Tom Asacker

point well taken.

so let's take a big lawnmower and cut all brand communication down to a nice english golf green.

sftd replaces sTfd.
and also explains why bmw's brand appearance is so much more effective than most of the competition's.

eye opening.

thanks.

Tom,

Good stuff, and timely for me. While never a businessman, Ive felt particularly down on business and work lately. I've been trying to figure out why and your essay provided a clue.

What frustrates me, I think, is the disconnect between marketing, vision statements, and the like... and the actual feelings provoked by most organizations. I love reading Tom Peters' giddy prose. Reimagine! Revolution! Mutants! Sounds fantastic. Clearly Peters has got the message about feelings.

But, sadly, most businessmen and most companies have not. In fact, I beat up on business, but my own field of education fails your test as well. How many schools inspire euphoria?

Your premise feels correct. I do think most people are emotionally driven. On an individual level, they have dreams, passions, and a yearning for euphoric experiences. How does this get so thoroughly squashed? Where and how do organizations lose it?

In other words, assuming individuals or "leaders" accept your premise, how do they actualize it within the structure of organizations whose nature seems to run counter to it? To create tremendous feelings in a customer/client... doesn't it require an organization that creates these same feelings in its members (frequently, powerfully)?

That seems to be the key arena.. the key challenge.

Hiya Tom,

I'd argue that it's ALWAYS been about feelings! I'm a designer with a marketing background, and like you am particulary interested in why we make the decisions we do. Lately my reading has led me to neuroscience, thankfully in the form of some wonderfully readable books.

When you defined branding the other day as an expectation of an experience, a lightbulb went off, and I "got" branding in a way I never have before. What we describe as a brand is what some neuroscientists describe as a memory model. This model is at its most basic the collection of everything we know or have experienced about a thing.

This model is literally a physical thing at the cellular level. Knowing this allows me to visualize a thing's brand in physical space. With enough information, I can design a brand map, and use that map to help my client meet his overall goals.

I'm writing a series of articles at my site exploring how we can put this knowledge to use in practical ways. I'd be grateful for any feedback you and your readers can send my way. Thanks for such a great post.

Peter

Related to the topic of organizations which fail to generate euphoric feelings in their members... and thus their client/customers, I came across this succinct quote on

http://www.increasingintelligence.com/index.html

"Bureaucracies are designed to reduce intelligence by limiting information (input) and conditioning pre-defined interpretations of value, authority and procedures (transformations) while increasing obedience and efficiency (output). Fixed hierarchies remain fixed through force (or threat of force = terrorism).

Natural hierarchies reflect the intelligence of a system by constantly changing, emerging and dissipating relative to the needs of specific situations.

Communities are designed to increase intelligence by presenting new information (input), discussing new perspectives (transformations) and offering new actions and tools for sharing, participating and fellowship (output)."

Questions:
1. How to create natural hierarchies from scratch... and assure that they self-destruct or morph when appropriate?

2. How to catalyze community formation? How can community formation be encouaraged? Aided? Supported?