The semantic branding

I've returned from my vacation, back to what I usually do ... and I say usual and not common ... I use to do something I love, which rises each day, which grows over time ... and that sometimes requires to go back to it roots.

I return to the roots of this Webjam, its name, its call to action idea that finally gives a meaning ...

Traditionally, the branding was an effort being made by companies to differentiate themselves from their competitors, to show functional and emotional benefits that make them unique. An effort made inside-out and towards their target audiences ...

The interesting thing is that the world we live in has changed, is changing and will continue to change. We turn:

From a hierarchically structured system to a network
From verticality to transversality
From predictable to uncertain
From owning something to live experiences
From monologue to dialogue

We do not expect or want companies selling us happiness, but facilitating it. We look for a microclimate for our self-expression.

If this is so, the brand experience is not possible without the participation of people living that experience. This forces the dialogue between business and audiences, a personal and intimate dialogue between people.

It is not simple because it requires the company to recognize that the experience is no longer completely under their control, This means that companies have to speak, listen (more than speak), and act accordingly...

Dialogue, somehow, is to be semantic ... The brand experiences must be semantic and those who dedicate ourselves to this kind of effort also have to be ... understandable when talking about why and how (why + how = wow!) to build a brand experience (it's like when we go to the doctor ... if we have something, we hope to understand what he/she tells us ... No?), and we have to dialogue, adapt, act...

This Webjam, as I said in the beginning, rather than talks about branding, talks with us, between us and for us ... The focus, of course, is the brand experience, although not necessarily, must be a entelechy!...

This is the result of observation, of knowing the right moment to change, of doing things right and wrong ... of doing what I do with love ... Just that!

Comments

written on 10-Sep-2008

russell.volckmann [http://www.webjam.com/brandintegrity] says:

Cristián,

First let me say that you are a great writer and communicator, and I so much admire the way you connect profoundly with the reader. Even in complex subject matter, you find ways of building toward a higher level in a very palatable manner---building on very simple and/or personal experiences that anyone can relate to in some way. Quite engaging indeed.

... and so it goes here again, where you have delivered profound insight into a complex world of changing circumstances and values--- whether brand-related or otherwise ---whether it be the "transversification" of the message delivery systems, or taking a leisurely walk back home from the beach to work on building a model with clay:)
written on 10-Sep-2008

julio.ferro [http://webjam.com/heydesign] says:

The best part of connecting through this kind of networks is that is like painting on a giant blank canvas with oil colors (Neville Brody said that talking about the future of digital). And it never dries, so everybody collaborates to give form to your/our thoughts and insights.
written on 10-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco [http://www.webjam.com/brand30] says:

Hi Guys!... Thank you very much for your comments!...

I'm thinking that probably, today, technology is allowing us to go back to our roots... I mean, the network communities is something which existed some centuries ago, during thousands of years and we lost it during the industrial era...

The difference now, is that we have no geographical boundaries to be connected in communities where members share their value agendas and behaviours...

A new kind of experience where self-expression values = belonging values... And that's great & to think about (deep)
written on 10-Sep-2008

albertob says:

Hi Cristian,
welcome back!
we were missing you around.

Talking about agendas, networking and geographical boundaries, I am planning to go to Madrid sometime in October, maybe we can have a drink and talk about all this.
Beer and tapas had been a fantastic network enabler for centuries too.
written on 10-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco says:

Hi Alberto!

Fantastic!... I'll be here in Madrid with some exceptions (Fridays & Saturdays during the first 3 weeks)...

And it's true... Beer and tapas is one of the best traditional enablers!

Cheers!
written on 10-Sep-2008

Jacques R. Chevron says:

Yes, Christian, the world is changing... But it is also going in circles. You may want to read an article in the May 1984 Harvard Business Review titled "Of Boxes, Bubbles, and Effective Management." It is not about branding per se but it uses Semantic Differential to explain some business concepts that are quite similar to those you describe in your post.

In summary, the article says that there are two approaches to business organization: Boxes and Bubbles.

Boxes are like cubes piled on top of the other. When you work in a box organization, you know who is above you, who is below. Your tasks are clear but your horizons limited.

Bubbles change in shape and composition all the time. Some bubbles may merge at some point, and divide later, depending on circumstances. The tasks are not clear and may change at any time. You do not pursue a precise objective but reach for a vision, etc...

Sounds familiar?

It is a great article.

Jacques
written on 11-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco [http://www.webjam.com/brand30] says:

Dear Jacques!

Thanks for your comment... You are right, in certain ways there are a kind of loops in this changing world.. That's what I tried to say in one of the post talking about network societies before the industrial era...

Going to last century and from my experience, I remember in the early 90's working with concepts as fluid network organizations; in '94 developing and working with frameworks as Ambition Dirven Strategy (a kind of blend between traditional strategy methodologies and the ones developed by Innovation Associates... Arthur D. Little/Germany)... and also using tools as ThinkTools (decision making by using visual reasoning methodology) which change the concept of plausible scenarios to probable strategic options... All this stuff was ahead of its time and now begins to make more sense...

So... Probably the great change now is that there are almost no geographical boundaries and people become part of networks with similar value agendas...
- Good: We are moving towards a more collaborative world (because there is an association in meanings)
- Bad: As individuals, all responsabilities are over our showlders... And if are not able to be part of the network we would be ended in some kind of "terra nula" (Zigmunt Bauman/Liquid Time).

All this issue requires more thinking and reflexion that the one that we are writing in blog posts...

I'll see if I can find the article you mentioned to read it... sond so interesting!... Thanks again!

Cheers,

Cristián
written on 11-Sep-2008

Lupa [http://www.luciabahia.canalblog.com] says:

I think that the circles are not for all organizations. It depends a lot of the product that they are offering, the culture they have, the market, the context. It all depends. For example, the public ones.
I´m also agree with Cristian: it has it´s advantages and desadvantages... and that the system can be sometimes very rude with the ones that aren´t able to be part of the network, that´s for sure!
written on 11-Sep-2008

cristian.saracco [http://www.webjam.com/brand30] says:

Actually, some organizations are on the loop ... and others fixed to the past... But we, the people (this sound like said by a chinese polititian), are moving ahead... and it looks like the key is "knowledge & understanding"...

A world for the ones who make the right questions and have the ability to decodified correctly the answers (huge amount of information they hear/read...)
written on 18-Sep-2008

Sara [http://wordms.blogspot.com] says:

I got excited enough reading some of the posts on Brand 3.0 to venture into my first web jam. Not sure entirely what that is yet but here goes.

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The semantic blog » Semantic branding... Back to the roots

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