My slides (that make even less sense without v/o) from Planningness 2016. Marketers and the folks who advise them obsess over the brand. But what if our obsession is wrong? What if how we think about a brand is ill defined? What if we need to rethink what we do to focus on the end result, not the means? This session will lay out my misgivings with how we obsess over the brand and give practical advice about how we might do things that are more valuable to people and businesses. (Also hit presentation gold getting Dr Strangelove, Bob Mould and David Bowie into one presentation).

1. MORNING
GOOD OR HOW I
LEARNED
TO stop
worrying
aboutTHE
B R A N D

3. iapologize

5. “We are powerfully imprisoned
by the terms in which we have
been conducted to think.”
Buckminster Fuller

11. Source: Copernicus Consulting, Havas Media, CMO Council, McKinsey
PEOPLE VALUE BRANDS LESS
Brands in 4 out of 5 categories seen as increasingly homogeneous (and less than 1 in 10 ads seen as different)
Most people “couldn’t care less if 80% of brands out there disappeared tomorrow”
5% of Americans think brands “make a noticeable, positive contribution ot their lives”
CLIENTS ARE QUESTIONING THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF BRANDS
1 out of 4 CEOs and CFOs don’t believe brand building significantly boosts corporate profitability
$1 spent on brand building for every $3 spent on price cutting in CPG
Brands are less valuable

13. The best experiences are more than twice as valuable
2.4x revenue 5 more years

14. “The product is the service
is the marketing”
Russell Davies

15. Stop manipulating minds.
Start shaping experiences.

16. Respect attention, manage reputation

17. “You can’t build a reputation
on what you’re going to do.”
Henry Ford

18. Source: The Director Centre 2014
Mind The Gap
80%
Companies that believe
they provide an above
average customer
experience
11%
Companies whose
customers agree
69% service delivery gap

19. 4 thoughts on closing the gap

20. 1.
Be human friendly
(not human like)

21. Brands are not like people

23. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/513706/friendly-machines/

24. Human-friendly rather than human-like

26. Small is friendly

27. 2.
Design for now

33. 3.
Have an opinion

36. Opinions are valuable things

37. Risky compared to what?

39. Be curious

40. “Always be a first-rate version of
yourself, instead of a second-rate
version of somebody else”
Judy Garland

41. 4.
Problem finding beats problem solving

42. Find better problems to solve

43. Better problems, better questions

45. 1. Find a problem to solve
Find a partner and ask them to tell you three things they find annoying on a
daily basis
something annoying, or something that you want to improve
something annoying, or something that you want to improve
something annoying, or something that you want to improve
Pick your favourite, then switch roles
~5 min

46. 2. Dig a little deeper
Ask your partner to describe their most recent encounter with the annoyance.
Take notes:
Stuck? Try asking “how?” or “why?”, then switch roles
~5 min

47. 3. Define the problem
Now distill what you’ve learnt from your partner by completing the following
sentence:
your partner’s name
whatever it is to be fixed or made better
validate this with your partner
wants
so that
~5 min
the desired outcome (what improvement or change does it bring about?)

48. 4. Sketch a solution
Draw an ambitious solution to your partner’s problem, then give it a name
~5 min

49. 5. Present back & choose
Present
Take the problems and solutions you’ve defined, sketched and named and
present these back to your group (1 minute each).
Vote
As a group, vote for the individual problem/solution you now want to take
forward to solve as a group.
We’re looking for one to develop further as a group within a sketch
brainstorm
~10 min

50. 6. Sketch brainstorm
Sit in silence and sketch as many propositions that might solve the problem.
When you have sketched something, hold it up and explain it to the group before
placing it in the middle and sketching another one.
Sketch the way these propositions might work as:
• A web application on a desktop, in a browser
• Mobile/portable products or services on a phone or tablet
• Something else - don’t feel limited by ‘devices’ or ‘platforms’. Perhaps your idea
exists across the digital and physical world (e.g. as a book as well as a digital
service; as an installation, wall or screen)
use a computer, or start writing stuff in Word or Excel, or write a list
sketch with a marker; make it visual without designing; annotate as much as you want.
~15 min
DON’T
DO

51. 5
things
behumanfriendly(NOTHUMANLIKE)
SMALLISgood
DESIGNFORNOW
HAVEANOPINION
FINDBETTERPROBLEMSTOSOLVE

53. Thankyou