Does your brand impute?

Are you hypnotized and confused by your own marketplace experiences? Have you somehow rationalized that your brand is a promise and engagement is the Holy Grail, so all you have to do is engage people with your captivating communication and deliver on your brand promise?

If it makes you feel any better, you are not alone. From Mitt Romney and Microsoft to Kmart and Susan G. Komen, most brands haven't a clue about how people actually feel, think and act. They assume that we're all searching for "the answer," so they desperately focus on making sound arguments, on making sense.

In fact, what we're truly after is novelty and recognition, meaning and identity enhancement.

In Walter Isaacson’s book, Steve Jobs, Isaacson wrote, “Early on, Mike Markkula had taught Jobs to ‘impute’ – to understand that people do judge a book by its cover – and therefore to make sure all the trappings and packaging of Apple signaled that there was a beautiful gem inside.”

Leadership brands, like Apple, don’t make promises. They create and fulfill expectations through thoughtful and precisely crafted associations; associations which create expectations of receiving a particular feeling about one’s identity.

Leadership brands understand that brand success is not about winning a debate; it’s about signaling meaning. It’s not about convincing people with well-reasoned arguments. It’s about unearthing what people need to feel good, smart and special, and then giving it to them.

Leadership brands don't compute. They impute.

Posted February 14, 2012
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markdisomma

Tom – I was much taken with this post. One word in particular really stood out for me: unearth. Because I think that’s what great brands do. As I say in my post, inspired by yours, unearthing is about discovering. It’s about seeing for the first time something that has been hidden for a very long time. It’s about revelation. It’s about something that inspires. Great brands do that I think. They uncover the irrational drivers that impel busy, pressed, distracted human beings to stop doing nothing or something else and instead make the time to take an action. My full post is here:
http://markdisomma.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/great-brands-unearth/

Posted by: markdisomma | February 17, 2012 at 03:10 AM

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