Ueber-Brands

We can often give good reasons like “that Oura ring helps me stay healthy,” “I like the creaminess of Nespresso” or “I fell for the stylish design and convenience”… But rather than fulfilling rational or emotional needs many objects primarily satiate a sociological desire: The desire to be like people we associate with those objects. Thus, the kitchen or an Oura ring on our finger is as likely…

Published in the “Luxury” academic journal. This is another installment in our ‘Questions to Answer’ series, which is designed to help you think through how to elevate your brand.   In this particular case it is as much about some answers as it is about those critical questions. It feeds from an interview JP Kuehlwein (JPK) gave to Pablo D. Lopez Zadikoff (PLZ) writing for the academic journal…

Comment passer d’une marque qu’on reconnait a une marque que l’on désire? — If you feel more at ease asking yourself these questions this way, rather than in English, then: Finalement, je peux répondre a ces questions en détail – et en français ! – dans mon cours “Brand Elevation – Comment rendre une marque irrésistible” sur LinkedIn Learning !  Ça fait des années que j’enseigne des cours sur…

There might be as many definitions of Luxury and Brand as there are people on this planet.  They are something very personal but also (mostly?) social. But if we want to think about how our notion of prestige and luxury evolve and how prestigious brands are born (or die), then we need to put a stake in the ground. That is what I attempt to do in the attached reflections on “The evolving meaning…

CLIMATE ACTIVIST WEARING FAST FASHION – HOW CAN THAT BE ?

The insider-blog Business of Fashion recently asked itself how Gen-Z can be professed Climate activists (or at least Sustainability sympathizers) and heavy consumers of Fast Fashion all at the same time? It seems like an unresolvable contradiction. Is Gen-Z – the focus of BoF’s article – a generation of liars? Are they betraying betraying themselves? It seems that Gen-Zers – and most of us, if we…

To Elevate A Brand – Dream – Do – Dare

There are brands that are seen as peerless and priceless. They are able to sustain appeal, a price premium and a share of attention that seems disproportionate to a seemingly small investment in traditional advertising or promotion. We call such brands “Ueber-Brands” and we call the strategy they use to achieve their iconic status “Brand Elevation”. It’s a strategy we have been researching,…

Why all companies should seek Brand Elevation? – Interview with JP and Deborah Malone of The Internationalist/ANA

In this interview, JP talks to Deborah Malone about the importance of Brand Elevation – no matter the product or service. Deborah was Managing Director at AdAge and introduced their International edition before founding ‘The Internationalist’ organization in 2003 to “spotlight persons and ideas that are groundbreaking and of high importance in international marketing.”  That makes Wolf and JP all…

Questions To Answer: How ‘Live The Brand Dream’?

Bag brand Freitag lives a dream all of its own Here is another installment in our little ‘Questions to Answer’ series, which is designed to help you think through how to elevate your brand.   They are taken from the more complete set of questions in our book ‘Rethinking Prestige Branding.’ But note: Ueber-Brands* need to be ‘beyond compare’ and that means beyond following rules or applying…

Questions To Answer: How ‘Live the Dream’?

Maison Plisson – groceries put on a pedestal Here is another installment in our little ‘Questions to Answer’ series, which is designed to help you think through how to elevate your brand.   They are taken from the more complete set of questions in our book ‘Rethinking Prestige Branding.’ But note: Ueber-Brands* need to be ‘beyond compare’ and that means beyond following rules or applying…

Go Ueber: How To Elevate a Brand – Even in times of crises

This article by Wolf and JP on Brand Elevation and how it relates to managing external crises appeared in Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Asian Management Insights magazine in May 2021.  If you prefer listening, you can also watch the talk on the subject JP gave at SMU (virtually) a few weeks earlier. Either way, we’d love to hear from you and how your brand weathered the multiple storms…

A discussion about Brand Elevation at Columbia Business School

Wolf and JP had the honor and much fun discussing the art and science behind ‘Brand Elevation’ with leaders who work on brands that know a thing or two about Dreaming, Doing and Daring – the three phases of Ueber-Branding we describe our new, step-by-step guide. Debra Goetz, CMO of online community Nextdoor, Dave Rapaport of Ben & Jerry’s and Tom Szaky, founder of the recycling group TerraCycle.…

Crises – An Opportunity For Brand Elevation

“A crisis is a terrible thing to waste” some like to quote¹ to emphasize the positive of getting the opportunity to “build back better” or “create the future now”.  And many of us will have experienced that “we are at our best in times of crises” – at least on occasion, when the mission was clear, the believes were shared and when the sentiment was right…

Crises like those the Globe faced in 2020…

The joy and challenge of purveying better products and better lives – Interview with Dilhan Fernando, CEO Dilmah Tea

Dilhan C. Fernando

Dilhan Fernando is the CEO of Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company which carries part of his name. For when his father founded the company in 1988, he blended the first names of his two sons – Dilhan and Malik – to give it its name.

This anecdote reflects one of the romantic dimensions of the companies creation story. The ones we will focus on in our interview with Dilhan focuses on…

ThankYou. – Admirable Activism or Brand-Based Bullying?

Australian social enterprise ‘ThankYou.’ leverages a mix of mythology, passionate appeal and social shaming to get consumers, their customers and competitors to buy, sell and – maybe – license the brand. Is that brilliant activist brand- and business building? Or is the concept of a ‘brand with a higher purpose’ being abused to bully your way to growth?

Just Another Start-Up by Millennials?

S’well – From empty bottle to meaningful fashion accessory – Interview with Sarah Kauss, Founder and Chairwoman

Sarah Kauss, Founder

For those who do not know about S’well (are there any such people left?) –  S’well sells re-usable and very chic water bottles, that became ‘de-rigeur’, shortly after Sarah Kauss started selling the now iconic 17oz, insulated bottles in 2010.

And how that happened is, of course, a story that interests us students of Brand Elevation*. Here is a brand that transform what should…

How ‘Slightly Fucked-Up’ motivates people to buy into- and work at Freitag – interview with Oliver Brunschwiler, ‘Lead Link’

Oliver Brunwschiler, Lead Link at Freitag

In the land of bags, ‘Freitag’ stands for ‘messenger’, ‘made from recycled truck tarp’, ‘designed by the bros’, ‘hand-crafted in Switzerland’ and … “slightly fucked up,” as ‘Lead Link’ Oliver Brunschwiler tells us .  And he is not only talking about the bags, as it turns out.

As you would expect from a Swiss company, things look and feel very neat and…

Why Reach and Consumption are Not always Brand Nirvana

Two of the key performance metrics in mass marketing are Reach and Consumption.  The assumption is that the more people are reached and the more frequently they are ‘hit’ with the sales message, the more they are to ultimately succumb and buy.  And the more and more frequently they consume, the higher the sales.  The potential is huge. After all, even Coca Cola is far from being consumed by…