Playing with science
In our pursuit to unleash emotive meaning, we play with science and apply innovative tools. 23plusone, our proprietary scientific program, is at the heart of how we operate. It provides for the emotive meaning essential for creating highly appealing brands.

Sense of reality
We operate at boardroom level as we sync our creativity with organizational strategy. To optimize emotive appeal, we validate our creative concepts with involvement of various stakeholders. Together with our clients we share the responsibility for positive results by finding the right conditions both inside and outside the organization.

Result
Our clients benefit from a highly engaged organization, with an emotive strategy validated and internalized by all relevant stakeholders.

BR-ND the appeal company
We beautify the world with emotive meaning. We create appealing symbolism. We engage in inspiring dialogue. And we use cutting edge web-based  tools.

Contact Alexander Koene or Kim Cramer PhD and allow us to introduce you to emotive thinking.

Contact
Pedro de Medinalaan 69
1086 XP Amsterdam
The Netherlands
+31 (0)6 19 95 30 17 or
+31 (0)6 19 65 91 45

The BR-ND Kitchen pushes strategic creation to new levels. Our BR-ND Kitchen is different from conventional strategy development as it builds on multiple sources of intelligence. We learn and co-create together, we get more inspiring results faster and have more fun on the go. In the Kitchen we blend input from our online platforms with inspiring stimuli while we follow gaming principles.

In the BR-ND Kitchen, both conscious and subconscious creative intelligence is ignited to develop appealing brand recipes. Building on 23plusone we identify the emotive core of your organization in such a way that it really touches the heart. The gaming elements in the Kitchen eliminate undesirable dynamics such as politics and rank, motivational downers and diminished engagement. Typically we facilitate groups from nine to fifteen persons during one or two day workshops. Cooking under pressure is efficient, effective and fun at the same time.

Come to think of it. How such an acceptance degrades our boutique firm to a mere commodity. Even worse, in preparation of a pitch, days of work are involved. A doubtful briefing is shared internally and challenged, research is done, documents are studied, proposals are written, presentations are made, plans are budgeted for. The creative energy of our whole team flows. An intensive process of dialogue with the prospect starts, passionate as we are to explain the benefits of our approach. We already start loving the client’s business and his particular branding challenge. But with a mere statistical chance of 20-33% to win the pitch. Maybe a bit higher if even more time and effort is put in the preparation. Then in a 60 minutes presentation, or even worse, during a phone conference with the pitch committee, we can present our proposal. Often days of waiting will follow. In some cases a second round is suggested when the committee has not been able to decide. And in the end it might turn into high frustration across our team with an emotional process of cognitive dissonance if the pitch is finally lost.

That is why BR-ND will not any longer participate in pitches.

We love our clients, particularly the ones with whom we can develop a personal connection. Such people appreciate our expertise in emotive branding. They understand what we offer is quite special. That we will always try to innovate the branding profession by playing with the science of brand appeal. We lead and inspire as we take organizations on a longer emotive journey to discover a meaningful purpose. Therefor we are more than willing to show who we are and explain the way we work and the benefits thereof. We will proudly showcase our 23plusone based method and online tools and our creative work. But we will not write proposals and create detailed plans, for as long as other agencies are in the race.

Once an organization has opted for the BR-ND team and our approach, we will jointly pull together a brand development plan. Which will consist of a transparant process, with selection and use of phases, tools and activities within acceptable financial and human resources.

Thank you for your understanding.

Alexander Koene explains 23plusone to a Balinese official

Tri Hita Karana is a Sanskrit term meaning ‘three paths to peace and prosperity’. It is about a harmonious relationship with God, with other humans and with the environment. The concept of harmony is the essence of Balinese philosophy and daily practice. It represents the delicate balance between the physical and spiritual worlds. In the context of the ongoing economic crisis, materialist culture and call for sustainability in the Western World, these Balinese principles seem appropriate for all of us to reflect upon.

Tri Hita Karana embodies the call for integration and the need to balance key aspects of life such as the economy and environment, agriculture and tourism and the varied resource bases. Tourism development contributes to the Balinese goals of growth, stability and equity. Growth is needed to raise living standards and to contribute to an enhanced quality of life. However such growth should not occur at all costs, but must always be in harmony with culture and the environment.

BR-ND is privileged to support the entrepreneurs in Bali with an authentic emotive brand. We love to be back soon!

On the 24th you will be entertained by Josien Pieters, Innovation Diva at BR-ND, who will share the InMotion platform as part of her Master Thesis Industrial Design from the TU Delft.

Check out details of this BR-NDXXX session here.

What is BR-NDXXX?

Friends of  BR-ND will get a 2-monthly shot of inspiration (and drinks off-course).

]]> http://www.br-nd.com/2012/04/inmotion-unleash-your-emotive-capital/feed/ 0 http://www.br-nd.com/2012/02/open-creation-in-branding/ http://www.br-nd.com/2012/02/open-creation-in-branding/#comments Sat, 25 Feb 2012 17:19:25 +0000 BR-ND http://www.br-nd.com/?p=1699 Who builds a brand? Is it the brand manager, his advertising agency, clients who talk positively about the brand? All of the above, one might say. But then we are missing out on the most important group of brand builders: the rich community of employees representing the brand on a daily basis. No matter what any advertising campaign shouts out to the world, it’s the people within the organization who make or break the brand. They are the brand. They have to eat, sleep and live it. Whether it’s in product development, human resources, communication, finance, customer service or any other discipline, passionate employees, driven by a shared purpose, ensure the best brand experience.  So, why are they then so often not part of the brand creation process? Corporate brand positioning, rebranding, visual identity development, in most companies it is done by a select group of people on top management level, without input from the work floor. Sometimes, another select group of lower level employees is consulted during the process. How often is the receptionist one of the privileged? Exactly. Although he or she might just be the most important brand touch point.

At BR-ND, we believe that all employees are as important for the company and it’s brand image as the CEO. As they are expected to be the brand, why not involve them all in the brand creation process? Ask for their input, find out what drives them, what their common purpose is, why they go to work every day, what they love about it, and how they would love it even more. You would be surprised how much human emotive capital is right there, waiting to inspire the creation of an appealing brand. And, while they are involved, why not feed them back the choices made during the process? So that those can be thought over, discussed, challenged, adjusted, improved and put into action? By the time the new or refreshed brand is ready to reach the outside world, the inside world is ready and able. And motivated! It is their brand after all. They created it. Together.

There is one problem in wanting to involve all employees in the branding process: how do you reach them all at once, get their input and enthusiasm and continuously keep the dialogue alive? The report of Josien Pieters MSc. you are soon able to read here holds part of the answer. It has to do with internal branding, social media and coffee beans. And it is going to become business practice soon as BR-ND is about to introduce the newest innovation on open creation in branding. We’ll keep you posted!

Inspiration during this BR-ND XXX session on the 21st of February 2012 will come from Jeroen Timmers (Giving is all we have) who will share his ideas he started developing during an expedition to Central America in 1211. Time: 16:30-18:30 Location: BR-ND Office in Amsterdam. RSVP: welcome@br-nd.com

What is BR-ND XXX? Friends of  BR-ND will get a 2-monthly shot of inspiration (and drinks off-course).

Brain scanning. A while ago, I was introduced to it not only as a branding researcher, but as guinea pig as well. It was impressive to lie there. To have conscious thoughts about the images I saw, while realizing that the researchers could see my unconscious feelings. For example, I was shown pornography and thought “not for me.” But what did I subconsciously feel? Could others see that, without knowing it, I found it very attractive?

“People can not tell what they think, simply because they do not know” neuroscientists say. We post-rationalize our behavior, while having no idea what our true motives are. I’m convinced. Many irrational decisions and actions in my life proof it. It’s great that there are alternatives to self-reporting methods and that brain research is now extending from the medical discipline into the branding business. It provides opportunities to develop new knowledge and create beautiful brands that feel good.

And although there are still a thousand questions to answer about the validity and applicability of brain scanning, my curiosity is already aroused by other ideas, stories and research. As we now know better than ever that our subconscience steers our behavior, shouldn’t we look further than the brain?

According to the Institute of HeartMath, our heart, just like our brain, unconsciously guides our behavior. Attraction and repulsion can be measured by the rhythm of our heartbeat. Heart and brain work together according to the neuro-cardiologists, but the heart has a much greater impact on the organisms around us, because it’s electromagnetic field is 5000 times as powerful than the brain’s. Through our hearts we unconsciously communicate with other individuals and are always connected.

But also non-Western science provides inspiration for further thinking about our behavior and the subconscious. A good friend traveled the world and came back reborn, after spending the last days of his trip with shamans, intermediaries between the human world and the spirits world. Influenced by the plant medicine Ayahuasca and treated with twigs, he underwent a complete physical, mental and spiritual reset. An incredible story, but certainly not implausible. The ancient knowledge of these cultures surpasses our Western science at least in age.

It will take years if not decades before we are able to better explain our behavior and we will probably never completely get it. Combining existing ideas creates the best new knowledge. Maybe next time I take some Ayahuasca before I lie down in the scanner?

By Kim Cramer

Original post at SWOCC http://www.swocc.nl/column/over-het-brein-het-hart-en-ayahuasca.php (in Dutch)

Now isn’t it time for change?

Over the last couple of decades our capitalist system has come to exist with the purpose to make (more) money. Instead of creating sustainable business aiming to help people. It seems that organizations have gradually lost their social responsibility. Business has become a money game. The more the better. Money justifies it all.

The need to modify our current economic system, resonates on the frustrations in society. People, both left and right, young and old, are angry. Anger that is being projected at banks, telecoms and other dinosaurs of the old system. An anger that increasingly results in apathy against the trade unions, religious institutions and political parties.

Now that people are becoming united in their desire for change, how can we shape our desire for a better, fairer and happier world?

At BR-ND we have our own ideas on this. More than ever we wish to contribute to a beautiful world by promoting a new kind of emotive branding. We believe that individual organizations, small and large, can make that difference by recognizing that people and brands are human after all. Such emotive brands will lead the way and others will then have to follow.

In short, we believe organizations must embrace a new kind of thinking in their leadership, resulting in new social capital. They will need to redefine their success from a profit to a genuine human orientation. Their leadership team will have to become vulnerable, open and kind. They need to cultivate a style that encourages transparency and collaboration. They will support their co-workers to develop their talents and make autonomous decisions. And inspire through collective purpose. An emotive goal to somehow contribute to a better world. With more focus on the collective good, than the individual benefit. Such leaders will playfully connect and engage in dialogue. They will install new rituals and symbols to engage and motivate people.

It will be tough for the C-suite operators to change their style, thinking and behavior. Most will not succeed. But we have no doubt that a new type of leadership will enter the corporate boardrooms.

We wish to help such leaders with unleashing the emotive core of their brands. Leaders who will understand that their employees, their clients, suppliers and shareholders are human after all.

January 1st 2012

Alexander Koene, BR-ND

Background
As most financials, insurance company REAAL struggled with its reputation. Although people weren’t extremely negative about the brand, it was considered at least kind of ‘empty’ and ‘cold’. Net promotor scores were negative. Time to change and adapt to new realities.

Challenge
How to (re)position the brand to be loved by both employees and consumers?

Result
Both the BR-ND Insider and Outsider were used to compare the internal and external appeal of the brand. It was striking that both the insider’s and the outsider’s image of the brand showed a gap with the way people internally felt about themselves and their organization. The brand positioning was redefined during the BR-ND Kitchen, largely based on the company’s identity: being a caring and passionate group of people striving for the best for their clients. REAAL goes back to it’s roots: helping people who need help. With a giving attitude. BR-ND visualized the new story with an internal brand movie. The advertising agency is preparing a new campaign to support REAAL’s brand appeal. Expected soon.