Brand building in the age of disruption

Introducing

www.thesoundhq.com

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Unfortunately, no matter the category, you’re competing in the fastest moving, most cluttered and competitive market in history. As much as you care about your products or marketing, the fact is that much of what you do is incidental and not vital to people’s lives.

That means it doesn’t matter how amazing your product is, if you can’t connect with people, and help them quickly grasp why your product is important to them, then it’s toast. So, in a world where attention is limited, and choice between comprehension and indifference is a split-second decision, extraordinary is demanded.

THE CURRENT BRANDSCAPE demands AMAZING

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Despite the enormity of this challenge a quick look around the Brandscape offers few bold solutions. Over and over again, the response to real and disruptive threats facing some of the world’s biggest brands end up being incremental or, worse yet, small-minded.

BUT WE MOSTLY FIND STATUS QUO SOLUTIONS TO industry disruption

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Among the throngs of look-alike’s, there exists the inventive few who are defying convention. They are companies with a knack for coming up with novel business models. They seem to connect with consumers in ways most brands only dream of. Rather than being a step ahead of their biggest competitor, they seem to exist in their own stratosphere.

They’re the brands that many marketers wish their brands could be, but unfortunately are too often dismissed as the exception to the rule. In reality, they’re not exceptions, they’re defining the new rules.

‘EXCEPTIONS’ do EXIST

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CONTRABRAND

Contrabrand (ˈkän-trə ˈbrand) noun

At The Sound, we call them Contrabrands! Companies whose inherent approach is in contrast or opposition to their competitor’s and traditional marketing. Ultimately, they are changing people’s expectations of brands and they’re reshaping the way modern businesses must go to market. They’re flipping the marketing paradigm.

THEY’RE THE CONTRABRANDS

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THEY HAVE 3 things IN COMMON

They have fringe-sight; they’re obsessively driven to understand people, eschewing the lowest common denominator in favor of the fringes where passion and inspiration exist.

They have purpose; they’ve taken a position instead of simply having a positioning. And it’s something they live and breathe daily.

They challenge orthodoxy; they question the category dogma in order to find novel solutions and break away from convention.

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A Contrabrand strategy is made up of a fringe-sight multiplied by

a potent brand purpose, the power of which is exponentially

increased by uncovering a cultural orthodoxy to upend.

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f pWE SEE THEM AS A FORMULA FOR YOUR successAt The Sound we employ these three strategic pillars to develop your Contrabrand strategy, our central branding philosophy.

While each of them are useful in and of themselves, together they become a more powerful equation. Together they create a strong strategic backbone for organizations that want to thrive in today’s complex business climate.

Feel free to stop here and give us a ring, so we can assess your brands Contra-potential. Or, read on and we’ll continue to break down the idea of Contrabranding for you…

CONTRABRAND

BUILDING A CONTRABRAND

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f pSTOP mining THE MEDIOCRE MIDDLE

It’s en vogue right now for brands to talk about becoming a more consumer-centric organization. For many, that means complex segment strategies driven by data that tells us infinitely more about what…but almost nothing about why.

Compounding the problem is that too many brands continue to focus their understanding on the largest percentage, but lowest common denominator consumers.

We call this mining the mediocre middle and it’s neither where inspiration nor innovation occur.

BUILDING A CONTRABRAND

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f pDevelop YOUR FRINGE-SIGHT

Contrabrands are almost obsessively rooted in a deep understanding of people. However, they understand that in a globalized and digital age that mass culture is now heavily influenced and shaped by fringe behaviors and ways of being.

At The Sound we call this the Fringestream – and by understanding the Fringestream we learn about the most real, interesting or fanatical points of view. We understand deeper, more developed relationships and get a taste of the strongest passions. We call this uncovering the fringe-sight.

In Contrabranding we take this deeper and more insightful understanding of people and allow it to influence our decisions, but not dictate them. In this way, we help brands transition from being consumer-led (reactive and uninspiring), to being consumer-fed (visionary).

BUILDING A CONTRABRAND

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f pHAVING A PURPOSE IS not enough

Thanks to the brilliance of guys like Simon Sinek and Jim Stengel, over the last few years there’s been a rush to build brands with real purpose. While the intent is right, often times the execution falls short.

Having a purpose is important, but there are a number of reasons why so many fail to have the desired impact. Chief among them seems to be a ‘lack of teeth’. Many times the organization refuses to stand for something significant for fear of alienating a potential customer.

The result of approaching a brand purpose like this is that your organization may come off as generic. The purpose ends up being neutered; it’s meaningless marketing jargon.

BUILDING A CONTRABRAND

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f pYOU MUST BE PURPOSE-driven

The thing almost every Contrabrand has in common is that they have a solid sense of purpose; a strong point of view about what they stand for. More importantly, they have a strong point of view of what they stand against. We believe that it’s that conviction that sets these brands apart.

Furthermore, a Contrabrand’s purpose permeates the organization, rather than being a marketing initiative. Sure, purpose helps people connect emotionally with a brand, but we believe that to be considered a great purpose, it must also… ‣ focus an organization, shaping every action and every choice ‣ inspires employees, helping them understand their role and intrinsic value ‣ drive performance, helping companies outpace their competitors

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f pCATEGORY DOGMA IS blinding YOU

One of the most impressive things about the clients we work with is that they are so well versed in their business, their category and the competition. One issue we run into is that by virtue of their expertise, many fall victim to the dogma of the category – those deeply-held, sometimes unspoken beliefs that everyone follows.

In a market that demands constant evolution these assumptions blind us from seeing new possibilities. The result is that many brands end up fighting the same fight. So, it’s no wonder there’s a sea of sameness out there in the ‘brandscape'.

BUILDING A CONTRABRAND

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f pChallenge ORTHODOXY

Contrabrands fight the battle they want to fight. They make it a part of their culture to continuously challenge themselves and their beliefs.

How do they do this? Well, they look to re-frame problems in order to explore them in fresh ways that result in novel solutions. They examine the cultural currents and look to upend old beliefs that are no longer useful in the day’s age.

At The Sound, we believe finding the cultural or categorical orthodoxy to upend must be a key part of any Contrabrands strategy process. By questioning assumptions at every point – from business model to advertising – you’ll be able to defy convention.

BUILDING A CONTRABRAND

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Revel IN THE CHALLENGE

You’re competing in the fastest moving and most competitive environment in history where indifference is the enemy and catching people’s attention demands the extraordinary.

At The Sound this doesn’t frighten us, it inspires us.

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Shift YOUR APPROACH

We believe that to succeed, your business must turn the brand-centric approach on its head and begin Contrabranding. ‣ Striving to uncover insight where people aren’t looking ‣ Allowing Purpose to drive the organization; rallying around what the brands against

as much as what it stands for ‣ Challenging the organization to examine the dogma of the category in order to

unlock novel ways of thinking

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Be A CONTRABRAND

The good news is that almost any brand can be a Contrabrand…or at least begin embracing the ideals of one.

With a few bold moves to break inertia many brands can find themselves with a new sense of self, a more energized organization and a thriving base consumer constituents.

The bad news is that those brands that don’t, in all likelihood, will continue a long slow slide into oblivion.

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So, WHERE TO BEGIN?Have a brand that’s languishing? Have a good brand seeking greatness? The first step is easy. Just, give us a ring and a we’ll assess its potential. We promise it wont hurt…much.

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Step 1 Contrabrand Assessment An assessment of existing values, the potential for fringe-y insights and the current category dogma.

Step 2 Mine the Fringe-stream An exploration of the fanatical viewpoints that are shaping mainstream culture around your brand and identification of a leveragable fringe-sight.

Step 3 Actuate your Purpose Defining the action as well as the narrative behind the purpose to ensure your deeds speak as loud as your words.

Step 4 Upend an Orthodoxy Unearth category beliefs and practices that are no longer useful and find ways to exploit them in ways that’ll help you stand out.

Step 5 Contrabrand Briefing We’ll help you evangelize internally and work with your agency partners to help bring your Contrabrand strategy to life.

MATT PALMER

VP, Head of Brand Strategy matt.palmer@thesoundHQ.com

T 312.265.1775

V A N C O U V E R | N E W Y O R K | L O N D O N | T O R O N T O | C H I C A G O | M U M B A I

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THANK YOU!Would you like more of this kind of thinking? Or perhaps you just

want to meet for a coffee and a chat? Anyway, give us a call.

MATT PALMER

VP, Head of Brand Strategy matt.palmer@thesoundHQ.com

T 312.265.1775

V A N C O U V E R | N E W Y O R K | L O N D O N | T O R O N T O | C H I C A G O | M U M B A I

W W W . T H E S O U N D H Q . C O M

IMAGE REFERENCES

SLIDE SITE

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2 https://userscontent2.emaze.com/images/fc967989-f59f-4b72-ad18-7a8289dd75b6/30e88b8a-1412-4a61-af96-bbae3428b473.png

3 http://i1.wp.com/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Fredmeyer_edit_1.jpg?resize=752%2C529&ssl=1

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10 http://www.thesoundhq.com/work/work-film/

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14 http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/node-detail/news_article/shiseido-new-hed-2015.jpg

16 http://www.slideshare.net/thesound/gen-edge-exhibition-for-slide-share

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