In the spirit of the holiday season, to spend time with friends & family, I will be signing off from my blog until the new year!
This was a hard decision, as there are so many great current events happening in the branding world - Tiger Woods & the effects of his actions on his personal brand and the brands he's associated with; and the recent launch of the rebranded AOL or shall I write Aol.
But don't worry - in the new year, I will have some posts on all these exciting events!
In the mean time here are some of my favorite posts from 2009:
If you're like me and always looking for a great read on business, branding or innovation, here are some of my favorite books to-date! I'm currently looking for some more great books to dive into, so please send me some recommendations!
Currently, I'm making my way through John Locke's Essay on Human Understanding. It's written in 17th Century English, so it's taking me quite a bit of time to work through, but the topic is interesting for sure.
Even though John Locke wasn't thinking about branding when he wrote his essay in the 1600's, he sure does make some good points on how we create strong brands!
He talks about how people begin to understand complex ideas - and that it takes consistent personal experiences with these ideas for us to understand what they are (i.e. the definition / perception for the complex idea).
I believe a brand is like a complex idea! Something you need to experience (either through purchasing its products or services, reading about its latest innovations, dealing with its people, etc.) to begin to comprehend what it stands for - this goes for both internally and externally of the organization. However, if these experiences contradict each other, people begin to struggle with understanding the idea. But, when the experiences work together and are all singing that same tune, people will better understand the definition of the complex idea - or in the case of brand, will better understand their positioning/competitive advantage within the market place!
Here are some of my favorite books I've read over the years:
The Brand Gap, by Marty Neumeier, was the first brand book I ever read. I must say it turned on my passion for this industry. I love all of Marty's books (Brand Gap, Zag & The Designful Company) as they are short and to the point, with lots of visuals that explain his thinking perfectly! I sometimes refer to his visuals in my posts - after all a picture is worth 1000 words!
Wally Olins: The Brand Handbook, is another great read that talks about the essentials of branding. He gets straight to the point about what is and isn't branding, and provides a good process on brand analysis and evaluation!
Brand & Branding is a great book talking about the value of branding. It's written by 17 experts who talk about branding best practices and the future of branding. I enjoyed this book because it provided me with some great content and rationale for the importance of branding, as I find sometimes organizations struggle to see the long-term benefits of focusing on their brand.
I wrote about Built to Last is a previous post, and what I liked about it, was that it wasn't written with branding in mind, but the entire books refers to what it takes to be a great organization - and what it takes is having a strong and meaningful brand purpose that will survive the ages. In fact, I think this is my favorite book to-date!
Buy-ology, by Martin Lindstrom, is a fun book to read! It was fascinating to learn that what we say and what we do are often very different things! In this book, Martin reveals the results of his in-depth neurological study into the real reasons why we act the way we do. I read this last year during the holidays and I couldn't put it down, as it was so intriguing!
So, those are some of my favorite books on branding! If you have any books that you would recommend I read, please share!!
I saw The Boat That Rocked the other day and I couldn't help but think, "Radio Rock is a great example of a brand living and believing in its purpose!" So, naturally, I wanted to blog about it!
Warning! I'm going to disclose the ending of the movie, so if you want to see it and you don't want to know what happens - I suggest you go see the movie then come back to More Than A Logo and read this post ;). However, if you don't mind either way, feel free to continue on...
Essentially, Radio Rock is a pirate radio station who brings Britain rock music all day long, in a time when rock music was regulated by the government to be played, only, a few hours a day!
Radio Rock's brand purpose was to embrace and encourage people's love for rock music, no matter who stood in their way! They lived this purpose in every breath they took! The DJs they had on the ship to spin rock all day long worshiped the music and knew everything there was to know about rock - they embraced living like a real rocker (sex, drugs & rock n' roll).
In order for Radio Rock to accomplish its purpose, it needed to hire people who were going to respect it's mission and fulfill it - after all, the staff are the people who bring the purpose to life!
Radio Rock's dedication to its mission - refusing to give in to the threats of the government and continue to give the people what they want - ROCK - was what gained it such a strong and loyal following!
The people shared values with the brand - they could connect with it on a deeper level. It wasn't just about the music - it was a movement! And its viewers felt a part of that. They were motivated by Radio Rock's purpose and felt by listening, they were contributing to that movement!
Great brands must motivate and connect with theirs customers beyond just the product or service! Make them feel a part of your purpose! This leads to extreme brand advocacy, because the customer feels tied to something great - they become personally indebted to the brand!
Dove Real Beauty did a great job of making their customers feel a part of a movement - they weren't just buying soap, they were connecting with a brand that wanted to see greater variations in female beauty... but I digress - back to Radio Rock:
So, this complete and utter devotion to the brand is seen at the end of the movie, when the boat is sinking, and the government has refused to send a rescue team - but who shall come to the rescue? Why those devoted fans, who would be devastated to see the enablers of the rock movement, which they've grown to love, sink to the bottom of the sea!
Yesterday, I wrote a post about providing people with Brand Stories to make them feel special & unique for being associated with a particular brand.
And, today, I came across this fun presentation by Russell Davies, a well-known planner in the UK, called Playful. He refers to something similar - pretending! His presentation talks about how we buy products that allow us to pretend to be something/someone else - enticing an emotion based on a brand association.
For instance, he talks about watches:
Russell implies that it is the ability to pretend adds value to the products or services we buy. Which completely makes sense, as we, consumers, use brand association to communicate elements of our personality that exists or that we wish to create.
I believe brand stories, which I talked about yesterday, gives customers the background they need to be able to pretend - the right product creates the desired sensation for you to feel how you want, whether it be a pilot, action hero, glamourista, etc.
Feel free to check out Russell Davies Playful presentation here.
Another example, I forgot to mention yesterday, is Burberry's Art of the Trench campaign:
It has created a great way to give its customers brand stories, while enabling them to create their own brand story as well. It features the versatility of the trench through modern day images, along with giving consumers the history of this classic fashion piece through the decades!
In addition, to providing consumers with stories about the trench coat, it also gives them an opportunity to share their own story & photo about their trench coat! This is beneficial for 2 reasons:
It excites and engages customers because of the potential thrill of momentary fame, and the ability to express themselves!
It deepens the customer's relationship to the Burberry trench coat, because they have gone out of their way to put together a striking outfit with their coat and begin to think how special it is to them - making them more loyal to the Burberry trench!
We are no longer jumping and jiving as a group in our matching khakis and cotton shirts. Rather, we are seeing an influx in the desire to be individuals - everything we purchase or associate ourselves with must communicate something about who we are or want to be! The brands we associate with must stand for something, so we can decide if it suits our individual style/personality!
We, as consumers, are more proud of our products/services that we purchase when they come with a unique story! Consumers are no longer interested in purchasing products/services, as they are the stories (aka bragging rights) that come with them.
Customers want to be able to connect with brands on a meaningful level - know something special about the brand that no one else knows or have experienced something truly memorable with that brand! These brand stories make our relationship with brands more significant because the product/service is no longer generic and meaningless, rather it's a one of a kind, personal experience, which, in turn, makes that product/service more valuable!
Brands need to provide customers with stories to share! These stories often come in the form of reasons to believe - initiatives that support and uphold the brand's purpose, yet they have enough 'wow factor' to excite customers and make them feel special and unique to have experienced!
There are 2 ways to empower your customers with brand stories:
1) Give them background on the brand/product/service:
For instance, I, recently, purchased a beautiful Marc Jacobs bag, and when I was buying it, Joy, the sales associate, told me this was the first time Marc has made a true red bag. Also, she mentioned that Marc Jacobs grew up with his wealthy grandmother in New York, and that is where a lot of the influence for his designs comes from.
This not only made me feel unique to have one of Marc Jacobs' first true red bags, but I also felt like I was learning insider information about the designers influences! So, you can only imagine how many times I've shared this story any time someone comments on my new bag, because it's not just a bag anymore - it's a special story!
2) Provide customers with a memorable experience:
For example, this past month, a Canadian credit union, Servus, started handing out $10 bills to people for its Feel Good Ripple initiative, which encourages people to make someone else feel good with that $10 bill!
This is a great initiative for 3 reasons: 1) the person Servus gives $10 to will remember its passion towards encouraging random acts of kindness within the community; 2) the receive of the random act of kindness will hear how Servus created this ripple effect & will associate the brand with how special they were made to feel; and 3) all of this works for the Servus brand as they are a member-owned, community-based financial institution, so it makes sense for them to take an interest in creating a feel good ripple within its community!
Any memorable experience, whether a great background story or engagement with the brand, creates a ripple effect! Customers will be proud of these stories and want to share them with friends and family - like I have done with my bag. It makes us feel unique and special to have learned something new or have experienced something memorable!
For the brand this means:
The creation of a stronger customer relationship
The spread of positive perceptions for the brand that correspond to its purpose
So, how are you going to give your customers powerful brand stories they will feel proud to share?
For fun - here is the 1998 Khaki Swing Commercial by GAP that I made reference to at the beginning of this post. Khaki Swing happens to be one of GAP's most successful & memorable ads, which, ironically, is also one of their cheapest campaigns - no superstars, just no name dancers having a good time!
I love this diagram created by Marty Neumeier as it illustrates how an organization's brand impacts a community of stakeholders in a, kind of, perpetual domino effect.
So, in essence, the brand purpose motivates & focuses the efforts of the organization (management & employees in this diagram) - so then the organization, through branded initiatives, engages with customers stimulating trust & loyalty, which motivates investors because they see the demand for the brand. The investment, then, allows the organization to continue to pursue its brand purpose - perpetuating the cycle.
The key element I want to draw from this are the customers! Without them there would be no revenue and no way for the organization to continue what it has set out to accomplish!
A few weeks back, I was chatting with a colleague of mine, and he was saying that a brand's success cannot solely rely on brand purpose - there has to be something else! This got me thinking - I soon realized that I have forgotten to mention the importance of BRAND RELEVANCE! Your brand is only successful if you are able to satisfy an unmet need!
Before I delve into brand relevance, let's chat about the purpose of brand purpose!
Brand Purpose:
Is the reason you want your organization to exist long after you perish - because if it ever disappeared, it would no longer be able to provide the world with change, hope, etc. - This gives your brand greater value and meaning to customers (and maybe society as a whole).
In addition, brand purpose provides the organization with a guiding beacon. It helps give management & employees motivation to do amazing things - because they have a higher purpose and sense of pride in what they do!
This is all well and good - you can dream to change the world and make it a better place, but if you don't provide a benefit that is relevant to customers' needs and wants, you are not going to be able to draw in enough revenue to keep your doors open and continue to pursue you brand purpose!
A good example of this would be a fashion designer - the designer may have this incredible and elaborate collection & style in mind (brand purpose), but if no one can wear it in an environment beyond the runway (brand relevance), no one will buy from the collection, causing the designer's dream to never become fully realized!
So now there's brand relevance:
Essentially, this means that organization offers a brand promise that satisfies a customer's unmet need, and is relevant to their lifestyle, technology, etc.
People inevitably change over time, based on trends, technology, cultural shifts, etc. And because great brands often outlive their customers, they need to make sure their purpose adapts (without jeopardizing its core essence and reason for existing).
Your organization may begin to satisfy an unmet need (creating brand relevance), or it may begin because you have a dream to make the world better in some way (pursuing brand purpose), but in order to have longevity, and survive the ages, you must eventually acquire both brand purpose & brand relevance!
Recently, I came across Volkswagen's 'The Fun Theory' program on Youtube. Essentially, this initiative is a contest to have people create fun ways to change behavior for the better. Here are some examples I came across on Youtube:
What I like about this program, is how VW is finding fun ways to change behavior, and through these videos you can see how they have worked! But what also makes this so great, is that it suits the VW brand!
VW is the people's car - so here they've found a way to help 'the people' by changing behavior for the betterment of 'the people' (i.e. becoming more active by taking the stairs - cleaning up the park by putting more trash in the bin). I think this is a great initiative that is completely on brand - fun and for the people!
What also makes this initiative great, is that it has brought its customers into the mix, in the form of a content, by asking them to create ways to change behavior with fun. This now creates a dialogue that engages customers on a more meaningful level - VW is not just talking about cars, but it's talking about doing good for people because it is the people's car!
This is ideal because customers want to associate themselves with brands they share values with, as I mentioned in Branding for a Seamless World. So, I believe, when customers are in the market to buy a car, they will be more likely to select the brand they feel has done something positive for them (or their environment or the greater population), so they will return the favor with a purchase. Or for those who already own a VW vehicle, it makes them feel proud of their brand association, which creates a deeper connection with existing customers stimulating loyalty and repeat purchase!
VW has created a great example demonstrating how your brand can lead to a deeper and more meaningful connection with customers to stimulate brand awareness and loyalty!
A few months ago, I came across The Big Ideal presentation by Ogilvy Group UK. I thoroughly liked the presentation as it talks about brands finding and maximizing their Big Ideal!
The Big Ideal is an overarching aspirational thought that guides the decisions of an organization. In my case, I often refer to the Big Ideal as Brand Purpose!
Here are a few examples of brands and their Brand Purpose/Big Ideal: The presentation talks about how great brands have big ideals! And it states that when big ideals are present ideas flow more easily. I completely agree with this statement! When there is purpose, their is motivation and focus - the organization knows what its mission is, making it easier to make decisions.
Also, Ogilvy's presentation talks about how the most successful companies tend to be the least profit-oriented, as they have big ideals to focus on instead:
This makes sense because when you have a higher purpose, you become more motivated to make the world a better place, rather than, only, focusing on the bottom line. This allows the organization to focus on its users. And by doing so, you are consistently meeting their needs which creates satisfaction, trust and loyalty; therefore, stimulating higher profits because people are willing to spend more on your products and remain repeat purchases!
Like the presentation says: "Big Ideals Make Business Sense"!
Thank you Ogilvy for a great presentation and for helping your clients find and/or maximize their brand purpose!
If you would like to check out The Big Ideal presentation you can find it here.
This week I'm in Arizona celebrating my birthday and enjoying some much needed dry heat! And every time I'm here, I have to find an In-n-Out Burger! I'm not a big fast food eater, but I do enjoy a good cheeseburger & fries at In-n-Out! Maybe it's because I'm partial to companies who are true to their brand - and In-n-Out is one of those brands!
In-n-Out celebrated its 60th Birthday last year, and for the past 60 years, it has barely changed! It has stuck to its purpose of providing "Quality you can taste"! This has stemmed from the organization's philosophy to:
And it is through the consistent execution of this philosophy, that it has been able to grow a strong following of devoted customers!
What I like most about In-n-Out, is that rather than trying to be something it isn't, like McDonald's is desperately trying to do, it has continued to be, strictly, a burger place with good quality ingredients! When people think of a good quality fast food burger, they know where to go - In-n-Out, because that's what it specializes in. I mean look at its menu versus McDonald's - In-n-Out has a simple and focused selection:
All of these images are from Flickr.com, and it was funny to read the comments from each. Those who were looking at the In-n-Out menu were talking about how every time they see the menu, they begin to salivate and crave an In-n-Out burger and "fresh cut fries". But when people were talking about McDonald's menu, there were comments that first noted how unhealthy their food was, and secondly, how there are too many options to be able to make a selection!
This is a clear indication that In-n-Out's dedication to good quality fast food, and the fact that it has remained privately held by the original founding family, has allowed them to make the necessary trade-offs to stay true to who they are, while satisfying its customers needs. Where as McDonald's, although extremely successful, is struggling to create a clear and meaningful brand perception amongst its customers. They seem unwilling to make any trade-offs to help define who they are.
McDonald's idea of fair market share is 100%, hence the extensive and overwhelming menu. Where as In-n-Out has made a conscious decision to focus on the quality of its food, rather than gaining maximum market share. And it is this decision that has allowed the organization to become a specialist within its market and earn loyal customers!
Here is another example of In-n-Out living its purpose that I enjoy: This is In-n-Out's fries container, and once you finish eating your yummy fries, you have an opportunity to learn how they come from freshly cut potatoes (which you may have seen being done behind the counter) that are cooked in 100% trans-fat free, cholesterol-free vegetable oil, and it's been done this way since 1948!! This is a great example of a successful & consistent combination of messaging and actions!
Thank you In-n-Out Burger for being you! And I'm sure I will see you at least one more time while I'm in Arizona!!!
I believe in approaching all brand initiatives holistically - meaning what one business group does must be consistent with how the other groups act within an organization. For instance, when working on my clients' digital marketing initiatives, it's imperative we consider how these activities can be translated to the offline world.
In fact, there was a trend featured on Trendwatching.com, called OFF=ON, which alludes to the idea that we are seeing the online world transfer into the offline world. When I was reading this, I was thinking, "Of course, especially for brands!"
Take for example Google Maps - the experience is now moving to the offline world by indicating people's favorite places first online, with it's memorable markers, then offline with those markers appearing at the noted locations:
People do not consciously recognize when they are going from, for example, an online H&M shopping experience to walking into an H&M store on Oxford Street in London, to reading a friend's comment on her amazing new H&M top on Twitter. To this person a brand is one organization, which, to them, is not managed by multiple business groups with varying business drivers. We live in a seamless world, so our organizations need to act seamlessly with consistent messages and actions, ideally based on the brand purpose.
In this year's Interbrand Best Global Brands report there is an article discussing this very topic - living in a seamless world. It talks about how digital has eliminated our traditional barriers of time & space (products & stores), and now people have more access to more information, people, opinions, etc. than ever before. This has altered people's expectations towards brands. They expect there to be complete transparency between them and all brands!
To give organizations confidence to offer this level of transparency, it is important to have purpose and meaning providing the organization with a focused direction. The purpose helps organizations make the necessary trade-offs to ensure they stay on point and maintain a consistent brand perception in their customers' eyes - after all brands can no longer control the conversation - they can only influence it!
Interbrand offered 3 new rules for building a brand in this seamless world:
Have Purpose: Like myself, Interbrand encourages organizations to know what they offer society, not just the economy, as consumers wish to associate themselves with brands they share values with and can believe in. It mentions that purpose allows brands the ability to engage with its consumer beyond, just, its products and services.
Be prepared to talk a lot about what you are working on, not just what you make: Consumers are hungry to get involved. They are tired of being talked at. Rather, they want a 2-way dialogue with brands. They want to offer their opinion. What a great way to learn and evolve by listening & engaging with your customers!
Embrace co-creation: Organizations need to maximize their ability to stimulate or join non-linear dialogues to share opinions & information with customers - who knows they may be have thought of something completely new, exciting & on-brand for your organization. Just look at what has emerged from the MyStarbucksIdea.com in its first year: those amazing (and I mean amazing) splash sticks, the Starbucks VIP cards, the ability to get a free coffee when you buy a bag of coffee beans, and free coffee for Gold Card members on their birthday!
Similar to what Umair Haque says in his Constructive Capitalism presentation, our economy is centered on interactions. So, lets maximize these interactions through the seamless world by building brands that stand for something, more than the bottom line to motivate both their employees & customers.
Having a brand purpose will better prepare an organization to influence its reputation, and ensure each business unit is acting in unison, so that when a consumer is engaging with a brand on any medium, whether it's online or offline, the brand experience remains consistent and memorable!
When we think about people's interactions with a brand, we think of all the various touch points where we can influence a person's perceptions of a brand and encourage purchase. Often, we think of these interactions in terms of a purchase funnel, which begins with fostering awareness and ends with a purchase, as shown below:
Personally, I feel this is incomplete. In fact, I think the point of purchase is when a brand truly begins to prove itself - there has been a lot of talk but very little action. This is an extremely short-term view of customer interactions with a lack of long-term vision in developing a customer relationship!
To illustrate a more long-term view on interacting with customers I like to use, what I call, the Brand Experience Cycle: There are a lot of similar steps leading up to purchase that involve learning about the brand through various means. However, there are 3 big differences:
It includes post-purchase steps that help foster a relationship with the customer
It's cyclical, rather than linear, because it knows the customer relationship, if positive, will continue and grow as advocacy leads to repeat purchase and the spread of positive word of mouth (WOM)
Lastly, it centers on the brand's purpose - every interaction and message relates back to the organization's brand promise!
In essence, this diagram can be split in half:
The first half of the cycle (Awareness, Desire & Immersion) is an opportunity for the organization to communicate its brand purpose and promise to consumers - making promises. And the back half (Purchase, Nurture & Advocacy) is where the brand puts its money where its mouth is by engaging with customers - validating those promises. It is here, in the back half, which is so often forgotten, where customers form strong perceptions of a brand, which will determine how they will talk about the organization to others.
Naturally, we trust our friends and family more than advertising, because, to consumers, it's more credible. So, if a brand follows through on its promises with actions (reasons to believe), customers will begin to trust the brand because it has established credibility. In turn, these happy customers will begin to spread positive WOM, causing new consumers to enter and move through the cycle! So not only has the organization satisfied its customers, but it has also gained additional customers! Talk about win-win!
Buck Rogers, a former VP of Marketing at IBM, once said:
"It takes $1 to maintain a customer; $10 to gain a new customer & $1,000 to win back a lost customer"
I think this quote exemplifies the importance of considering the back half of the Brand Experience Cycle, because if you don't nail the back half of the cycle, the brand runs the risk of losing a customer - a costly situation!
So, it is imperative that when you think about the various touch points for potential customer interactions, you don't neglect or consider the post-purchase experience as an after thought, because it is in these interactions where organizations can validate their brand promise, influence perceptions and help spread credible 3rd party recommendations!
Today, I was skimming through PSFK, a great site for cool, new & inspirational ideas, and I came across an article on Coke's new touchscreen vending machines, which are, currently, being testing at select malls across the USA. The below video does a great job explaining and showing how amazing these interactive machines are:
This is a great way to create a memorable experience that embeds the brand into the consumer's mind, as they have, now, had a chance to personally engage with the brand! And to be honest - it sure makes buying something from a vending machine a lot more fun!
What also struck me was the iconic shaped aluminum can that popped out of the machine: A few years back, I read the book Brand Sense, by Martin Lindstrom. The book talks about becoming a memorable and highly recognizable brand by utilizing the 5 senses - touch, taste, sound, smell & sight. Essentially, branding beyond the logo - creating more ways to ensure your brand is recognizable, even if the logo isn't present.
He mentions the idea of being 'smashable', which I absolutely love! To be a truly 'smashable' brand, you should be able to take any product, service, etc. and break it into a million little pieces and still know what brand that product belonged to!
For instance, if I covered the Apple logo on my computer...
Image from Marty Neumeier's book The Brand Gap
... you would still know it was an Apple product. Even if I smashed my MacBook on the ground (which I would NEVER do), you would be able to pick up a key from the keyboard and know that it came from an Apple computer. This is because Apple thinks of how its brand will present itself in every medium through all senses.
This is exactly what the original designers of the, now, iconic glass bottle kept in mind when designing the bottle for the first time. They wanted a bottle that could be recognized as Coca-Cola even if they were holding it blindfolded, hence the unique curves and ripples around the bottle. They also wanted it so that when the bottle was found in pieces on the ground, people would know it was coke from the greenish glass.
It was a shame to see all that hard work slip into the background as plastic bottles and aluminum cans came onto the market – especially with the generic aluminum cans.
After reading this portion of the book, I couldn’t help but think – they will have to come up with a shaped aluminum can one of these days to reinvigorate the iconic Coke bottle, which has become as recognizable as the organization's logo itself! So, needless to say, I was excited to see an aluminum can shaped like the iconic Coke bottle pop out of these new vending machines, because not only are they eliminating a generic brand experience with the regular can, but they now have a vending machine that will make this more easily mass distributed!
It’s so important, as a brand, to create as many unique and memorable experiences that communicate the brand essence, because as I mentioned in my Digital Reasons to Believe post, people are 10-20 times more likely to repurchase a brand that they have shared a positive and memorable experience with.
Coke is definitely one of those brands. I mean they're the number one brand in the world, with a value of $68.7 Billion - their brand is worth more than the organization's tangible assets!
Today, Interbrand's Best Global Brands report was released!! I always look forward to this report, so I will be spending my evening reading it! Check it out at www.interbrand.com
The top 10 brands are:
Coca-cola$68,734 ($m)
IBM$60,211 ($m)
Microsoft$56,647 ($m)
GE$47,777 ($m)
Nokia$34,864 ($m)
McDonald's$32,275 ($m)
Google$31,980 ($m)another huge jump at 25%
Toyota$31,330 ($m)
Intel$30,636 ($m)
Disney$28,447 ($m)
This report is always full of insight on what organizations are doing to help or hurt their brand value. I'm sure I will have plenty to share once reading it... stay tuned!
Luxury fashion labels, to me, represent great branding. There's an utter unwillingness to compromise on the vision. There is a purpose - a dream that drives these spectacular designers to create their masterpieces. They design what is in their heart and what they feel emulates and satisfies the dream! From this stems beauty & glamour that people long to associate themselves, which drives demand and, therefore, high margins validating their luxury status!
Today, I saw Valentino: The Last Emperor, which got me thinking about great brands - brands that are able to adapt through the ages without compromising the dream.
Valentino had a purpose - a desire to create beautiful clothes for women - for women who loved to wear dressed and be beautiful! Throughout his career, Valentino did just that - designing clothes for the glamourati of the world, from princesses to Hollywood starlets! Valentino's dedication to his dream made him the fashion icon he is, and elevated his organization and brand to the level it is today!
It was amazing to see how everyone, who worked with him, knew they were designing clothes to make women beautiful! The dream lived in everyone - they had a common goal that drove them forward. Valentino was simply the compass guiding the brand and keeping it on course!
It was interesting to learn that when Valentino, the organization, hired designer Alessandra Facchinetti to become Valentino's successor, in 2008, she was abruptly dismissed after less than a year with the label, and was immediately replaced by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli, who had been creating accessories for Valentino for more than 10 years. I found this particularly interesting after looking at Alessandra's collection from 2008 and Maria & Pier's collection in 2009:
Valentino Couture by Valentino in 2007
Valentino Couture by Alessandra in 2008
Valentino Couture by Maria & Pier in 2009
The two collections, post Valentino, are drastically different. Alessandra seemed to replace Valentino's iconic beauty with bold structure. Comparing it to the 2009 collection, designed by Valentino veterans, you begin to see the beautiful draping of material, which reintroduced the beauty Valentino was so passionate about!
Although Alessandra's 2008 collection was impressive and well received, it did not encapsulate Valentino's dream of feminine beauty, as he implied when asked about the change in designers:
"There is an archive of thousands of dresses that one can draw from to be inspired and create a Valentino product that keeps up with the times," the retired designer was quoted as saying by Italy's ANSA news agency. "Shame the one who came before them did not feel this need." (New York Daily News)
It was the two designers, who lived the brand and absorbed its essence from Valentino, that were able to create a collection that embodied the brand while keeping it fresh and exciting!
Great brands are guided by a dream, in this case, the desire to make beautiful clothes for women, and the strength to not compromise on that dream!
In the spirit of the holiday season, to spend time with friends & family, I will be signing off from my blog until the new year!
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