...a Visual Narrative

Admittedly, this is a wordy tirade of sorts. Bare with me… 

Through my entrepreneurial journey I have experienced a range of wins and losses in different ventures, industries, channels, products and services. On the financial surface, each business was valued and structured differently. Some were valued as great brands, others as great platforms and a few as great services. I have had the pleasure of working with large organizations, both private and public. The exciting understanding was that most businesses who value strong brands struggle with how to shape them. 

I have been a marketing strategist for most of my life. My first love is branding. Over time, I have learned there is a strong correlation between branding and corporate level finance. Sadly, CMOs and CFOs rarely speak the same language. If they did, the world may be a more sophisticated place. This is a subject for discussion in another article itself.

The topic of visual narratives is about a core idea. Your brand style should not be obvious nor literal, especially during tough financial times. You need to be distinct with your brand language and style. 

Great branding begins with an attitude. Every brand within your space says the same thing. Why follow them? That is conventional wisdom. It’s easy to jump on a bandwagon rather than choose a brand with a distinct appeal. While I respect hunger, appearing desperate is another ball game. Majority of brands boast an appeal of the latter. 

When the chips are financially down you firmly grip that bat and swing hard. You either hit big or miss big. That's the game. 

What exactly is a visual narrative? It's a visual style that doesn't need an explanation. It's an unapologetic expression that is unique and virtually unseen in a respective space. It's contrarian and confident. It's a great approach if you believe in your product or service. The ideal visual narrative is one that doesn’t need to be sold. 

As a businessman, my quest is value. Great brands are valuable if they have an ability to draw consumers in with a relatively easy sell, without compromising price or margins. Examples of such brands would be Goldman Sachs, Hermes and, my personal favorite, Apple. These brand strategies are orchestrated well. Their ability to generate growth even at high margins, relative to competitors, is uncontested. In other words, they define new standards. Even on multiple levels, within their respective industries- experience, innovation and expression increase their level of prominence. I have learned that great branding is going far beyond identities and logos. A focus on these tenets merely scratches the surface. Brand identities are meant to be doctrines within a brand guide. Arguably, identities never go deep enough. Imagine crafting a religion and expecting your disciples to all move in the same direction. That never happens because interpretations indefinitely vary.

To go the furthest distance you need a visual approach that stems from a rich, underlined narrative. One that is so powerful it allows the imagination to soar. It should invite consumers to make their own interpretations of the brand to discover and define their connection with the product. That is art.

Before any of this is possible, one needs to appreciate how tangible value is calculated. Not to disappoint marketing enthusiasts out there, but, financial math is important. 

First confession: I believe that value doesn't always necessitate stirring the quarterly revenue needle. That can be a lazy trap, especially when it comes to shaping powerful brands that eventually, and potentially, pull consumers in organically. The ideal path to building a business model and creating a memorable experience is one where the sale becomes natural, especially for luxury brands. For starters, when I (re)shape brands, I prefer to consider how the business is valued at present. Further, I focus on how its valuation may be calculated in the future. This approach can help influence those who make big decisions. For them, the math never lies. It's an accurate barometer that will tell you if your brand has any value at all. Valuation aside, other vital metrics look at total sales expense, per head, as a percentage of revenue, compared to the industry. To clarify, if salespeople are the highest paid types of headcount, this indicates an inverse correlation to the brands clout (i.e. the weaker it is). If the salaries reflect a lower number, you can safely assume the more natural the sale, thus the more influential the brands pull. 

Second confession: When it comes to shaping brands, ironically, math may in fact be the worst motivator. Finance has no space in the creative process. Ask any creative if they are inspired by the math. Even amongst the best of creatives, I can assure you that the burden of finance is stifling. Contrarily though, many creatives also intuitively understand valuation better than any investment or investor. Why? Because the best of them understand that status quo will never raise the dough. They are willing to take significant risks to adjust the valuation equation. As a numbers guy and as an artist, you'd think life would be more natural for me, no? Instead, it's tormenting. 

Moving ahead, the story of brands runs deep. We all know them, and we can all share lots of stories about them, but I think that's the point. The best brands have stories that are worth sharing. What is it about a brand that is worth sharing? How are these stories, moments and experiences shared? How is this all orchestrated? 

It begins with a strong narrative...

One that runs so deep that it needs no words. 

Pitches are not Narratives: Salespeople make up pitches, not marketers. The odd thing that I have noticed in my time is that salespeople are usually the ones that have a direct relationship to finance people. Ideally their relationship should transcend to meet with the creatives. I make this parallel because the best of marketing creatives are left in oblivion, hiding in a corner. Marketing and math have common threads because math is a true story. Great marketers also understand the power of authentic stories and potent experiences. Salespeople by their very nature will naturally tell you what they think you want to hear. Where's the truth in that?

When you read a financial statement from back to front, focus on the notes to learn the real narrative. Math needs no words because numbers never lie. In the event they are incoherent, refer to an accountant and question the difference between the bold type at the front and the reality at the back of the statements. Learn who writes the pitches at the front (usually sales). The one thing that makes me cringe is when compelling narratives are paralleled with catchy elevator pitches. It's a reminder of my 3rd grade teacher scratching her beaten old chalkboard to get our attention. Pitches are for salespeople.  Pitches are subject to varying interpretation even within an organization. Pitches feel contrived. Need I say more? We know this, but we rarely admit it. I have yet to find one company that has mastered and/or even orchestrated their pitch-plans well. Even I am guilty of the same. 

Back to narratives- as a marketer and brand aficionado, I have learned that the best of stories are ones that consumers in fact, craft and personally own. They are not told, nor sold. To add, if a story can be said with no words, even better. There should always be room left for imagination and interpretation. That matters, especially in a world full of noise. I have seen so many brands that plague themselves with paragraphs of self-propagating text or imagery of contrived silhouettes depicting all sorts of fallacies. Who reads or even believes that?

I trust that when you see an image or a medium, it should draw you in a little closer. It should attract your curiously, not attempt to place you in an unbelievable or common fantasy. That common approach is right! So be wrong.

Lesson: when the chips are down and you've got a few aces up your sleeve, dare to be wrong (different) with your brand. Be tight with your copy. Be smart with your social conversations; not self-serving. 

Good luck!