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PICTURE: NASA
MANY > ONEDATE: 29/04/2015 HOST: SQUARED LOC: LONDON LAT: 51.5207° LONG: 0.1345°
PRES: JOHN V WILLSHIRE TW: @WILLSH WEB: SMITHERY.CO
A fanfare for the common brand
Hello, what do you do?
‘Smithery’ is an easy metaphor to get lost in…
“Blacksmiths are unique in that they make their own tools…”
Dan Dennett
We make tools
PEOPLE (n x m)
THIN
GS
(i x
d)
Tools for thinking
DESIGN
PROTOTYPE CULTURE
STRATEGY
PEOPLE (n x m)
THIN
GS
(i x
d)
Tools for thinking
PEOPLE (n x m)
THIN
GS
(i x
d)
Tools for thinking
LOW
MEDIUM
HIGH
PEOPLE (n x m)
THIN
GS
(i x
d)
Tools for thinking
Tools for making
Tools for making
Tools for making
“You have to start by acquiring tools, or making them yourself”
Dan Dennett
Acquire?
Acquire from core principles
Acquire from new theories
Acquire from copying others
Something fascinating unites these three books…
6 models 20 papers 50 strategies
The future for brands is found in
many ideas
What did it mean to be a ‘common brand’?
abadge
of
origin
a promise of performance
transformation of experience
value of reassurance
Brands were built for…
…consistency
So what’s this about?
The internet.
It seems passé today to speak of “the Internet revolution.” In some academic circles, it is positively naïve.
It seems passé today to speak of “the Internet revolution.” In some academic circles, it is positively naïve.But it should not be.
It seems passé today to speak of “the Internet revolution.” In some academic circles, it is positively naïve.But it should not be.The change brought about by the networked information environment is deep. It is structural.
It seems passé today to speak of “the Internet revolution.” In some academic circles, it is positively naïve.But it should not be.The change brought about by the networked information environment is deep. It is structural. It goes to the very foundations of how liberal markets and liberal democracies have coevolved for almost two centuries.
It seems passé today to speak of “the Internet revolution.” In some academic circles, it is positively naïve.But it should not be.The change brought about by the networked information environment is deep. It is structural. It goes to the very foundations of how liberal markets and liberal democracies have coevolved for almost two centuries.
Yochai Benkler, 2006
We should not be surprised that navigating this is hard.
I asked an expert what the internet
was like…
How big is the internet?
“As big as the world”
What does the internet feel like?
“It’s very smooth”
What shape is the internet?
“It’s square, so it can fit
through squares.”
How much does the internet weigh?
“About thirty to forty birds.”
Which birds?
“Robins.”
What does the internet sound like?
“Like lots and lots of different voices”
Spot on, wee man.
MANY > ONE
MANY > ONE
is how the internet works
“Listening carefully produces conversations of two sorts... the dialectic and the dialogic”
Richard Sennett, Together
What the f***?
Dialectic“The interaction and resolution between multiple ideas”
GWF Hegel
Richard Sennett
Dialectic wants consensusA b C D E F G H
Dialectic wants consensusA b C D E F G H
bA CD Fe GeC ADb G ADf
C ADb ADfg
No matter how good that consensus is…
Dialogic“A discussion that does not resolve itself by finding common ground...”
Bahktin
Richard Sennett
“People become more aware of their own views and expand their understanding of one another”
Richard Sennett
Ideologies coexist
A
bC
D
E
FG H
They constantly interact and inform
each other
A
bC
D
E
FG H
Each ideology can hold more salience
in certain circumstances
A
bC
D
E
FG H
Changes can be made if a strategy does not have the
desired effect
A
bC
D
E
FG H
This might not just apply to“conversation”
This interplay of ideas is very reminiscent of the internet
It doesn’t look like the way we model brands
How we think about models is important…
“We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us”
- Churchill
We shape our models, and afterwards our models shape us
It’s not this simple.
Brands today are more like
BitTorrents
MANY > ONE
I would ask that you keep this simple thing in mind...
Where does this leave ‘brands’?
I don’t care what it was designed to do.
I care about what it can do.
CustomersMakers
Products
A common brand is found where meaning is made together
A common brand is where many things are right, not just one
A common brand is where many things are right, not just oneWHAT’S THIS
FOR?IT’S A NEW THING WE’VE
MADE
SO, WHAT DOES IT
DO?
WE’VE CHANGED THE
MOTOR
WHAT’S THIS FOR?
WHAT’S THIS FOR?
IT’S A NEW THING WE’VE
MADE
This is a structural issue.
Let’s think about restructuring our brand toolkit
A common brand is about the
stories of people and things
Many people > one audience
PEOPLE
Surface Area
“What matters is not so much size but the distance between individual employees and their customers.”
Dr Arno Penzias
“A NEVER-ENDING STREAM OF APOLOGETIC ANSWERS TO CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS, PUNCTUATED BY THE ODD, HOPEFUL BRAND MESSAGE FROM CENTRAL MARKETING.”
ASBURY & ASBURY
HTTP://ASBURYANDASBURY.TYPEPAD.COM/BLOG/2015/02/CONVERSATION-MY-ARSE.HTML -
HUGH MACLEOD AKA @GAPINGVOID
BRANDS ARE GROOT
Brands start deep inside a company
…right to the outside
GDS user research guide
HTTPS://WWW.GOV.UK/SERVICE-MANUAL/USER-CENTRED-DESIGN/USER-RESEARCH
GDS user research guide
HTTPS://WWW.GOV.UK/SERVICE-MANUAL/USER-CENTRED-DESIGN/USER-RESEARCH
1.LOOK HOW EARLY THE PRODUCT IS LIVE
GDS user research guide
HTTPS://WWW.GOV.UK/SERVICE-MANUAL/USER-CENTRED-DESIGN/USER-RESEARCH
1.LOOK HOW EARLY THE PRODUCT IS LIVE
2.LOOK HOW MUCH REFINEMENT RESEARCH COMES AFTER LAUNCH…
Agency research guide*
LAU
NC
HSOME
TGIHUNCH
4 GROUPS
*NOT REALLY**
**BUT NEARLY
• Create inner belief
• Create inner belief
• Spread the word
• Create inner belief
• Spread the word
• Build relationships
• Create inner belief
• Spread the word
• Build relationships
• Create community spaces
• Create inner belief
• Spread the word
• Build relationships
• Create community spaces
• Allow messages to travel
Having lots of people in a company makes it easy...
Owning lots of shallow brands makes it hard
Consolidation is rife
“Buy one brand, get one free”
We see faceless organisations now trying to be ‘people’
Unilever: Sustainable Living Plan
Many layers > one machine
THINGS
Complicated needs expertise Complex needs effort
“It’s not complicated, It’s just hard”
RUSSELL DAVIES, GDS, QUOTING MICHAEL SLABY
PIC: @LEXIE_BROWN
Make all the Youtube channels people actually want.
It’s not complicated, Just Hard.
With the right mechanic, complexity becomes amazingly compelling...
“Yay, it works!”
Simple idea, but complex to execute…
One million requests in just four days
This used to be a car dealer
Now it’s a petrol station
The first time I used it…
…was with a friend
Many truths > one lie
STORIES
Modern economics: The value of a thing is
determined by what one is willing to give up to
obtain the thing
The Labour Theory of Value
The value of something is determined by the
labour that went into its production
Perhaps there’s a Labour Theory of Brand Value?
Field Notes
£3.33 PER PAD
£0.99 PER PAD
“Marketing is world building. With unlimited bandwidth we can now show
you the world.”
@tobybarnes
“Marketing is world building. With unlimited bandwidth we can now show
you the world.”
@tobybarnes
Labour Theory of Brand Value You have to make everything with the infinite canvas of the internet in mind
We’d rather buy this world...
…more than this world
Brands often find this hard because of their hollow
factory
Two opposite forces of innovation
Make product very efficiently
Make product very efficiently
Make marketing as interesting as possible
“Creating astounding products is their main obsession. There is always something new to say.”
Jim Carroll, BBH on how Tech companies build brands
“let’s make up a wacky town where they make cider in an interesting way”
Why not just make cider in an interesting way?
A common brand is about the
stories of people and things
A common brand is like lots and lots of
different voices
PEOPLE (n x m)
THIN
GS
(i x
d)
Starting points for a common brand
PEOPLE (n x m)
THIN
GS
(i x
d)
Starting points for a common brand
How good is the product? Really?
REALLY?
PEOPLE (n x m)
THIN
GS
(i x
d)
Starting points for a common brand
How good is the product? Really?
REALLY?
Is this the start of a journey of
discovery?
PEOPLE (n x m)
THIN
GS
(i x
d)
Starting points for a common brand
How good is the product? Really?
REALLY?
Is this the start of a journey of
discovery?
Is it about a remarkable group
of people?
PEOPLE (n x m)
THIN
GS
(i x
d)
Starting points for a common brand
How good is the product? Really?
REALLY?
Is this the start of a journey of
discovery?
Is it about a remarkable group
of people?
Does this change the world? Do you
believe?
PICTURE: NASA
MANY > ONEDATE: 29/04/2015 HOST: SQUARED LOC: LONDON LAT: 51.5207° LONG: 0.1345°
PRES: JOHN V WILLSHIRE TW: @WILLSH WEB: SMITHERY.CO
Thank you
