BRANDSEEKING™ SOUGHT
By Bobby Riley | September 23rd, 2009
Soldier Design CE Guidebook
The term seeker is in style today, for many. The trend is unfortunate in some ways, but plenty good in others. For example Tomoaki “Nigo” Nagao, founder and owner of A Bathing Ape (BAPE), a successful Japanese street wear brand with an expanding enterprise, explains the name “BAPE” is short for “A Bathing Ape In Lukewarm Water”. Japanese people typically have daily baths in water at temperatures above 40 degrees celsius (104°F). As such, bathing in luke warm water is to complacently over indulge. This is, ironically, a reference to the lazy opulence of the younger generation of Japanese, the brand’s own customers. Ironically put, Nigo has made an insightful observation that doesn’t require any of us North American’s to travel too far to see or experience it ourselves. Such seekers are rarely looking for anything in particular. In fact they could be called drifters, not seekers, who surf media fervently and cruise the malls aimlessly of our post modern world. Uncommitted, restless and always-open for the next thing, they have been well described as “conversion prone” by marketers today and congenitally ready to be converted to the next ingenious product, marketing mix or movement. I’ve both seen and experienced this vicious ad nauseam cycle, that leaves both brands and consumers in tailspins with no clear path to consumer or conversely purchase.
True seekers (discerning consumers) or Truebrands™ (in-tune companies) as we often refer to at Soldier are vibrant and you feel their purpose, their energy, integrity and idealism and their desire to close in on the answer(s). Truebrands™ want to align themselves with these true seekers and vice versa. Neither getting to far from the proverb–– You are who you surround yourself with.
We have recently started to work with an opinion leading expedition apparel company out of Canada (NDA permits my elaboration, sorry), who I have had the pleasure of getting to know the President and CEO of over the last several years. And what gets me amped is this man is alive! And so is his team. My encounters with them are always met with awakening questions and a sense of need that forces them to take an honest inventory of where they have been, where they are and ultimately the chasm that is preventing them to take the next quantum leap. They are true seekers that only desire is to operate the most authentic Truebrand™ possible, but always looking for something more, something greater. True entrepreneurs, they are stirred to look for answers that are beyond their current answers and push to clarify their position in the market-scape. Their sense of need has launched them on a quest with Soldier for the next eight months to unleash the praxis power of their plot and/or brand narrative in areas of new technologies, image/identity and environment.
*If I mention the brand you would all be psyched for the partnership. Their contribution to expedition, sport, style and fashion over the last 5 years has been uncanny. Stay tuned as details unravel in pace.
My latter story is a contrast to Nigo’s thinking behind “A Bathing Ape in Lukewarm Water” construct. Even significantly different from some of the domestic situations that I’ve been involved in with Soldier involving the more well-educated consumer or brands that truly believe the search is everything and the discovery means little. Such attitudes fit well if skeptical about final answers or like to overuse tolerance, open-mindedness or privy to playing the ambiguity schtick. In my experience this only leads to ambivalence on many levels, which seems equivalent to the curse of the ‘Flying Dutchman’ condemned to perpetual wandering. Ultimately leaving the brand and consumer not knowing who is leading or following. Unable to either control or convene a meaningful or long lasting relationship.
From the beginning Soldier has waged war against this type of perpetual wandering. Soldier uses a structured method for storytelling and direction called Brandseeking™ to elevate the brand experience and the journey of the consumer. Ultimately crossing the streams of the two.
In all its forms, the Brandseeking™ DNA is Soldier’s structured method for creating, realigning or empowering a company’s Truebrand™. Essentially, the spirit of the brand that defines why a product, service or brand matters. Exposing deep truth, context and meaning. It then enables innovative ways to reach intended audiences through print, interactive and experiences creating memorable and lasting brand impressions.
Learn more at Soldier Design: Core Support/Brandseeking™.
