Brand New Era: Building Meaningful Brands in the 21st Century
This enlightening “fireside chat” featured Jeff Cantalupo, founder of Listen Ventures, and Charles Adler, founder of Lost Arts. Cantalupo formerly worked at Leo Burnett, keeping established brands relevant, whereas now he invests in new brands and builds them from the ground up. Sounds like a great business model to me. Adler was a Kickstarter co-founder who more recently started makerspace/incubator Lost Arts here in Chicago. Some notes from their discussion:
Internal behavior at a company affects and creates the external brand image. This is why it’s so important to hire the right people when building a team.
The brand’s mission is the lens through which all decisions are made.
Starting around 2007-2009, with Twitter and other social media platforms, there was a shift in control of brands from companies to people. The customers began to take control, instead of the company being able to define the brand for themselves. Companies needed to become more human, while people were starting to act like brands.
Managing quarter-to-quarter is bad. You need to plan for sustained, long-term success in order to keep customers loyal.
Blockchain technology could be the future of customer loyalty. It is the platform through which brands could establish currency with individuals.
Differentiation is harder than it used to be. “Your only competitive advantage is your relationship with your customer. You want your customers to forgive you when you make a mistake.”
Bigger brands can create the future. Smaller brands give people the agency to choose the future.
New players who are doing it right: Allbirds, Yeti, Away, Glossier. As an activity-driven brand, people are already passionate, which set up a perfect opportunity for Yeti. Same with Patagonia.
A good brand will listen to the people who buy into them. You are solving a need for people through human-centered design, therefore you are authentic. This last point was an eye-opener for me. HCD isn’t just about creating a good product, it’s how you build a brand that is truly authentic. People connect emotionally with brands that positively impact their lives.