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Brands & Connecting
About Me

I love design, products, always looking for great brands and stories that connect with people.
www.kirschnerbranding.com.br
http://twitter.com/isaquek

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2012 (2)
2011 (14)
2010 (33)
2009 (3)
 

Advice from Scott Bedbury on Retail products

"It's no longer acceptable for companies that distribute through retail channels - or any channel - to simply ship their products and then assume that the world around their product or service is a factor that can be safely ignored."

"Above all else, be consistent across all customer contact points. You are only as good as your weakest presentation - or your restroom."

Scott Bedbury, Former VP of Nike and Starbucks

 

 

Posted by Isaque Kirschner 
 

Challengers of Silicon Valley

Video shows how entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley had similarities and the European Renaissance period, where there among others a sense of urgency and a thrill to work with an empty canvas creating the new.

(Steve Jobs, Scott Cook, Ed McCracken, HP)

Posted by Isaque Kirschner 
 

Coca Cola's growth in the crises / video

(Bloomberg) -- Coca-Cola Co. Chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent talks about the global economy, the company's growth in Russia and Africa, plans for domestic hiring and the need for a "21st Century tax policy" in the U.S. 

Posted by Isaque Kirschner 
 

Interview on challenging marketing conventions @eatbigfish + @StevenGrasse

Recently I read an article reporting that brands are looking for agencies that are multi-disciplinary, nimble and integrated. The story continued commenting that marketers are looking for "partners" not "vendors". For agencies to adapt to these requirements they will need a mindset change, and I find this difficult unless the agency has a new POV (point of view) and a team that gets it and finds the right people to break the mold - not only on digital/mobile but the "real stuff": product, the story, POS, expressing through design the brand values throughout worthwhile touch-points. 

Steven Grasse founder and CEO of Quaker City Mercantile gets it, not only does he help brands create the experiences that connect and set them apart, he creates his own brands (product, marketing, point of sale, events) challenging the market conventions. He mentions that brands are more compelling when they are like onions with layers of stories - deep, strong and compelling brands that are a result of passion and proposing a different experience to people. One of his brands Hendricks Gin has the tagline "It's not for everyone".

Checkout the EatBigFish interview with Steven Grasse below.

Hendricksginfour

 

 

 

Posted by Isaque Kirschner 
 

Challenging with Peripheral vision and doing the greatest possible "thing"

The Mac team had a complicated set of motivations, but the most unique ingredient was a strong dose of artistic values. First and foremost, Steve Jobs thought of himself as an artist, and he encouraged the design team to think of ourselves that way, too. The goal was never to beat the competition, or to make a lot of money; it was to do the greatest thing possible, or even a little greater. Steve often reinforced the artistic theme; for example, he took the entire team on a field trip in the spring of 1982 to the Louis Comfort Tiffany museum, because Tiffany was an artist who learned how to mass produce his work. 

Since the Macintosh team were artists, it was only appropriate that we sign our work. Steve came up with the awesome idea of having each team member's signature engraved on the hard tool that molded the plastic case, so our signatures would appear inside the case of every Mac that rolled off the production line. Most customers would never see them, since you needed a special tool to look inside, but we would take pride in knowing that our names were in there, even if no one else knew. 

"We believe that people with passion can change the world for the better." - Steve Jobs 

www.folklore.org

Apple_evolution

Posted by Isaque Kirschner 
 

Design to last

Dieter Rams and his thoughtful Good Design motto is more relevant as years go by.

Posted by Isaque Kirschner 
 

Sense of Enthusiasm and Nation

The browser and it's huge oasis of amusing and thought provoking content make some brand keepers feel they are missing out, they want to be like the others and participate with their consumers and create social media programs. (digital, eco, design, social buying...)

Plenty of brands are trying to have a sense of urgency focusing on what's hot rather than looking at their business, it's convictions and trying to be authentic in all facets of their operation/communication rather than just starting a new digital campaign. 

Having a point of view about what you care about can go a long way, it will bring core challenges to tackle, your business will make efforts to research and become thought leaders in specific subjects that you feel are meaningful, creating content that can be projected in several ways that are relevant - could be through a book, product, collaborations, video, packaging, utility or a blog. This POV/Idealogy can be shown through different access points of the brand in frequent yet fresh ways.

Conviction and enthusiasm about "who you are" and what values you have makes life and decisions a little easier, that is the same for brands. You can innovate, creating different products and categories and as long as you stick to your core and keep working with passion and intensity - you will end up having something more profound like a Nation rather than a social network. You will have informal boundaries rather being open to everyone. You will indirectly create desire - through a sense of learning, quality and great experiences.

Don't die from indigestion, as David Hieatt and Seth Godin recommends "DO things" that are meaningful and learn from them.

Some interesting brands that get it : Innocent Drinks, Chipotle, Monocle, Wholefoods, IKEA, Apple, method, Oakley, Alessi, Camper, W Hotel, Harley Davidson.

Posted by Isaque Kirschner 
 

True passion / not just feel-good emotions

Passion Over Pleasure

by James Shelley (March 12, 2011)

The word “passion” comes from the Latin passio, which implied suffering and the endurance of hardship. To be passionate, truly passionate, demands a willingness to suffer for the object or cause of your passion. It is unswerving commitment in spite of pain and loss. Rooted in either cocksure confidence or calculated commitment, a passionate person earns their title because of their unflinching persistence in the face of opposition.

There can be no passion without the experience of personal loss: until one suffers, one’s passion is not exposed. your passion is not what makes you feel comfortable — the things you are passionate about will probably make your life less comfortable. Potentially miserable, actually.

As a culture, we seem somewhat confused by the idea of passion. We confuse passion with personal opinion. We misinterpret passion as the pleasures that inject us with feel-good emotions. Too many of us are inoculating our pursuit of passion with fancy declarations of preference.

Placating ourselves with the opinion of the day and heralding our propensity for corporate brands is not progress. Instead it is a lazy and poor placebo for the deep reflective and meditative mind work required to fertilize passions that are praiseworthy, beautiful, healing and transformative in the world. Our neutered version of passion in North America is much like the mental equivalent of a LazyBoy.

Although passion may at times appear dangerous, the planet does not need less human passion right now, it needs more passion than ever before — passion that refuses to be immunized by the lulling caress of consumption and the crippling inundation of knowledge.

www.jamesshelley.net

 

Posted by Isaque Kirschner