Follow the Feeling - Brand Building in a Noisy World

Elevate your brand, rise above the crowd, and build tribe
 
In Follow the Feeling, strategy advisor Kai D. Wright answers a critical question plaguing entrepreneurs, brand strategists, marketers, and leaders: how do you grow your brand in a noisy world? Analyzing 1,500 fast-growing companies from Alibaba to Zara, the Columbia University lecturer and Ogilvy global consulting partner unpacks five branding secrets. Starting with behavioral economic principles and ending with a new systems-based approach to brand building, Wright offers readers one metric that trumps the hundreds entangling brand value, feelings.
 
Follow the Feeling will show you how to best build and position your brand so you can stand out from competitors, build a tribe, and engineer a positive feeling across five important branding territories--lexicon, audio cues, visual stimuli, experience, and culture. Sharing real-world lessons and practical advice he has gained helping everyone from Sean Diddy Combs and Meghan Trainor to Bank of America and HP develop and implement shareable, culturally-infectious branding strategies. Through storytelling, global research, and practical tips, this valuable book will help you and your organization:
* Efficiently create and deploy a comprehensive brand strategy across the organization
* Quickly launch new brands or reboot existing brands for growth
* Build tribes from audiences, consumers, clients, and partners
* Lean into the convergence of communication, culture, digital, and technology
 
Regardless of industry or sector, branding is essential for companies, non-profits, and even individuals. Follow the Feeling: Brand Building in a Noisy World is a must-have resource for anyone from C-Suite executives to aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to unleash the full potential of their brand. And in this world of ever-increasing metrics paired with waning attentiveness, the most important signal of brand health is how you, through your brand, make people feel.

List of contents

Preface xi
 
Acknowledgments xv
 
About the Author xvii
 
Introduction 1
 
Forming a Worldview 2
 
A Case for Change 4
 
Feelings Aren't Things to Gloss Over 8
 
1 Inside Out: What's the Value of Being an Outsider? 11
 
A Red-Hot Industry 13
 
A Few Things to Keep in Mind 15
 
2 Going Haywire: What's the Relationship between Economics and Communication? 17
 
"Most of the Time We Coast" 20
 
The Virality Coefficient 22
 
3 Resonance versus Share of Voice: In What Direction Is Technology Propelling Us? 25
 
A Lesson in Audience Physics 28
 
The Economy of Community 29
 
Are We Speaking on the Same Wavelength? 30
 
Avoiding Dissonance Begins in the Briefing 31
 
4 Creativity Applied Strategically: What Parts of a "Brand" Matter Most to a Digitally Wired Audience? 35
 
The Cracks in the Axioms 36
 
Emotional Horsepower Drives Many a Decision 37
 
Influence Rules the Day, But We Can Rule Influence 39
 
Surviving Brand Quicksand 40
 
A System Built for Brand "Value" 41
 
Every Hero Needs a Villain 42
 
5 Communication as a System: How Does Communication Work in Society? 45
 
Communication as a "System" 46
 
Wired to Think, Feel, and Do 50
 
Finding the Right Triggers and Traps 51
 
A Fight for Equality 55
 
6 Lexicon Triggers: Branding Objective: Appeal to a "Tribe" 59
 
Limits of Words 67
 
Context 68
 
The Invisible Hand: Community 70
 
Shifting from Target Audience to Community 74
 
A Tale of Two Words 78
 
Niche Wins 79
 
Branding Language 80
 
A Planning Process Mindset Shift 83
 
The Double-Edged Sword of Being a "Household Name" 85
 
Anchors and Normative Messaging 87
 
Cutting Anchors Loose 91
 
Conclusion 94
 
7 Audio Cues: Branding Objective: Develop Instant Recognition 103
 
Every Brand Longs to Be Heard 104
 
Audio's Role: Hardly New, But Certainly Evolving 107
 
Sound as a Mood Shifter 110
 
Is Audio the Most Salient Part of "Memory"? 113
 
Our Firewall Works Like This: "Tuning Out" 114
 
How Brands Learn from Television Theme Songs 116
 
Owning a Sonic Cue--Decline of the Jingle 118
 
Translating Sounds 119
 
Results at the Speed of Sound 121
 
Sound and Product Design 123
 
Voice 125
 
This Could Give You a Headache 128
 
Repetition Is Marketing Mythology 129
 
Conclusion 134
 
8 Visual Stimuli: Branding Objective: Become a "Conversational" Brand 145
 
Words Are Finite, Images Are Limitless 147
 
Say It with Purpose 153
 
Color 155
 
Shape 159
 
Becoming More Visual Searchers, Learners, and Sharers 162
 
The Journey to Brands Being Content 164
 
Welcome to the Newest Communication Club Members 167
 
The New Moving Image 170
 
Tracking Evolution One Dictionary at a Time 173
 
Conclusion 174
 
9 Experience Drivers: Branding Objective: Close the Feedback Loop 185
 
Create a Cross-Functional System 189
 
Business Models Built on Experience 191
 
Evolution of "Brand" 194
 
Omnichannel Attributes 197
 
Great Strategy Comes from Unconventional Places 201
 
The Goal of Experience 209
 
Conclusion 213
 
10 Cultural Connections: Branding Objective: Align Thoughts and Actions 221
 
The Myth of "Safety in Size" 227
 
Communication's Role in Culture 229
 
Getting Out

About the author

KAI D. WRIGHT is a strategic advisor to C-suite executives, founders, and talent. He has been recognized as a leader by Forbes, Adweek, and the Advertising Research Foundation. A frequent speaker at major conferences and Fortune 500 companies, Wright is a lecturer at Columbia University and global consulting partner at Ogilvy. He lives in New York City. www.kaidwright.com.

Summary

Elevate your brand, rise above the crowd, and build tribe

In Follow the Feeling, strategy advisor Kai D. Wright answers a critical question plaguing entrepreneurs, brand strategists, marketers, and leaders: how do you grow your brand in a noisy world? Analyzing 1,500 fast-growing companies from Alibaba to Zara, the Columbia University lecturer and Ogilvy global consulting partner unpacks five branding secrets. Starting with behavioral economic principles and ending with a new systems-based approach to brand building, Wright offers readers one metric that trumps the hundreds entangling brand value, feelings.

Follow the Feeling will show you how to best build and position your brand so you can stand out from competitors, build a tribe, and engineer a positive feeling across five important branding territories--lexicon, audio cues, visual stimuli, experience, and culture. Sharing real-world lessons and practical advice he has gained helping everyone from Sean Diddy Combs and Meghan Trainor to Bank of America and HP develop and implement shareable, culturally-infectious branding strategies. Through storytelling, global research, and practical tips, this valuable book will help you and your organization:
* Efficiently create and deploy a comprehensive brand strategy across the organization
* Quickly launch new brands or reboot existing brands for growth
* Build tribes from audiences, consumers, clients, and partners
* Lean into the convergence of communication, culture, digital, and technology

Regardless of industry or sector, branding is essential for companies, non-profits, and even individuals. Follow the Feeling: Brand Building in a Noisy World is a must-have resource for anyone from C-Suite executives to aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to unleash the full potential of their brand. And in this world of ever-increasing metrics paired with waning attentiveness, the most important signal of brand health is how you, through your brand, make people feel.

Product details

• Authors: Kai D Wright, Kai D. Wright, Kai D. (Columbia University) Wright, KD Wright
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.07.2019
• EAN: 9781119600497
• ISBN: 978-1-119-60049-7
• No. of pages: 304
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Business > Management; Marketing, Marke, Business & management, Wirtschaft u. Management, Marketing & Sales, Marketing u. Vertrieb