This past week, I had what was
easily the best conversation to date on the future of the branding
industry. Sitting with the CEO of a design consultancy,
our free-flowing dialogue embarked upon a number of
tangents, all on the premise of finding a calling
within this vast and changing industry, It brought to mind a favourite metaphor.
When most of us think of surfing, we
think of places where oceans meet shoreline, where even professionals consider 35 foot waves "jaw-dropping."
In 2003 and 2004, documentaries, Step Into Liquid and Riding Giants, exposed the breathtaking world of tow-in surfing. With the help of experts in weather forecasting and submarine geography, riders were able to predict the location (sometimes hundreds of miles offshore) of waves up to 100 feet tall. Such waves - freaks of hydrodynamics - could only be caught if towed into the break by a jet ski or even a helicopter.
If 100 foot waves are too extreme of a metaphor for the future of branding, a more fitting example may be the "rare surfing phenomena" that produced a tranquil, yet epic, tidal bore a trio of paddle surfers were able to ride for 5 miles and 45 minutes in Alaska in 2010. I could not embed the 1-minute video clip, but it is worth watching.
Whether waves are 100 feet high or 5 miles long, a lesson holds true for both: It was neither supreme talent nor technique* that made their feat achievable. It was the understanding of how and where to position themselves that dramatically changed the end result.
Companies face this same challenge. The perceptions, tastes and habits of consumers are changing and they must understand how and where to reach them in order to maximise effectiveness of their branding.
In the following series, I will explore the talent and techniques that remain fundamental to branding, the conditions creating these great waves and the tools required to create a larger (100 foot) and longer-lasting (5-mile) impressions on consumers.
Stay tuned.
* Big-wave surfers are among the world's most experienced, but not necessarily the most decorated in professional competitions, while stand-up paddle surfing is considered very easy to learn.