, brands are more important than ever today. In a modern world of increasing commoditization, a primary source of sustainable business advantage is brand. But I would also contend there’s an equally important measurement of brand effectiveness. I like to refer to this success factor as brand meaning.
For context, we should understand that many of today’s marketing and branding methodologies were developed in much simpler times for a very different marketplace. Today’s market structures are increasingly complex and multi-dimensional; the traditional rules of (brand owner/retailer/customer) engagement and control have changed dramatically; and business challenges and mandates have intensified exponentially.
What’s needed now is an evolved approach, not just for managing brands, but also for defining a brand’s relevance and purpose in the world: a world based on profoundly altered norms and dynamic beliefs that adapt and build on the wisdom of previous philosophies and frameworks found in Ries & Trout’s competitive positioning theories; Aaker’s beliefs on brand relevance; Kotler’s views on brand and marketing as core organizational competencies.
There is a new way forward and a real-world context for thinking about a brand and its higher purpose. The essence of this draws heavily on the principles of human philosophy and psychology. Brands serve as the connection between an organization and its human stakeholders. And thinking about enlightened branding from the perspective of human transcendence can trigger provocative new ways of defining, designing, and actualizing brand value. When brand and marketing strategies are developed with this in mind, a brand becomes a living entity that bonds both internal constituents to a shared destiny and external audiences to a common journey.
My VSA colleagues and I have had the good fortune of working with some of the most successful, brand-led organizations in business: companies like IBM, Harley Davidson, P&G, Kraft, and GE, who are often considered brand powerhouses. Through our work experiences we’ve seen how they channel stakeholder beliefs, desires, and behaviors; how they shape brand strategies & give voice to brand essence; and how they craft brand ideas, messages and content that activate transactions. Many of us have also read how their investments in brand extend far beyond selling products and services to become the basis for deep, enduring human connections.
Perhaps the most compelling and enduring view on brand and its role in the world comes from Jon Iwata, Chief Marketing Officer of IBM. When taking on the massive challenge of rebuilding the IBM brand, Iwata contends, “We did not focus on brand recognition or brand visibility when we started to rebuild the IBM brand. Our goal was relevance. …Now, relevance is a different game than you would acknowledge, because frankly, we may be able to buy recognition through various media channels. And we realized that if we were going to think about brand relevance, we had to stop talking about brand itself, and start talking about something deeper. And that is IBM’s character. Corporate character, like personal or individual character, proceeds from within and describes what we believe and value…”
From my perspective, Iwata’s enlightened view transcends rational brand attributes, emotional brand benefits, or esteem-building brand exercises. Branding is not simply managed or scaled through advertising, cohesive brand systems, intelligent positioning, or insightful benefit hierarchies. This bigger idea of ‘character’ dares to go higher—to a rarified space that shapes meaning, creates understanding, and inspires belief.
I invite you to view this video to see for yourself how a more enduring set of beliefs in brand can declare and reflect the intrinsic truths of an organization, its people, and its commercial offerings. You can’t simply invent brand authenticity or make people believe in your company. The deeper truth is embedded in a company’s unique character.”
About Dana Arnett and VSA Partners
Arnett, along with his partners, lead a group of 300 associates in the creation of design programs and digital and interactive marketing initiatives for a diverse roster of clients, including Harley-Davidson, IBM, General Electric, Kraft, Thomson Reuters, Sappi and Anheuser-Busch. Arnett is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and was named to the I.D. 40—the 40 most important people shaping design internationally—in 1999. He most recently was awarded the prestigious AIGA Medal for 2014, the highest honor of the design profession. He is a former member of the AIGA board of directors and the Society of Typographic Arts and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Arnett currently serves as a board member of the Architecture and Design Society at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Children’s Theatre and the Creative Summit. In addition, he is an advisor and member of the venture capital group Cue Ball Collective, which helps fund and incubate consumer and socially driven ventures. Arnett’s current and past accomplishments have helped to define a career steeped in design leadership, business consulting and industry policymaking.
Founded in 1982, VSA’s interconnected approach to strategy, design and technology has helped transform and propel some of the world’s most respected, forward-thinking businesses. VSA is headquartered in Chicago, with offices in New York and Detroit.
Click here to view “IBM on Brand” by Jon Iwata
*Source: Edelman 2014 Trust Barometer, Financial Services Industry
