Changing Brands  Northern California is unique. Few other places in the world can boast of so many interdependent cultural poles – technology and nature, manufacturing and farming, corporate conformity and entrepreneurial rebelliousness.

In a corporate board room, scented by old pine oil and new leather, sit six men and one woman. Two of the men are brothers and partners, second generation vintners, well-known and successful.

The other five people are from Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C. They are slick in appearance, well-educated and experienced in their particular disciplines. Each represents expertise paid for with years of hard work and constant attention to every element of culture and its influence on brands and customer loyalty.

After the conversational lubricants – discussions of the weather, Wall Street, sports and who do you know – the most senior of the counselors asks the brothers what appears to be a spectacularly dumb question: What business are you in?

The face of the older brother shifts through a series of expressions as fast as the gear box of a Porsche 911, from astonishment to annoyance to the kind of anger that presumes disrespect, even insult. The other counselors are stunned first into frozen statues and then melting snowmen.

The longer the unanswered question hangs in the air, the more pungent it becomes. The questioner does not flinch. His expression of anticipation does not acknowledge the vintner’s scowl.

Through gritted teeth, the son of immigrants who became one of his industry’s most powerful and influential leaders says, “We are in the wine-making business.” He bites off the last words as though he were spitting a challenge at the feet of his insulter.

Without allowing space for interruption, the senior counselor replies, “I don’t think so. People don’t buy your product to merely consume it, but as a part of a shared occasion with others, as part of a meal or celebration. Your products are as much about entertainment and entertaining as alcohol and consumption.” He concludes, “If you saw your wine as a catalyst for good times and friendship, you might talk about it differently to your customers and, in turn, they would come to recognize how critical your products are to a fuller appreciation of their life experiences. Reinterpreting how your customers perceive and use your products will transform acceptance and understanding into loyalty and ownership.”

With these words, the quiet brother stands up and puts his hand on the shoulder of his now speechless sibling, guiding him back into his plush leather chair, saying, “Please tell us more.”

Brands change because everything changes. They evolve as does an organization through acquisitions, mergers, product line extensions and new leadership. However, brands also change because of changes in society, cultural values, social preferences and scientific advancements. The impact of these influences is at first subtle, even imperceptible.

Brands survive – even prosper – because they change and evolve with their customers. By acknowledging, interpreting and incorporating those changing perceptions, your brands can grow with their customers. New audiences can be identified, old customers can be revitalized, and parallel markets will be discovered by reconsidering what needs your products are fulfilling for your customers. Organizations that prepare for perceptual as well as fundamental change can shape their own success.

Mysteries of the Mirror  There is something disturbing about seeing a photograph of yourself. Most of us don’t think we look like ourselves in pictures. If we set aside the normal illusions carried by adults as we mature, there really is still a difference between the photograph and what we see in the mirror. The mirror reverses our image from left to right, the camera does not. Because our faces are not symmetrical, what we see and what others see, can be very different.

Many corporate executives ask their spouses or someone else they trust to select the portrait to be used in an annual report because they don’t see themselves in the image. The same scenario occurs when developing and/or modifying an organization’s name, trademark, brand or positioning message. Qualified outside advisers apply a particular process designed to adjust the mirror so that the images and ideas proposed become clear and obvious.

To paraphrase an old Irish saying, Oh, for the power... to see ourselves the way others see us.

The following examples illustrate the Essex Two process. For more details on how our process works, please visit our Web site. www.sx2.com/process.html

Crafted with Pride in America www.sx2.com/crafted1.html

Children's Memorial Hospital www.sx2.com/childrens1.html

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis www.sx2.com/iupui1.html

Worth your time:  Big Night, 1996, on DVD or video... Stanley Tucci co-wrote, directed and starred with Tony Shalhoub. The underlying message explores the issue of maintaining standards and quality despite pressures, to comprise for immediate success.

Next month:  Ownership of Ideas?