The power of imagination

You’ll know from my last post that a good quote can go a long way, so it’s fitting that this post starts with one.

“We have to believe in the power of imagination because it's all we have, and ours is stronger than theirs.”

I found it written in the booklet that came with “Out Spaced”, a B–sides and rarities compilation album by Welsh psychedelic rock band, the Super Furry Animals. Not the most obvious place to find a quote for a blog about branding, but then Super Furry Animals have always been a band full of surprises.

What I like about this quote is not so much the point it makes about reliance on our imagination, but the fact that it presents imagination as a competitive element.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard so–called brainstorms begin with those infamous words, “There’s no such thing as a bad idea”, only to have those very same words prove their author a liar at least half a dozen times within the first five minutes. All too often, people view creativity as an excuse to express their artistic alter ego, without actually applying their imagination to the problem at hand.

Imagination in branding is critical.

And it's even more critical to remember that ideas are not simply good or bad, but actually better or worse. That's the real difference that makes not only great brands but also great agencies. A refusal to settle for the mediocre in the dogged pursuit of creative excellence, even if it means having to deflate a few dreams and even shatter some egos.

Lessons from the boardroom

I thought I'd take a slightly more leisurely stroll through the world of branding today, given that the last two posts have been a little on the serious side.

Over the years, I've had to make all sorts of presentations. Some have gone better than others, but three things have always stood me in good stead in the boardroom when it comes to putting on a show – or, conversely, settling a showdown.

Firstly, I've learned how to make sense of more boardroom audio–visual systems than most. This might not sound like much, but it can make a world of difference when you've got an anxious CEO and his executives hunched over the table in impatient anticipation.

While most falter when faced with the seething snake pit of cords and cables that lurk beneath the boardroom table, I jump straight in with all the fearless instinct of an intrepid Indiana Jones – albeit one with a lanyard swinging from my neck rather than a whip crack from my hand. Generally, it's a test of whether I can get the presentation on screen before the IT chap arrives. On those occasions when the client is organised enough to have arranged the IT chap to meet me on arrival, I always feel a little disappointed – perhaps even cheated of the challenge.

Secondly, if you can't present your 2-hour presentation in 5 minutes (including questions), then I would say you're underprepared.

I've encountered the "5–minute flick" over the past few years far too many times to count, but oddly enough I have noticed that there tends to be an inverse relationship between the scale of the project and the typical amount of time you get with key decision–makers. Often, the more they're paying you, the less they want to see you.

Thirdly, it sometimes sounds so much better if you can find someone else to say it for you. But I don't mean your wife or your best mate, I mean Winston Churchill or Gary Hamel.

The right quote can give a presentation not only a lift but also some leverage – to the point that it can instantaneously fix your message firmly at the front of your audience's minds. It's not only memorable, it's also motivating, so I would suggest that you always have a spare quote or two up your sleeve (as snake oil salesman as that unfortunately sounds).

Anyway, I'm not sure if these are lessons so much as observations, but there you have it.

Oh, and by the way..."the older you grow, the more you become".

Just show me how to switch it on

In the past few months, I've been working on a few brand and product launches. From an agency angle, there's only so much you can do to influence the outcome as you tend to make recommendations more often than decisions.

Launching a brand is like giving birth. It's vital to remember that it's the start of something wonderful, not just the end of the most painful experience of your life.

But all too often when it comes to brands, people focus purely on the latter: let's just get it out there and hope everything will work out fine. Oh, and the quicker the better.

Job done.

But actually the job is not done, it has only just begun. Much like babies, brands do not function on autopilot. And it's not simply a question of switching them on.

Firstly, things change.

Constancy is a rare luxury in today's world, but too many people assume that tomorrow will be much like today. Call it myopic, call it a fear of the future, call it sheer stupidity, but change can often touch a raw nerve. "Launch a brand to last for the next 10 years" is a common cry, when what they actually mean to say is "design a logo and let's pray that nothing changes between now and the time I leave for my next job".

The reality is that change can provide overwhelming opportunities to carve out competitive advantage. Just ask any of the bank brands that have pounced on the weak and the weather-beaten to turn a bad situation into a better one. It goes without saying that the banks would have preferred constancy and that change has been forced upon them, but struggling against change is tough (if not impossible), and there is more to be gained from funneling the winds of change than trying to force them back.

Your industry will shift. Your customers will change. Your brand will mature. But will you evolve? Or will you simply stick to the brief, work to the deadline and, as soon as you have flicked the switch, put all your faith in fate and fickle fortune? I hope not.

Secondly, people have short memories.

It doesn't matter how many balloons fill the room at the launch party, pretty soon no one will remember the helium from the hot air.

Customers actually deal with change pretty well. They tend to take it all in the stride because they've seen it all before. The packaging has changed, there's a sticker screaming "new" and "improved", and all of a sudden, as a merchant, you've got a reason to score some extra shelf space in the supermarket.

But if there isn't a real and relevant reason to keep consumers interested, they will all too quickly switch off, or switch onto something more appealing. Brands need to keep giving people reasons to stay loyal and come back, not simply expect that past sales curves are an accurate reflection of future sales performance. The first impression that you make does count, but not quite as much as the last one that you leave them with. You only have to look at Nike to see how a brand can stick to the same story but retell it in so many fresh and different ways – and ways that not only stretch to new audiences but even reach out to new generations.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, brands live forever.

While a sale is simply a transaction, a brand is an experience. And experiences create memories – good and bad, fond and forgettable.

In fact, you don't really own your brand, your customers do. They are the ones who make the real decisions about whether you succeed or fail with every move that they make. They decide how loyal they will be, they decide between you or your competitors, they decide what they will tell their friends about you.

Your role is to influence their decisions. And it should come as no surprise that those decisions don't all get made at the very moment that you launch your brand. Far from it.

So that's it. You can't just switch on a brand one day and expect it to light up the sky the next. I know that sounds obvious, but then too often I see brands built to launch, but not necessarily last.

Pumping up the tyres of the recession

People typically reveal themselves when under pressure.

The recession is putting a good many businesses under a fair amount of pressure. I, for one, think that can only be a good thing, but it is enlightening to see how differently the reactions range.

Take financial institutions.

Most have simply screeched to a halt, blinded in the headlights of the oncoming issues. This generation of bankers haven’t really had to make tough calls before about their futures before because all roads seemed to be paved with gold and it was simply a question of degrees of success. And when it came to their brands, as long as the business card was embossed with gold leaf on a weighty stock, none of them really cared. If they happen to have pulled over carefully to the side of the road, they might be able to avoid scrutiny, but if they find themselves at a busy crossroads, it’s likely they’ll get caught in the pile-up.

Many have taken a more dogmatic view. Hunkering down in the comfort of their most recent bonus, they are simply hoping that it will all go away before they have to change their habits. The machine is still full steam ahead, but no one is particularly keen to take the wheel, or even look over the dashboard. And if they do crash, there is a clear belief that the combination of size and sheer momentum will carry their brand through to the other side with only some minor abrasions and maybe a slow puncture.

There are a few that have decided to trade their vehicle, as it were, for a slightly different model. Maybe it’s a different colour, or maybe it’s a more substantial change like smaller engine capacity or lighter fuel consumption. Whatever the difference, they’re trying valiantly to tune their brand to the times without necessarily going so far as to forego it altogether for a completely different vehicle. It’s a sensible strategy, at least for the fact that it’s a little more considered.

And finally, they’re a small number that have decided that to put their foot down and either ram their competitors off the road or car­–jack them at the next set of lights. It’s not pretty, but it’s basic marketing instinct for those who want their brand to prosper not just survive.

But it’s not just financial institutions that find themselves driving their brand manually when they have only ever cruised along in automatic. The recession has hit everyone in different ways. From FMCG to fashion, cars to airline carriers.

That said, a recession doesn’t simply have to be about going backwards, quite literally receding. There are as many advantages as there are disadvantages to be gained by choosing to go forward, even if it may require a small sideways step to get you started.

You might need a push from some friends, maybe a jump–start from an unexpected passer–by, or there might even be a free tank of fuel in a competitor’s abandoned brand.

Anyway, I promise that’s the first and last time I’ll write about the recession. I find them incredibly tedious affairs as everyone (1) gets incredibly anxious at the slightest twinge, and then (2) feels the need to talk about the importance of investing in a downturn with the same fervent passion as a man who has just discovered crack cocaine and is absolutely certain that no one will ever get this high again.

That’s it. No more recession talk. I promise. (Except for a presentation to a client next week – their idea, not mine.)