LOOK OUT, THERE — YOU’RE SENSING THE HORIZON LINE — SEE IN: THE ART OF SURVEILLANCE.
THERE IS A LOOKOUT, THERE — THE ROLES OF SENTIENCE, THE SENTINEL AND THE SCOUT.
AND IN THE BRAND — WHAT MIGHT YOU BE WATCHING FOR?
SENTINEL
FOR
THE
BRANDFIRE
Looking out in the ring-round the place that you stand — steward, strategist and standard — you scry out over the shifting world:
there are signal fires, blazing storytelling. And there are those that are watching them, and those who might put them out.
Who’s listening? Who’s watching — who’s buying?
There is what is flowing out — the push — the layering of the storytelling; and what is flowing in — the pull.
As a student of the commerce of brand, their tidal engagements — the one, the out, the other, the in.
And, as sentinel, the look-out — you can only stand on the principles of what you know to be the truth of your stand.
Like, as in: “what you stand for.”
And “what you mean.”
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?
These days, I’m on the road, it feels, more than I’m in Seattle — jumping from client to client, project to project, place to place, you see things differently; and when you’re traveling, you tend to find yourself more on the lookout; it’s most than not following, or focusing on the trend of change.
Moving, you are the change.
In the work that we do — we are looking out for our clients — acting as a kind of sentinel in exploring the nature of the circles around them. And, in every instance, we look to teach our relationships how to be on the look out — the outlook mounted and who should be placed up, on high — the overlook.
In 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. What’s the truth of the action?
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, true.
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 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. Could sentinelle – and sentire,
suggest an alignment:
that sentience, sentinel and sense
are all really about feeling?
(as a noun in the sense ‘meaning’):
from Latin sensus
‘faculty of feeling, thought, meaning,’
from sentire ‘feel.’
The verb dates from the mid 16th century.
I see these:
ikeahackers [jack-in]
Nordstrom+NIKE (run tech).
BMW (cross-manage: networks).
Puma (sustainable cool[ness])
LOOK OUT.
LOOK BACK.
LOOK IN.
“You can look back, but don’t stare,” was the message from fellow member of Bill W’s Club, and to another,
“you can look out all you want, but it’s what is closer to you that you must see.”
Or my Mother’s retort —
“if it was a snake it would’ve bit you.”
You there,
“in front of your nose.”
As brandishers —
watch for waves that are near, ripples at your feet and those that are far out to sea.
For they all will eventually come [for] you.
tim | GIRVIN | STRATEGIC MAGIC
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