Chaos to Consensus: On the Path to Brand Oneness

In this teaser for his new book, “Chaos to Consensus: On the Path to Brand Oneness,” Edward Saenz explores the alchemy of brand creation—where strategy meets artistry. Drawing from iconic campaigns like Apple’s “Think Different,” this piece dives into the essence of a brand manifesto, the pitfalls of misaligned products, and the power of breaking the rules to achieve brand resonance. For branding and advertising professionals, it’s a reminder that while data and strategy lay the foundation, true brand magic happens when creativity dares to push boundaries.

Ready to take your brand to the anti-prom? Dive in and discover how to achieve Brand Oneness?.

This article is presented in four chapters and a summary. Chapters take between three and five minutes to read.

Chapter One | ? Overture?

(A five-minute read)

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As I settled into the Mill Valley Library to write the next chapter of my book Chaos to Consensus, On the Path to Brand Oneness, my phone vibrated to announce an incoming text. ?My trusty colleague, Johanna Pino had forwarded to me a social media post featuring a clever, young advertising copywriter speaking excitedly about “brand strategy.” The copywriter was referencing a business book as she enthusiastically proclaimed into her camera lens,

“A manifesto is the brand’s Magna Carta, Rosetta Stone and Declaration of Independence all rolled into one. It’s the half-time locker-room speech. It’s the brand DNA in words.” She then continued, “the manifesto is a string of 15-20 lines that in sum makes anyone that reads it viscerally and intellectually understand a brand platform and tone.”

Once the impact of those buzzwords had faded, I wondered if the copywriter understood how or where the inspiration for a brand manifesto originated?

Or, if, in her case, it was irrelevant as her job was focused on manifesting the manifesto?

As a brand creator, my attention was drawn to what the young copywriter didn’t reference in her breathless explanation. The body of work that precedes the authoring of the manifesto—the actual genesis of the idea that inspires a new brand. This is what I find most fascinating and that I will examine in this article.

First, let’s take a few moments to set the stage with what may be the most famous brand manifesto of the modern era.

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The Apple Falls and Rises

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The Apple brand had been in flux since Jobs’ departure in 1985. Scully and Amelio had made contributions, nonetheless the brand had faltered. The company had just seen a significant quarterly loss in June 1997 and was in arrears some $1.6 billion.? Amelio bought Next, and in a deft maneuver Jobs was reinstated as CEO.

Apple’s future was by no means assured.

At Next, Jobs had honed his chops as a CEO and now planned to streamline Apple’s focus.

He was desperate to turn the company and its perception around. As part of the effort, he requested that the top advertising agencies of the day author campaigns on spec that would telegraph his vision for its ascendancy. 1, ?2

[1] Dormehl, L. (2023, September 16). Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs leaves and rejoins Apple. Cult of Mac. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.cultofmac.com/445723/today-in-apple-history-steve-jobs-leaves-and-rejoins-apple/

2 Dormehl, L. (2024, July 6). Today in Apple history: After a horrible quarter, Gil Amelio gets the boot. Cult of Mac. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.cultofmac.com/491038/today-apple-history-gil-amelio-exit/ ?

Chiat\Day was among the agencies contacted. Chief Creative Officer, Lee Clow had taken the call and while he was honored to be included, he was adamant about not pitching the business given Chiat’s successful earlier work with Apple.

Apple didn’t provide funds for a thorough market analysis, and there wasn’t enough time to conduct one. Consequently, Clow called on Rob Siltanen to author a single campaign concept that would impress Jobs.?

Dyed-in-the-wool brand-strategists will gasp that no audience journeying or competitive research was conducted as Chiat\Day set about plotting its big campaign idea!

This scenario provides a real-world proof point to the first axiom we’ll discuss.

“Learn the rules like a pro,

? so you can break them like an artist.”

? Picasso

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The Chiat\Day team certainly knew the rules and that is precisely why they were able to shortcut the process and create history.

Ultimately, Craig Tanimoto and Ken Segall contributed their hand at creating the campaign that was ultimately approved by Jobs. The manifesto, narrated by actor Richard Dreyfus, featured monochrome images of rebellious historical figures including Einstein, Dylan, Picasso, Gandhi, Callas, and others.

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Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.?

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

Think Different

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In spite of the (purposeful) grammatic flub in the tag line, the manifesto went straight to the heart of every creative person on the planet. If IBM’s long-standing mandate to THINK and Microsoft’s unsexy PCs and Windows 95 represented the establishment, Apple would be its antithesis.

Yep, Apple was going to the anti-prom.

In those days, it was common for business folk to condemn Apple computers as under-torqued pretenders. Creative types knew differently and for their purposes, Macs were irreplaceable. The brand’s quirky persona and the human-centered user interface were the perfect antidote to the blah blah, conformity of other systems.

Many creative professionals worked on their own or for small companies so it didn’t matter that Macs didn’t play well in enterprise networks. What mattered was that Apple had publicly celebrated the creative person as an invaluable agent of change in the world.? Apple gave creatives their due and in turn won their loyalty.

The manifesto was brilliant in its ability to sear the brand into its audience’s consciousness.

In retrospect, the campaign didn’t change Apple’s fortunes day one, but it did put the world on notice that the company was back. 3

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3 The Real Story Behind Apple's 'Think Different' Campaign. (2011, December 14). Forbes. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2011/12/14/the-real-story-behind-apples-think-different-campaign/

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CHAPTER 2 | Discovery

(A four-minute read)

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Now that we have that famous manifesto teed up in our frontal lobes, let’s examine the connection between our clever copywriter and the shortcut that Chiat\Day took on its path to creating history.

The copywriter’s assumption is that the manifesto emerges fully realized from the aether.

Alas, despite our desire for it to be so, the creation of great brands and the products they represent remain elusive to manufacturers around the world.

This leads us to the second axiom that we’ll explore in this article.

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Brands exist to improve the human condition.

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The foundation for any construct intended to generate revenue must be an answer to a problem that confronts the human condition. It is the solution to the problem, well designed and executed, that serves as the basis for value creation.

From the perspective of product development and branding, acting otherwise is pointless.

Elon Musk, in this quote culled from social media, opines that companies should only exist if they focus exclusively on making stellar products.

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“What’s the point of a company existing? The point is that it’s a group of people that have gathered together to create a product. If the product is good then the company should exist and if it’s not then company shouldn’t exist. That seems fundamental to the nature of companies. Clearly then, one should focus on making the absolute best product you can otherwise you reduce the probability of success. A lot of companies focus on things not really to do with the product as though the company has any basis for existing apart from doing useful things. That’s kind of strange.”

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Elon Musk

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Yet, we would all be surprised at how often companies invest millions into new offerings that are rationalized as “let’s do it because we can” or “let’s do it because it’s so hot right now.” Often, little to no attention is given to resolving a human need.

While this phenomenon is more prevalent in technology-driven companies, few are entirely immune to its pitfalls. As attractive as the premise of, “if we build it, the customers will come” is, it is generally untrue.

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“To sell 8 to 10 billion dollars’ worth of product a year, you can’t start with a technology and figure out where you are going to sell it. You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology.”

Steve Jobs

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“Possibly the most common error of a smart engineer is to optimize a thing that should not exist.”

Elon Musk

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In my book, I delve into detail about how Google Glass, at the outset, was blissfully untethered from any reasonable use case. 4 I also explore how Lytro’s cameras featured super cool, light field technology that enabled the photographer to refocus an image after the initial exposure. While engineers had fever dreams over the technology, ordinary photographers were steadfastly nonplussed. 5

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4 Burton, J., & Perez, Y. (2024, July 3). Why Google Glass Failed. Investopedia. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/052115/how-why-google-glass-failed.asp

5 Tomkins, M. (2016, April 5). Well, duh: Lytro finally realizes nobody wants refocusable, low-res, overpriced cameras. Imaging Resource. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2016/04/05/well-duh-lytro-finally-realizes-nobody-wants-refocusable-low-res-cameras

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It’s full of stars

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Today, the Apple Vision Pro, the much-heralded mixed reality headset, represents a conundrum.

If you’ve experienced the demo, you can’t deny that it is a technological tour de force. An accomplishment that has us oohing and aahing at the magnificence of its immersive experience. The Vision Pro’s spatial computing implementation will have fans of the film Minority Report marveling at the parallels to Precrime’s gesture-controlled interface.

Despite the product’s off the chart wow factor, we see Apple drawing down sales projections. A glut of pre-owned Vision Pro headsets on eBay confirms that something’s off.?

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What just happened?

It’s too early to predict the future of the Apple Vision Pro, but initial reports suggest it might be another product ahead of its time, like Google Glass. Tim Cook’s plea to developers to make the device relevant has yet to bear fruit. Coupled with the product’s hefty price tag and weight, the Vision Pro appears to be a glitch in the matrix. 6

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6 Chokkattu, J. (2024, March 20). Apple Vision Pro Review: A Little Too Far Out. WIRED. Retrieved August 26, 2024, from https://www.wired.com/review/apple-vision-pro/

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At the heart of this matter lies the innovator’s dilemma. Visionaries are naturally drawn to pursuing “high risk, high reward” ventures versus those that subscribe to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset. The dilemma arises because audacious products demand audacious proof of value to the audience, unlike conventional offerings. This isn’t easy to come by.

In the larger context, humanity generally benefits from the visionary work of those who dare to think beyond the ordinary. Unfortunately, the impact of such work is often not recognized in its time. Both Nikola Tesla and Vincent Van Gogh, for instance, left this world as paupers despite their groundbreaking contributions.

In branding, the rule is simple: if an offering doesn’t enhance the human condition, it won’t drive sales.

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Chapter 3 | Presentation

(A three-minute read)

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The magic of the Rapha Team Sky Pro cycling kit.

In my book, I also talk about my admiration for a Rapha Team Sky Pro kit that a fellow cycling fanatic gave me while he worked at the company.”

Rather than extoll the performance characteristics of its product range, as competitors Assos and others do, the Rapha brand chooses to glorify the heroics of cycling history. Rapha’s love for cycling is evident at every brand touchpoint. From the Citroen H ‘broom’ wagon outside their SF store to the artifacts showcasing famous European tours, each Rapha shop feels like a temple to cycling.

Certainly, the Rapha Pro kit’s ability to render me impervious against the cool and foggy conditions on Mount Tamalpais is a welcome benefit, but it’s not why I love it. Rather, it is the sense of, somehow, being associated with the legends of cycling that resonate most. Each time I fight my way up Mt Tam’s steep roads, I envision myself part of a grand European tour.?We joke during excruciating climbs that the ghost of Colombian cyclist, “Lucho” Herrera appears in the fog to cheer us on, “?Vamos! ?Vamos!,” as we go deliriously anaerobic.

To this day, I marvel at how the Rapha brand is able to connect so intimately with its audiences. What did Simon Mottram, Brad Sauber, and the founding team at Rapha understand about brands that so many others missed?

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This is what I’ve spent my career trying to synthesize.

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Fortunately, in the last few years we’ve been able to distill a tactical and philosophical approach that gets us tantalizingly close to this ideal. We call it Brand Oneness?.

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Brand Oneness delivers value in two ways:

1.?????????? From a tactical perspective, it employs co-creation to achieve alignment amongst launch teams that are unsure or in disagreement as to how a new brand should be presented to audiences.

2.????????? As a philosophical ideal, it provides thoughtful direction in the creation of brand communications and experiences.

Brand Oneness is the nirvana-like calibration between a product, technology, or service and a human. It goes beyond mere satisfaction, creating a relationship where the user feels as though the offering was designed exclusively for them. The audience grows to love the brand because it delivers on its promise in an extraordinarily satisfying way.

Managed properly, this relationship may persist over the course of time. By continually evaluating the audience need state and responding accordingly, brands can command appeal over generations.

One only needs to consider the persistent allure of the iPhone, Lululemon yoga outfits, and Netflix to see this phenomenon in action today.

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Now would be a good time for the reader to take a moment to consider the dystopian premise of Spike Jonze’s film, Her. In the film, the protagonist Theodore Twombly falls in love with an AI-powered OS who names herself Samantha. In the film, Theodore is emotionally and physically seduced by AI Samantha. Her programming is so effective that she seamlessly meets his every expectation as a partner with frightening implications. While this is a fiction for now, it’s worth noting that the power of AI is a concern and that brands are well advised to serve humanity and not displace it.

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Chapter 4 | Oracle

(A five-minute read)

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Experts agree that a brand is a promise of value, communicated to and experienced by a specific audience over time. To realize brands, these leaders and their agencies diligently research the audience and their need states, they author audience archetypes, they formulate journeys that illustrate paths to the brand, they analyze competitive offerings, trends in the collective consciousness, and social flashpoints that threaten to disrupt the current dynamic.

Invariably, these experts work for a select tier of companies designed from the bottom up to deliver excellence in branding. They present ambitious offerings to the market that arouse excitement, redefine what’s possible, and shape our world for the better.

This is admirable, but how many companies truly achieve such reverence from their audiences?? How many brands are worthy of a tattoo or a least a sticker, fondly placed on a Stanley cup?

The answer? A lot fewer than we would expect!

?Let’s consider two factors that conspire against brand creators.

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1.??????FAILURE TO ALIGN WITH AN AUDIENCE and their PRIMARY NEED STATE

Like Google Glass, Lytro and maybe the Apple Vision Pro, brands that aren’t a solution to the primary need state of an audience are unlikely to achieve any degree of market traction.?

2. ???ALLOWING SILOED VOICES TO MUDDY THE BRAND

In our experience, multiple stakeholders can disrupt the launch team’s ability to forge brands that exhibit a laser focus on an audience and their primary need state.

Departmental competition can inspire optimization, but it can also breed suspicion. Some groups are seemingly disincentivized to roll up their sleeves and attack problems in concert with others. When they finally do get together, hidden agendas may emerge, which can temper the success of any initiative.

“The man who chases two rabbits catches neither.”

Confucius (maybe)

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Six Must Haves that Launch Teams Need to Achieve Brand Oneness

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1. Passion for the product, technology, or service

The launch team is personally impassioned by the business opportunity and is vested in it.

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2. Team-wide alignment on the audience and the primary human need state to be resolved

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3. Dogged insistence on producing a product, technology, or service that resolves the primary audience need state

Put the needs of the audience first with the understanding that profitability will follow.

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4. Realistic perspective for what the company can deliver

An understanding for the products, technologies or services that the company is capable of producing within the time frame and budget allotted.

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5. Visibility into the zeitgeist

The team is able to perceive what its audience is experiencing: ?at work, at home, in society and in the media.

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6. A plan to create a rich set of brand experiences

It’s not just about advertising, but rather meaningful interactions and experiences that demonstrate to the audience how the brand is right for them.

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That’s all very tidy isn’t it?

Just follow a series of prescribed steps that address strategic considerations and out pops a brilliant brand!?

Well, not quite.

This very scenario has vexed even the most diligent brand strategist and business leader. A logical approach to crafting the brand experience based on its core value to audiences will only take you so far. Remember, if you can follow a trail of crumbs to the boysenberry pie, so can your competitors.

At this stage, launch teams should include non-linear thinkers and creatives to help bring the brand to life. Think tattoos and piercings. Unless you want to be saddled with an indistinct brand doomed to flounder in the market, it’s time to break the rules like an artist.

It’s time to go to the anti-prom.

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Consider what Noel Gallagher from Oasis and renowned music producer Rick Rubin say about creativity.

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The consumer didn’t want Jimi Hendrix, they didn’t want Sgt. Pepper, they didn’t want the Sex Pistols but they got them—and it changed the world.

“F-bomb” the customer! The customer doesn’t know what he wants. Just give it to him and he likes it!

And now, there’s an attitude in the music business that says, “let’s keep the consumer happy because that’s what makes the music business go ‘round.”? Let’s put it this way, if a fashion house is a record label, do you think fashion would change if they asked the consumer what they want to wear next summer? Why does fashion always move forward? Why do we all look different and have different haircuts?? It’s because fashion doesn’t focus group it.

Noel Gallagher

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You have to push your audience.

The best work divides the audience. The best work…people love and hate. Otherwise, it doesn’t have a strong enough charge. If you make something and everybody likes it, chances are you haven’t gone far enough.

Rick Rubin

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“Hmmm,” you may say, “that maybe ok for creative types in industries like music or fashion but our customers are business leaders that look at the bottom line,” or “our customers are ill, they won’t go for weird, left of center pitches.”

And I’d say, ask Mark Zuckerberg how an online proposition initially developed to rate the attractiveness of ladies came to be one of the most profitable technology companies in the Silicon Valley. Or, how an unproven technique using mRNA to instruct cells to produce an immune reaction tempered a pandemic. Or, how a company that delivered DVDs to people’s homes became the world’s most watched streaming content provider.

The trick of it, is to not be purposely screwball. Rather, it is to keep an open mind and consider left field ideas that beautifully embody the brand’s core value and actualize it in a manner that transcends expectations.

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In short…Think Different.

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"Talent hits a target no-one else can hit. Genius hits a target no-one-else can see.”

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Arthur Schopenauer.

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Chapter 5 ? | Grand Finale - Summary of Key Points

(A two-minute read)

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The brand manifesto is a pivotal document, but the true essence of a brand goes beyond words—it’s rooted in the genesis of the idea that gives birth to the brand itself.

The famous “Think Different” campaign by Apple, became an iconic representation of Apple’s brand identity, illustrating the power of breaking conventional rules when you fully understand them.?

Brands exist to improve the human condition. ?Successful brands must align with the primary needs of their audience. Companies that create products without solving real human problems, like Google Glass, Lytro cameras and maybe the Apple Vision Pro, illustrate the pitfalls of focusing on fascination with technology over utility.

The concept of Brand Oneness? is both a tactical and philosophical approach to branding. This approach seeks to align product development with the deep, often unspoken needs of the audience, ensuring that brands are not only functional but also emotionally resonant.

The challenge of creating a brand that singularly connects with its audience can be heightened by internal company divisions and siloed thinking that conspire to muddy the brand’s message.

Key factors that launch teams need to achieve Brand Oneness, include the importance of passion, alignment, realism, audience visibility, and creativity.

Brand creators must balance strategic thinking and creative risk-taking. Great brands emerge from unconventional ideas that push boundaries and challenge the status quo. Think Different!

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Genius lies in seeing opportunities that others cannot.

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