Posts Tagged ‘storytelling’
Loss aversion looms large in branding
Not long ago I believed sustainable business, renewable energy and the socially responsible consumer were on the verge of going mainstream. I know they will get there eventually, but that day now seems farther away.
Those of us impatient for change — in our organizations, among our customers, within society — would do well to sit with this fact: People are more motivated to avoid losses than to achieve gains. How much more? About twice as motivated.
This is just one of many thought-provoking research findings explained by preeminent psychologist Daniel Kahneman in his latest book, “Thinking, Fast and Slow.”
This is my second post exploring what some of Kahneman’s findings could hold for brands and the organizations and leaders managing them. Earlier I looked at the distinction between plausibility and probability in the brand stories we tell. Here I’m interested in what humans’ deep-seated aversion to loss means for purveyors of change. (more…)
Tags: aversion to loss, brand, Branding, Daniel Kahneman, Loss aversion, storytelling, Thinking fast and slow
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Branding lessons from an old hometown
Two weeks ago I returned to my old hometown in Minnesota for the first time in 18 years. And I still can’t shake the obvious: change is constant. Whether we like it or are prepared for it or not.
I could only identify two stores along the three-block downtown that were there in my childhood. Most of the businesses appeared to be on life support. Further south from downtown a once modest commercial stretch reminded me of an abandoned cowboy town. Only the tumbleweed was missing. My high school had been leveled and rebuilt on the north edge of town. My parent’s last and once-proud home, across from the school, stood lifeless. And the downtown store my dad started in 1948 and sold in 1980 is teetering on the verge of going out of business. Perhaps the hardest change of all to swallow.
Hometown lake in Minnesota
Little about my hometown seemed as I remembered it, except the pretty lake at its center. It hadn’t died as a community. It only felt that way. So much that anchored my memories of growing up there has now disappeared, if not physically, then emotionally. I told my wife the last morning we were there, I’m not sure I will ever have the need or desire to return. (more…)
Tags: brand, business as usual, change, in the moment, Occupy Wall Street, storytelling
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Tapping into your brand’s bigger story
Five years ago this month I left the business I co-founded in 1993 — and started over. Some moments I think it was a reckless decision, leaving behind the security of a prospering business for an uncertain pursuit. Most of the time, it feels like the right decision, heeding a desire to reconnect to purpose and passion in my work.
Source Flickr: By koalazymonkey
This is the backdrop of R.Bruer Company, my bigger story, if you will. Yes, I provide branding, messaging and storytelling for businesses and nonprofits. Those are my services. My bigger story taps into what I believe matters most in our work as individuals and organizations: helping others add meaning to their lives while engaging them in a larger purpose.
Each of our organizations has a smaller story to tell. Unfortunately, it’s often the only one we share. (more…)
Tags: bigger story, Branding, business, Buying In, common good, fundamental tension of modern life, larger purpose, nonprofits, Rob Walker, smaller story, storytelling
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