YOU AND YOUR STUDY OF THE BRAND THAT YOU OWN—WHAT IS YOUR WATCH?
EVERY GOOD BRAND AGENT IS ON THE SURVEY FOR ACTION, ANALYSIS, COMMUNITY AND RELATIONSHIPS, TRACTION AND SALES, INTELLIGENCE AND KPIs.
S E N T I N E L
F O R T H E
B R A N D
Looking out: over the shifting world, there is what is flowing out—the push; and what is flowing in—the pull.
Getting out there, the overlook: the question might be, do you look out, in the nature of seeing what’s happening in the marketplace, and what that might mean in the evolution of strategy?
Even during these days, I’m on the road increasingly more—and meeting people, live, it feels, more than I’m in Seattle. And in that movement—jumping from project to project, place to place, you see things differently; when you’re traveling, you tend to find yourself more on the lookout; than not following, or focusing on the trends of change.
Moving, you are the change.
In the work that we do—we are looking out for our clients—as stewards of the touch points, acting as a kind of sentinel in exploring the nature of the circles around them.
These days, the examination of brand, and the incipient strategies of direction, will be less about merely watching the competition, but more about what the brand actually stands for. A traditional path might be to position, or lay the groundwork, for a ringed strategy of defense (how do we relate to the competition?) rather — we look out, study the horizon, analyze what’s happening and look to the stance of the brand in relationship to its authentic character. Recently, in another now failed client relationship, I kept at the principle—“there’s one thing to reality, the real work that you’re doing, and there’s another to your ‘theoretical’ premise. The core question is—‘where’s the truth?’”
What’s the truth of the action?
If you speak, you must deliver.
But that process, and meaning, needs to be both a study of the trends that affect a community, and the interlacement of brand, a series of relationships that interweave, and the reality of the truth of the delivery of the brand.
Look as you are:
be true to your world.
For brands to be alive, they have to be active, and activated. To this conception—action, forward reaching, looking out, they have to be perpetually activating their connection to the utility of their audiences, in useful, relevant and resonant applications.
SEE OUT | SEE IN
One might suggest that the lookout — that patterning — is using that data as a surveillance: both statistical and feeling, a study of what is around, considering the flows and movements, and how to bring those relationships closer to heart. Personal connectivity—“I have a relationship with that brand, and that brand has a relationship with me.”
I see these:
Run with me. Apple+NIKE (run tech.)
Welcome to Bimmerworld: BMW (cross manage: networks.)
Bring me in, where and how? Puma (sustainable cool[ness].)
Could I build IKEA better?
Coulda—then that went away. IKEAistic.
LOOK OUT.
LOOK BACK.
LOOK IN.
tim | GIRVIN STRATEGIC MAGIC | QUEEN ANNE STUDIOS
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