the mythic status brand model: blending brain science and...

© HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 2045-855X JOURNAL OF BRAND STRATEGY VOL. 1, NO. 4, 377–388 WINTER 2012–2013 377

Bruce Tait,Tait Subler LLC, 12 South 6th Street, Suite 909,Minneapolis, MN 55402, USA

Tel: +1 612 758 2006Fax: +1 612 758 2001E-mail: [email protected]

The Mythic Status Brand Model:Blending brain science andmythology to create a new brandstrategy toolReceived (in revised form): 6th August, 2012

BRUCE TAITis a founding partner of Tait Subler LLC, a brand strategy consultancy based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.The firm helpsa diverse set of clients to differentiate their brands and optimise their brand portfolio architectures.Tait Subler hasworked with clients like DKNY, Nike, Saks Fifth Avenue, Moët Hennessy, Harley Davidson, Johnson Controls, Best Buy,General Mills, Five Star Appliance, Gucci and TIME magazine – in North America and globally.

AbstractThere is no brand strategy job more fundamental than defining and articulating the core meaningbehind a brand. If this is not done properly then all the execution that flows from that brand strategy iswasted effort and money.This paper shows how brand models can be important tools to help forgemore profound and more differentiated brand strategy ideas because they provide new lenses for lookingat a brand.This paper explains Tait Subler’s journey in creating the Mythic Status Brand Model bymerging insights from modern brain science with lessons from ancient mythology. It demonstrates thesuccessful application of the model for the Gucci brand.

Keywordsbrand model, brand theme, brain science insights for brand, status brand, values-based brand, brandpurpose, mythic status brand, values ladder model, brand differentiation

INTRODUCTIONMuch of the discussion around brandstoday is dominated by changes in tech-nology and media because they arerewriting the way marketers reach out toconsumers – and the way consumers canparticipate in conversations with brands.But there is another important advancethat could impact brand strategy on amore fundamental level. That develop-ment is the growing understanding ofthe human brain offered up by neuro-science. Functional magnetic resonanceimaging (fMRI) technology can now beused to determine which part of thebrain is used when thinking about differ-ent brands or making decisions. For

instance, Martin Lindstrom, workingwith Dr Gemma Calvert, reportedlyspent US$7m over three years compar-ing, among other things, the brain scansof religious people with those of con-sumers who have high brand loyalty, toshow how strongly brands work – in asimilar way to religion – inside thebrain.1 Dr Antonio Damasio’s work atthe University of Iowa and theUniversity of Southern California hasused brain scans to understand betterhow emotions drive decision-making.2

On the whole, brain science has evolvedto the point where it should be able toinform our ability to create more mean-ingful, differentiated brands.

Bruce Tait

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378 © HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 2045-855X JOURNAL OF BRAND STRATEGY VOL. 1, NO. 4, 377–388 WINTER 2012–2013

It is surprising that these incredible newinsights from brain science have notalready made more impact on how marketresearch is conducted and how we chooseto design rich meaning into brands. Thehard science provided through these newinsights is certainly a more solidfoundation for brand strategists than theapplication of (sometimes debatable) psy-chological theories that have been used upuntil now. But it is up to brand strategiststo create models and practical applicationsthat can easily be understood and appliedto organisations.

This paper will chronicle recentefforts to develop such useable models,and it provides an example of the appli-cation of one of these, the Mythic StatusBrand Model, to successfully repositionGucci. The Mythic Status Brand Modelworked to help articulate the meaning ofthe Gucci brand, and it has broaderapplicability for brands in terms of whatcould be called ‘badge categories’. Butbefore delving into a discussion of thisparticular brand model, it is important toreview the value of brand models in thefirst place.

WHY ARE BRAND MODELS SOIMPORTANT?Our experience working with organisa-tions around the world to help thembetter differentiate their brands suggeststhat most marketers are open and eager tolearn about the insights obtained frombrain science. But there seems to be a gapbetween theory and practice. Most clientshave not seen actionable models thattranslate the science into a tool for articu-lating a brand’s core meaning.

The value of a brand model is that itmakes the highly esoteric job of definingthe meaning behind a brand into a moresystematic and reasonable task. In so

doing, one can engage clients more fully,and everyone involved has a much bettersense of where they are heading. A brandmodel helps make the messy, iterative andcreative work of brand strategy into some-thing that seems to have more linearity,hard edges and scientific veracity. It putseveryone in the same place and makes thegoals for primary consumer researchexplicit. Just as importantly, a fresh brandmodel can put a new lens on the problemof how to define a brand in a differentiat-ing manner. It opens the mind to newavenues for bringing an important andunique meaning to the brand essence, ortheme. Finally, it breaks down old, implic-itly held models that may cause a client toveer back into well-trodden, undifferenti-ated brand ideas.

It would be very difficult to sell a rec-ommended brand theme were the seniordecision-makers not introduced to thebrand model being used and given thechance to apply it themselves in brandwork sessions. For instance, even more tra-ditional marketers who may gravitatetoward a functionally-based brand theme,may begin to see the power of a values-based brand theme when they understandhow it works in a model based on insightsinto neuroscience.

THE VALUES-BASED BRAND THEMEWhat do we mean by a ‘values-basedbrand theme’? It is a way of expressing thecore meaning of a brand by answering thequestion, ‘to what end do you make theproducts or services you sell?’ It helpsconsumers see that there is a purpose forthe organisation beyond just makingmoney, and it specifically defines thatgreater end. Functional brand themestend to be about the means to an end,which neuroscientists have shown is lessmeaningful to people.2 For instance, it is

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less powerful and less defensible in thelong term for a battery brand to claim‘our batteries last longer’ than it is toclaim that the entire organisation isfocused on delivering its ‘core belief in thepower of preparedness’. Of course, a com-pany that believes in preparedness maywell also claim longer-lasting batteries as afeature or support point. But it is alsoforging deeper levels of trust and loyaltywith people who hold a similar belief orvalue. Moreover, when their competitorsoccasionally better their product, they willhave created loyalty to their end purposethat will help retain their customers.Theywill have created irrational loyalty to somedegree.

The findings from brain science seemto make it clear that the most powerfulbrands are able to transcend functionalbenefits and become lodged in the part ofthe brain where intimate belief structuresexist. Indeed, the icons of powerful brandswork in exactly the same way as religioussymbols do for religious people, accordingto the aforementioned study by MartinLindstrom. Brands like Harley Davidsonand Apple act in an almost indistinguish-able way from religious symbols in aperson’s brain. Essentially, their brandiconography lights up the same region ofthe brain for their fans as religious iconsdo for religious people. But it is not justabout symbols. The meaning behind abrand can also connect with the valuesand self-image of its consumers. Brandsthat make this kind of values connectionare able to create irrational loyalty. Theyare forgiven for their failures and lovedmore deeply for their successes.This kindof loyalty allows for a price premium tobe charged, and it can even allow for thatprice premium to be perceived as a benefitby the consumer.

Procter & Gamble have typically beenvery focused on functional brand themes

around their range of products, but theyare now evolving to overlay a values-level approach through the ‘ProudSponsor of Moms’ work featured intheir sponsorship of the last two summerOlympic Games. Apple is another (per-haps over-used) example of a brand thatmakes a values connection in the waythe brand is defined. In the last 15 yearsit has let us know through advertising,product design, its stores and the voiceof Steve Jobs that it deeply values andrecognises the power of creativity.Consumers who have similar values putthe Apple logo in their car windows.They use the brand as way of announc-ing to all that they value creativity, andindeed are (or at least aspire to be) cre-ative minds.

We call the core idea that articulates abrand’s meaning a brand theme. It is a com-bination of the positioning statement andthe mission statement into a single power-ful idea that works to drive internal behav-iours, as well as to position the brand forconsumers. Using the same concept toexpress both the internal and external ideabehind the brand ensures better alignmentin all of the organisation’s efforts to consis-tently live up to the desired image of thebrand in the marketplace. Moreover, abrand theme makes it possible to create adifferentiated idea that provides sharedmeaning and purpose for both consumersand employees.

Experience suggests that a brand themehas a greater likelihood of driving realchange across all aspects of a business,whereas a brand positioning tends to affectonly the marketing communications. Abrand theme works because it becomesthe conceptual centre of the business strat-egy (see Figure 1).

Creating a brand model helps to frameand articulate the brand theme in the mostpowerful manner possible.

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HOW GUCCI LED US TO THE MYTHICSTATUS BRAND MODELIn late 2004, Gucci’s then new president,Mark Lee, was looking to help his teamarticulate a point of view and core brandtheme after the sudden departure of theirvisionary designer,Tom Ford, and his busi-ness partner, Domenico De Sole. Both thebusiness and fashion press were predictingthe imminent demise of Gucci withoutTom Ford, who had spent the better partof ten years making Gucci a darling of thefashion press. In fact, sales hit record levelsjust a few years before he left. Most prog-nosticators felt that without Ford and DeSole, both the creative design and the busi-ness were in big trouble.

From a brand perspective, Gucci hadevolved into ‘Tom Ford for Gucci’. MarkLee was determined to ensure that thebrand would never play second fiddle to astar designer in the future. He eventuallyelevated Frida Giannini to be the new cre-

ative visionary for the brand, but the focuswould be on the brand moving forward,and that meant that a very clear articula-tion of what the brand stood for was vital.

The brand model that initially drewGucci to Tait Subler was the company’svalues ladder model (see Figure 2). In thebook The Mental World of Brands, Franzenand Bouwman describe the high degreeto which a person’s values system influ-ences the way they see themselves in rela-tion to the rest of the world.3 Moreover,they cite various models from brain sci-ence that describe the way the brainstructures meaning around the concep-tion of things.They point out that the sci-entific models around structures ofmeaning have different levels in ameans–ends hierarchy (as previously dis-cussed), with the lowest levels being theconcrete, superficial characteristics of aproduct (such as more horsepower orfresh ingredients); and the highest, most

Figure 1 The brand theme is the conceptual centre of the business strategy

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potent levels being those that relate to ourfeelings and ultimately, our values (asends). For this reason,Tait Subler createdan explicit ladder that pushes a brandtoward an explicit statement of its ‘ends’ –otherwise known as its values or purpose.The goal is to articulate how a brand willwork at each level of this ladder, and topush toward a values connection with itstargeted consumers so that they see like‘ends’ with the brand, and therebybecome more deeply invested and loyal.Then for some brands, it is appropriate toframe the values in the context of how abrand wants to change the world, or themovement it wants to own.This idea of amovement as a highly powerful brandstrategy is well described in Mark Earls’book Welcome to the Creative Age, where heshows that what he calls a ‘purpose idea’can make a greater impact both on con-sumers and internally at organisations.4

The values ladder is a powerful tool tohelp clients articulate their brand themes

in a manner that would engender greaterloyalty, increase brand elasticity and ulti-mately, improve margins.The values ladderhad brought a lot of success to Tait Sublerin the company’s work with many majorbrands, so we were confident that it wouldbe helpful for Gucci. But we were wrong.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE MYTHICSTATUS BRAND MODELGucci is among a very short list of brandsthat are truly global, luxury, designer fash-ion brands. Louis Vuitton and Chanel arein the same elite category. These brandstake themselves very seriously, and theircore customers take the brands equallyseriously.Yet the kinds of movements thatwe arrived at for Gucci somehow seemedshallow. Every fashion movement wecreated failed to capture the power of thebrand.The movement ideas we developedeven seemed to strip away some of thegrandeur and magic that the brand still

Figure 2 The Tait Subler Values Ladder Model

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had.They were not authentically Gucci. Ineffect, there was something else that hadmade Gucci such a potent brand – and weneeded to discover what was behind themagic. Tait Subler was in a high-profile,high-pressure situation and its most provenmodel was not working.

It was not the case that brain sciencecould not help, because the new MythicStatus Brand Model that was ultimatelydeveloped certainly draws on some of thesame insights.The new model also helps toconnect the brand to the emotional side ofthe brain that is so powerful in our deci-sion-making, according to neuroscientistAntonio Damasio’s work;2 and it still con-nects deeply into values, as it defines thetarget’s greatest fears or aspirations as wellas their desired self-image. But the newmodel does so in a surprising and distinctcontext that reflects an ancient humanneed to make sense of our world and oursocial order.At the same time, it provides anew lens through which to view the brandin order to articulate a more original anddifferentiating brand theme.

As we worked to unravel the way Guccicould be optimised, we started to focusmore and more on status. Gucci is desiredby many but available only to a few.Understanding social hierarchy is vitalbecause Gucci is really in the business ofbrokering status. It manages its social cur-rency (and relative rarity) to offer aglimpse of something just out of reach, butnot beyond hope – the keyhole effect.Price is one reason for this limited avail-ability, so a high price is actually a benefitto consumers. Some of the best insight wefound into the nature of status came fromAlain de Botton’s book, Status Anxiety.He sums it up like this:

‘Every adult life could be said to be definedby two great love stories. The first — thestory of our quest for sexual love ... The

second — the story of our quest for lovefrom the world — is a more secret andshameful tale ... like something of interestchiefly to envious or deficient souls ... andyet this second love story is no less intensethan the first, it is no less complicated,important, or universal, and its setbacks areno less painful’5.

Our deep investigation into the machina-tions of status led us to mythology.

Mythology exists in virtually every cul-ture in the world (important for a globalbrand) because it addresses some basichuman needs. Mythological stories wereoften used by elites to ensure that theirstatus was unchallenged. According to thesocial philosopher Mache, ‘myths wereused to allow social order to establish itspermanence on the illusion of naturalorder’.This would suggest that mytholog-ical stories sanctified and secured status forthose at the top.

Wikipedia’s definition of mythologystates that ‘Myths are intended to explainnatural phenomena, inexplicable culturalconventions, and anything else for whichno simple explanation presents itself ’. Sosocietal status, as an inexplicable culturalconvention, is linked to the idea of mythol-ogy. In fact, the term ‘mythic status’ is oftenused in scholarly perspectives on mythol-ogy. It struck us that this mythic sensibilitywas really the source of Gucci’s magic. Butthis mythic,magical quality was not explic-itly addressed in any of our existing brandmodels, so we decided to create a newmodel that merged brain science withprinciples of mythology.We wanted to tapinto Joseph Campbell’s notion that‘Mythology explains the universe and yourplace in it’.6

Joseph Campbell devoted his life to thestudy of mythology around the world, andhe saw a common role for mythology inancient times as well as today. It seemed to

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us that just as ‘Mythology explains the uni-verse and your place in it’, perhaps mythicstatus brands do the same in today’ssociety. Perhaps they offer more than juststatus. Campbell said that ‘One of the basicfunctions of myth is to help each individ-ual through the journey of life, providing asort of travel guide or map to reach “bliss” (fulfillment)’. Great brands do justthis: they promise fulfilment and transfor-mation.

According to Margaret Atwood, whocontributed to modern mythology withher book, The Handmaid’s Tale, ‘myth canbe understood as a map of the humanpsyche’. Mythology tells us about ourgreatest fears and desires. We certainlyknow that the brands a consumer choosestell us about their psyches too – theirdesires and their fears are exposed if youknow how to interpret the badges inwhich they cloak themselves. Ultimately,in a myth, people can put themselves inthe sandals of the gods, and feel transcen-dent – and transformed.

So, like mythology, mythic status brandspromise to help a person find their place insociety and to enhance it through some

sort of transformation. People perceive theirpersonal reality differently because they usebrands to tell others who they are andwhere they fit in society.More importantly,they use (some) brands to change the waythey see themselves. While the idea ofstatus led us to mythology,we found that infact, mythology (and mythic brands) pro-vide three great benefits, only one ofwhich is status.The second is the transfor-mation into something more ‘god-like’,and the third is the idea that one can sus-pend logic and believe in some magicalquality in life (see Figure 3).

Plato discussed the distinction betweenmythos and logos, or story and philosophy,mythology and logic.7 Logic is used to tella dispassionate tale that is heavily relianton facts. Mythos relies less on facts andmore on feelings – those great desires andfears that Atwood references.An emphasison mythos reflects the learning in brainscience indicating that decisions are madein areas of the brain responsible for emo-tions. If we can make connections in theseparts of the brain we are more likely towin over consumers. It is interesting thatin price-sensitive categories, logos rules.


Figure 3 The three benefits of mythology and mythic status brands

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But when we ask for irrational loyaltyfrom a consumer, as the best brands do,then we are asking them to connect withthe mythology of the brand – to respondto feelings more than logic and buy into apromise that is in some ways incredulousor magical . . . like the idea that a fashionbrand can make you into something morethan you are today.

Ultimately, mythic status brands makethis ‘magic’ work, and in today’s world,people crave myths. Western culture hasbecome almost entirely logos-driven, andpeople want some magic back. Theywant to believe in an alternative truthabout themselves; they want to believein transformation – browsing the self-help section of any bookshop will dispelany doubts about this. While it is truethat mythic status brands rarely have areal product that lives up to theirmythic qualities, this does not matter asmuch as it would for much less expen-sive brands positioned around the func-tional attributes and benefits (logos) ofproducts.

Our journey with Gucci led us to con-struct a model for a special kind of brand,but it is broadly applicable beyond fash-ion.Any brand that is in a badge category(including a retail brand) can differentiateitself by applying this model to gain adeeper connection with its target group.

We define a mythic status brand asfollows:

‘A mythic status brand promises to help aconsumer define a new reality. It helps usdefine ourselves (externally and internally),but more importantly, it promises to trans-form us so we can realise our greatestdesires and avoid our greatest fears.’

The mythic status brand model graphi-cally reflects this definition (see Figure4). On the lowest rung of the ladder is

the logos piece – the functional benefit.The next rung up is where status playsan incredibly important role, throughthe social identity benefit, which articu-lates how the consumer wants to be per-ceived by others. This is the classicarchetype.

The rung above this on the ladder iswhat we call the personal identity benefit.This is a clear articulation of how thebrand will make the consumer feel aboutherself when she is alone, looking in themirror or just experiencing the brand.This level is much more important in thatit promises to really change who a personis, not just to disguise her, as the socialbenefit does.

Finally, on the top rung of the ladder isthe mythic benefit. This is where a truemythic status brand pulls away from typicalbadge brands. It audaciously promises toaddress a consumer’s deepest fears and aspi-rations – it helps them be more ‘god-like’.As one moves up the ladder, the transfor-mative power grows and the reliance onfacts diminishes.This is one of the reasonswhy Gucci advertisements contain so littletext.


Figure 4 The Tait Subler Mythic Status Brand Model

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APPLYING THE MYTHIC STATUSBRAND TO GUCCITom Ford epitomised the celebritydesigner during his time at Gucci. Histuxedo shirt undone nearly to his midriff,he swaggered confidently as the belovedstar of the fashion press in the 1990s andearly 2000s. Indeed, his talent and keenmarketing sensibility gave Gucci a newlease on life and led to a peak in sales forthe brand in 2000.The brand’s positioningduring the Tom Ford era was based onsexy clothing and accessories and a jet-setter badge embodied by Tom Ford him-self.Young men who were devotees of thebrand would come to our focus groups inJapan wearing his trademark tuxedo shirtlook.They aspired to be Tom Ford himself.

Clearly, the brand had been successfulbased on the talents of Tom Ford,but whenwe looked at it in the context of ourMythic Status Brand Model, we could seethat it did not really get beyond the socialidentity benefit level (see Figure 5). Themodel provided a new lens through which

to view the brand and that lens highlightedan opportunity perhaps to focus and re-energise the brand, as well as to differenti-ate it better from competitors.

Extensive qualitative research was donethrough focus groups around the world.This research used a variety of projectiveand enabling techniques, but the mythicstatus brand model helped to structure themethodology as we spent time exploringGucci, its competitors and an ‘idealdesigner fashion brand’ on each level ofthe model. Perhaps the most surprisingdiscovery was the degree to which Gucciloyalists associated the brand with hardwork and earning power.The social iden-tity benefit that Gucci provides for its loy-alists is a portrait of an assertive attitude –someone that makes an impact on theworld around her. Strong, capable andsexy, she exerts power in a sensual manner.The women (and men to a lesser degree)who still loved Gucci wanted to be seen tobe what we called ‘high impact achievers’.The high impact achiever has an intimate


Figure 5 Gucci was not defined in an optimal way in the new model

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relationship with her own power, and sheknows how to leverage it personally aswell as professionally. She wants a feelingof credibility and competence from herappearance that fully leverages her specialcharisma – her sensual power.

This high impact achiever was a verydifferent ‘type’ than Gucci had previouslythought of as their target or their target’saspiration. This person was definitely notthe Paris Hilton-esque jet-setter thatseemed to be featured in Tom Ford’sGucci.The high impact achiever does notfly around the world to party at luxuriouspoolsides. Rather, she flies around theworld – and makes something importanthappen when she lands.

At the personal identity level of themodel, we found that Gucci was alone inthe category in providing a feeling ofbeing powerful. Other brands could alsomake you feel sexy or attractive or fashion-smart. But ‘power’ was a word associatedonly with Gucci. When a woman wearsthe brand, she really does feel as if she has

more sensual power – she is transformed tosome degree.

All this was interesting and useful, butto really make Gucci into a mythic statusbrand, it was essential to know about thishigh impact achiever’s deepest fears. Howcould the brand help to address thosefears? Her greatest fear is actually quiteobvious once it surfaces. She fears beingignored (not making an impact) and herworst nightmare is to be forgotten. Thiswoman wants to be noticed entering theroom, but through her sensual power thatcombines physical and intellectual impact,she hopes to also be remembered and dis-cussed long after she leaves.To be forgot-ten is to have failed. But to beremembered, to make a lasting impression,would give her a mythic benefit – shewould be immortalised through others’memories of her.

We could apply our insights at every levelof the Mythic Status Brand Model to helpcraft a brand theme (see Figure 6). Buildingfrom the mythic benefit, we ended up with


Figure 6 How the Mythic Status Brand Model was used to create the Gucci brand theme

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a simple articulation of the brand theme: alasting impression of sensual power.

In this case we were simultaneouslydeveloping a new type of brand modeland a strategic recommendation, so themodel could not help to give the clientsa frame of reference throughout. In ourrecommendation we chose not toexpose all the brand model work, butrather focused on the insights and theanswer. But this thinking was clearlydriven by the Mythic Status BrandModel and it led directly to the brandtheme articulation.

THE IMPACT ON GUCCITo Mark Lee’s credit, once he bought intothe brand theme, he was vigilant in itsapplication to fashion design and retailstores, and he was among the best we haveseen at rallying his people behind theidea. His new lead designer, FridaGiannini, seemed to embrace fully thebrand theme and targeting idea. She wassoon quoted in TIME magazine’s Fall2005 online Style and Design sectionespousing a design vision for the brandthat reflected the brand theme: ‘TheGucci woman enjoys life, is successful inher job and leaves a lasting impression’.8

In fact, she directly applied the idea of‘lasting impression’ to her designs by cre-ating modern interpretations of some ofGucci’s own lasting icons from the past.Frida Giannini showed incredible talentdoing this, as demonstrated by her beauti-ful updated rendition of the scarves orig-inally made for Princess Grace ofMonaco, and of other iconic fashion itemslike the Jackie O bag. Not only were thedesigns noticeable, they were a reinforce-ment of the long-lasting impact of thebrand in popular culture. In theephemeral world of fashion, Gucci’s focuson this idea of a lasting impression was

noted as a unique and powerful designtheme.

From an assortment perspective, mer-chants drove toward a greater focus onsuits for women and men that leveragedthe desire among the newly defined targetto leverage their sensual power in a workcontext. New retail stores were designed,and we were asked to brief the architectsas part of the process. From a layout per-spective, the lower-priced GG logo itemsthat had usually been right at the frontwere de-emphasised, and the sensualleather products were given more promi-nence as part of Gucci’s unique history inleather. Overall, the store’s redesign was aneffort to create a Gucci brand experienceand less of a celebration of the singularaesthetic of its previous designer and cre-ative leader.

The brand theme became a criticalfilter for decisions large and small.At leastfor a time, it made the brand the coreorganising principle for the business. AsJessica Dennis, their worldwide advertisingand marketing director said in 2006, ‘Ourbrand theme has become an importantpoint of reference for everything we do.’

The embrace of the new brand themeand new conceptualisation of the target,together with any number of smart andartistic executional moves in alignment withthe brand strategy, correlated with a periodof extraordinary success for Gucci. In 2005,sales records were smashed and profitsspiked 40 per cent by the first half of 2006.Perhaps the best evaluation of the brand’scontribution comes from the BloombergBusinessweek rankings of global brand valua-tion (where the brand’s valuation is calcu-lated based on Interbrand’s methodologies).Gucci jumped 20 spots on the list and theestimated value of the brand increased byUS$4bn between 2004 and 2011.9 To clar-ify the context, the value of Gucci wasgreater than Lexus and Starbucks combined


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in 2011. Mark Lee went on to be namedCEO of the Gucci brand and has sincetaken the top post at Barneys New York.

WHAT IS THE POINT?With all the technological changes buffetingmarketers, it seems that message deliveryand tactics have taken over much of theconversation around brands in the past fewyears. This is fair and is to be expected.Nevertheless, there are other opportunitiesfor marketers to better and more powerfullydifferentiate their brands. Insights into brainscience and their application to powerfulbrand models can change the way marketresearch is conducted, and can impact theessence of a brand in profound ways.

In these difficult economic times, manyorganisations have wrung out inefficiencies,cut costs and picked all the low-hangingfruit. Now it is time to grow the topline ina profitable way. A focus on a better brandstrategy will generate that topline growth.The Gucci example demonstrates that toolslike the Mythic Status Brand Model buildon brain science but are far more than just

academic theory – they help brands tocreate more profound, distinctive connec-tions with their consumers. And thosedeeper connections drive profitablegrowth.

References(1) Lindstrom, M. (2008) ‘Buyology:Truth and Lies

About Why We Buy’, Doubleday Business, NewYork, NY.

(2) Damasio,A. (1994) ‘Descartes’ Error: Emotion,Reason, and the Human Brain’, PutnamPublishing, New York, NY.

(3) Franzen, G. and Bouwman, M. (2001) ‘TheMental World of Brands: Mind, Memory andBrand Success’,World Advertising ResearchCenter, Henley-On-Thames.

(4) Earls, M. (2002) ‘Welcome to the Creative Age:Bananas, Business and the Death of Marketing’,John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.

(5) de Botton,A. (2004) ‘Status Anxiety’, PantheonBooks, New York, NY.

(6) Campbell, J. with Moyers, B. (2002) ‘The Powerof Myth’, Highbridge Company, St. Paul, MN.

(7) Brisson, L. and Naddaf, G. (2000) ‘Plato TheMyth Maker’, University of Chicago Press,Chicago, IL.

(8) Mustafa, N. (2005) ‘Frida Giannini profile’,TIME Online Edition, Fall.

(9) Interbrand (2011) ‘Best Global Brands 2011’,available from: www.interbrand.com/EN/best-global-brands/best-global-brands-2008/best-global-brands-2011.aspx.


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