Only entrepreneurship overcomes the crisis

Politicians are still trying to understand the crisis, some big companies are launching innocuous campaigns, bankers are crying because they didn’t deserve this situation… Should I continue the list? Probably I could, but that’s not the point.

In this social network we use to talk about branding, about brand experiences… about us!… We could isolate branding issues from our current situation, however, it would look at certain point, something between naïf and unconscious.

Reality, which is neither the Big Brother nor Code Lyoko, is showing us that to overcome the crisis, we do need as individuals certain specific behaviours (remember what Dr. Utterson said when he talked about the online and offline worlds… both are real).

Going back to the first sentence of this post:

  • Today’s politicians (from the left, center or right) learned how to manage a country as if sea captains had learnt to sail in calm waters
  • Some big companies used to be managed under the SYA (Save Your Ass) policies. So, everything coming from them seems to be decaffeinated
  • Bankers follow the patterns designed by the Chicago’s boys or the ones that are fashionable, and teach how to overcome a crisis produced by others

All that I mentioned above have something in common…. All the people involved behave as bureaucrats. This is not bad, however, it is not enough to overcome a crisis.

Both bureaucrats as well as employees are needed to make the world work, and probably, they are better prepared to manage stable situations than other kind of people.

Today’s crisis is a point of inflection. It cannot be solved with old formulas because, probably, we are not going to go back to same old habits…. And they have no idea of what to do.

What is the connection of this with brand experiences?

During a long period of time I was thinking of differentiating between big brands from those ones that we finally fall in love with (it’s a way of saying):

  • Big brands belong to big companies, they have deep coverage, and we are aware of their existence. e.g.: GE (one of the brands with highest economic value worldwide)
  • Brands that we finally fall in love with could belong to big companies… or not. They are focused on their tribe. We are aware of their existence if we are familiar with the tribe… and we would love them if we live deeply their experience one time after another

And here comes the point… The brands that are loved have another key characteristic: they were created by an entrepreneur and his/her soul is still alive in the company.

Entrepreneurs think about brand positioning because they want to give strategic intention to their promises. However, before that, they bring to the brand experience two other things:

  • A call to action idea that is permanent, based on their value agendas and make the difference over time
  • They are the story behind the scene that personalizes that brand experience

We can love or hate those people… Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs and/or Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA). But for sure, they do not go unnoticed.

These people are not complaining about limitations, regulations,… They are creating new rules. They rule their way of living!

Still looks that there is no connection… Hmmmm

The message in the bottle

Let’s merge both ideas, crisis and entrepreneurs…

  • Entrepreneurs are people who have a dream and the ability to make it come true
  • Entrepreneurs are not afraid of crisis because they live in an eternal one
  • Entreprenuers are inflexible with their ideas and flexible with their implementation
  • Entrepreneurs never surrender
  • Crisis forces to change habits
  • Crisis are solved by braves (a politically correct way of saying ‘crazies’)
  • Crisis requires flexibility and speed
  • Crisis usually keeps in our minds (self-fulfilling prophecy)

To overcome this crisis that we are “enjoying” now, we do need to create new kinds of experiences. Those experiences must be aligned with new behaviours, with new value agendas. Brands are not going to be what they were because we are not going to live the way that we were living up to now.

Only somebody with a soul of an entreprenuer (also if he/she is an employee) is able to understand this and do something… Actually, they are doing it!

Finally, perhaps it’s time to pay attention to the entrepreneurs and the brand experiences that they are creating because they are the ones who are going to change the world.

Period!

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Allegro 234

About the author

Allegro 234 is a global branding and innovation consultancy that catalyzes your company grow through its brands and culture. hello@allegro234.net
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Apr 6, 2010

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