Hey, first we are sorry for the long delay. The good news is that Jennifer and I have been really busy. We are both doing really interesting work, but we have remiss with our blog posts. We'll try to be better.
Recently, I had lunch with Larry Lubin of Lubin-Lawrence (www.lubinlawrence.com). Lubin-Lawrence has been helping the worlds’ leading consumer goods companies establish and implement brand strategies for decades. I got to know them years ago when one of my clients needed help with their brand image. They have a powerful methodology for helping companies understand what the most loyal consumers truly value about the brand. Their work led to a fundamental restructure of the company’s approach to the market.
The Lubin-Lawrence approach is based on the belief that a brand will be more powerful and meaningful if it plays an important role in the consumer’s life. Rather than focus on features and functions, they have a holistic research methodology for determining, or uncovering really, the experiences most sought after by the consumer and the fundamental human values that drive a particular consumer’s behavior.
One of our current clients believes that their culture provides a true source of competitive advantage and is interested in how to “brand” their culture, both internally and externally. My conversations with Larry and his partner Barbara Lawrence, have been about how to do that. In our conversations, I think we all realized the similarity between the external and internal brands, and more importantly why alignment between the two is so critical.
In both cases, the target constituency, the consumer or the employee, has to believe that their actions, either a purchase or their work, is aligned with their values. The lesson learned: great branding isn't about making you want to buy stuff it is about helping you discover meaning in your life.
Scott
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