dispatches from the new world of work

Check 'Em Out!

The centerpiece of Re-imagine! is an airtight argument (as I see it) for rapidly "moving up" (re-imagining) the Value-added Proposition. It applies to IBM and UPS ... and, as we've just seen, Hyundai and Home Depot. One of my chief MV awards last year went to Kevin Roberts' LOVEMARK idea. I'm blown over by the rapidity with which this "trend" is coming to dominate business thinking. Yesterday's mail alone brought 2 manuscripts for endorsement—and I plan to endorse both. (Normally I endorse about 1 in 25 ms I receive.) The first comes from renowned futurist Martin Lindstrom (and features a Phil Kotler foreword). The title is BRANDsense: Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound. The idea: beyond the stalwart USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and even the newer "ESP" (Emotional Selling Proposition) ... and toward the HSP (Holistic Selling Proposition). The book is well written, and the data-cases are compelling. On the one hand, there are a ton of good folks barking up this tree with everything from Lovemarks to Dream Marketing to Experience Marketing. So should I endorse "one more"? Yes! In my world, repetition rules ... and the variety of the packagers ups the odds that one or more will capture your attention ... and alter your worldview.

The twin to BRANDsense is Storytelling: Branding in Practice, by Klaus Fog, Christian Budtz & Baris Boylu—it's a detailed guide to the creation of powerful sagas that move customers to engage the brand. All these books might be clumsily titled "Beyond 'Branding' as We've Known It for the Last 50 Years." We are all scrambling—me too, e.g. this blog—and scramble we all must!

Tom Peters posted this on 01/07/05.

Comments

I think story telling is the key to brand attraction. A good story brings a strong attachment. thats the wave of the future..I remember reading an article from the future insitute in Denmark on this..need to dig up thelink

Posted by /pd at January 7, 2005 2:40 PM

Tom is spot on regarding Brand Sense - it's the most amazing book I've read for years. I managed to get hold of a galley last week from a journalist friend of mine. It is most defiantly worth a read.

Posted by Allan Mulinacci at January 8, 2005 9:04 AM