The Human Brand

While it might seem profoundly obvious, the brand is inherently human — it’s about people, connecting to other people. People create brands — the notion of a brand DNA is nothing but an explication of the concept of the precisely personal character...

Apple As Luxury Brand

“Apple Store – Downtown New York” by JeremyMP is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 . I first met Steve Jobs in the 80s. Actually, it was at Stanford. He was there, speaking. And I was there, listening. Afterwards, I went up to introduce myself. And we went...

Direct marketing and brand identity

As a developer of campaign theming, in direct marketing development, ranging from department stores to retail products, theatrical marketing to entertainment design, the soul of the direct marketing story can lie in the very heart of the conceptual visualization...

Small business branding basics

The issue of branding is more about gathering differentiation; it’s a way of telling a distinctive story that positions the company in a way that is discrete from the competitive fray. And it just might be that — a story. What do you really remember about...

Luxury Branding and Patterning

Perhaps you know the classic rendition of “A Pattern Language”? The premise of this fine theoretical explication by Christopher Alexander is that there are a series of movements, patterns, that relate to how space, volume and presence can be reflected in...

Brand symbolism

When you look, you find. In working on a brand development project in eastern Washington, I was walking their vineyard to get, literally, the lay of the land. And, I’m looking for what lies beneath, what lies inside the brand story. And in any brand development,...

TOM FORD | THE HAND

Tom Ford | The hand speaks Tom Ford sees, feels and creates what’s right for him. I went back to Tom Ford, on Madison Avenue. This time, to meet with Shirin Von Wulffen; I’d worked with her at Yves Saint Laurent. Now she’s the publicist for Tom Ford...

The Elevator Pitch

There’s an interesting positioning here — to the concept of the elevator pitch. And while I don’t have a elevator pitch, or a request for money, I do have a modeling that relates to your premise. So, a framing. Brands are about people. And we know...