YOU ARE ALONE?
YOU ARE A LONE JOURNEYER? YOU ARE ALL ONE. YOU ARE THE ONE: THE ONLY, THE LONELY, THE ONE OF MANY. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– There’s a one—you, the only of your kind; there is the one of your group—the group of one, one’s group. There is your clan—there’s only...
THE SWELL, THE BIG CURL, THE BARREL, THE RIP AND RIPPLING
WAVE PATTERNING IN BRAND STORYTELLING—THE LONG NOW. [Image By @DacArc, Copalis, WA] ONE WOULD PRESUME THAT THE MOVEMENT OF A WAVE, WHETHER WATER-RIVEN OR SONIC BLAST—LIGHT, FOR THAT MATTER—WOULD SIMPLY GO ON FOREVER AND EVER. ONCE IT STARTS, IT JUST GOES— IT’S OUT...
BRAND IDENTITY: WHO, WHERE, WHAT?
IN THE LAST BLOG, WE TALKED ABOUT IDENTITY AS A PURSUIT OF THE MANAGEMENT OF COHERED SAMENESS—THAT EVERY ATTRIBUTE OF A BRAND IS REFLECTIVE OF A CORE PREMISE: EVERYTHING TILTS BACK, POINTS TO CENTER, LEANS TOWARD A KEY PROMISE, VALUE AND ATTRIBUTION OF DESIGN...
THE CRAFT OF BRAND IDENTITY
There is an intriguing challenge in the nature of illustrating the apex of an identity, that which might be called “the first read.”
VODKA AND VETIVER: DISTILLATION—AND THE PERFUMES OF MEMORY
BRAND | STORY | JOURNEY | MIND There’s a brand, which is like a fire, there’s a story, which is like a journey which is a memory—which is mind. Up until 1999, I had a drinking problem. So I quit that—decades ago. I was working, earlier, with Martin Pazzani on...
SOUL QUEST | THE ARCHÆOLOGY OF BRANDS
THE QUEST FOR SOUL, THE DEEP STATE OF BRANDS When you’re working with brand teams, there is inherently a sense about the inner life of brands—what lies beneath, what lies within? When you think about a brand that you know, that you admire, what’s the attraction? In...
YOUR GUT
INSTINCTUAL RESPONSE AND BRAND STRATEGY—THE SENSATION OF INTUITION. THERE’S A QUESTION, HOW DOES THE ANSWER FEEL? IN THE RANGES OF RESEARCH, ONLINE, INTERCEPTIONS, FOCUS AND DEMOGRAPHIC QUAL/QUAN/QUERY—HOW OFTEN DOES THE RESULT PLAY TO “I HAD A FEELING…” O P E N?...
THE STANCE OF THE BRAND — INTENTIONAL PRESENCE
THERE’S A PRESUMPTION OF BRAND GATHERING—PEOPLE CLUSTER AROUND BRANDS THAT STAND FOR SOMETHING, THEY HAVE AN INTENTION THAT’S CLEAR—THEIR STANCE IS VISIBLE. That might come down to belief, “I believe in this brand because the story is true; look what they’re doing,...
WAVES AND RIPPLES—THE ALLEGORIES: BRAND VIBRATIONS
[A tidal cairn, a stacked set of 15 large stones that I balanced in the water—here: 7 above the waterline, 8 stones below the waterline; as the tide comes in—the cairn submerges—and the storytelling of the rippling, the contours of the stones, play out their...
THE FOG OF BRAND | UNCERTAINTY IN A TIME OF CLARIFIED VISIONING
THERE’S A BRAND THAT YOU KNOW, ONE THAT IS CLEAR, CLARIFIED—YOU KNOW WHAT IT STANDS FOR. AND THERE IS A BRAND THAT IS FOGGED—IT’S UNCLEAR, VAGUE AND FORMLESS. WHICH DO YOU HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH? What is a brand? It’s a marked enterprise that has a coherent link...