by Peter Getman, Principal Brand Director

Circa:
Midnight, Summer 2009

Location:
Spotted Pig Bar, West Village, NYC

The Cast:
A random swanky Record Promoter, a Group Creative Director from a “fancy pants” NY ad agency and me.

Situation:
We are three bar flies creating commentary around people watching, all OUI eligible, I imagine. The other two immediately start jibing me with the nickname Live Free, shortened from my state’s motto, “Live Free or Die.” So I begin calling the record promoter, Sir George, after the Beatles producer and offer up the nickname Fancy Pants for you-know-who, which I quickly shortened to just Fancy. Over the next 90 minutes we infect one another with laughter.

Conflict:
We begin to talk shop.

Sir George: So what’s the major difference between a big New York brand agency and a small brand agency?

Fancy: Small agencies think branding starts and stops at creative design. There is seldom any strategic branding aimed at gaining significant market share.

Live Free: [Laughing] Oh, really? What piece-o-dung boutique branding agency did you work at before you became all fancy pants?

Fancy: Oh zip it. In 30 seconds, what’s brand strategy all about? GO.

Live Free: [now quite animated, my answer went something like this...] Branding is about people and their emotions. Branding is about creating a valuable perception. A perception creates an emotion. Humans make decisions based on emotions. Branding makes people feel … feel better, healthier, safer, sexier, tougher, cleaner, smoother, happier, thinner, smarter, faster, etc.

In fact, the sum of all brand campaigns in totality creates the common visual picture of:
• What life should be
• What we want life to be
• And ultimately, what life can be

Within your brand’s domain, it is the intellectual curiosity and understanding of:
• your customer’s current beliefs?
• how their beliefs came to be?
• what influences these beliefs?

Then go DISCOVER or CREATE a single emotional perception that is more valuable to your customers than the emotions surrounding their current belief.

EXUDE it from your brand
… and DELIVER it in an intellectually consumable manner that CREATES this emotion
… TRIGGERING the emotional purchase decision.
Woooot!

[A round of high fives and good laughs ensues...]

Fancy: That was a pimpin’ pitch … I’m going to amend my answer to that question.

Sir George: Then I guess the answer to my simple question is, bigger isn’t better?

Conclusion:
Laughter. More cocktails. And a few weeks later… this blog entry.

For the record:
As principal of a nimble brand agency for 22 years, I often encounter the question of big vs. small branding agency. I follow many of the iconic branding guys and often adopt a proven brand strategy, but, when it comes to Internet Marketing however, I imagine they’re following us. Contact me and we can have our own discussion on the values MicroArts has to offer.

Separately, I highly recommend the Spotted Pig burgers!