The Story
The idea behind Brandlives was sparked on a run, like most of my best thoughts are, because brains work best in fresh air, letting all the dusty old beliefs fly away while filling up with new energy and innovative ideas. I had recently moved to US from Finland, Europe, and was wondering how, in my new environment, could I best combine my long experience with brands and marketing and my love for healthy life and wellbeing. This is how Brandlives, a consultation company helping brands "feel better" and become healthier and thereby more successful,
began to formulate.
Everone knows healthy and happy people are more productive and successful. And yet we strive so hard to achieve that health and happiness. It’s not an easy goal to reach but takes a lot of work and discipline. The same goes with brands, it shouldn't be a surprise that healthy and “happy” brands are more lucrative and valuable for their owners. So what is a healthy and happy brand and how to build one?
A healthy and happy brand is one that has been taken good care of, it’s been raised and nurtured and challenged like a human in ideal circumstances. It needs a lot of foster and patience, as well as clear guidance and inspiring challenges. Sounds simple, right? But too often brands are seen as just something inanimate: the brand name and logo with associated imagery, stories and meanings, but not as a “living” individual, which needs a lot of love and logic. Brands, like humans, need a sense of purpose to be flourishing and accomplishing.
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We’re living in times when a startup brand can reach “iconic” status seemingly over night. A year ago, a given brand may not have even existed and then suddenly it’s in all media every day as part of the 24-hour news cycle. They have the money and they want to build a community of loyalists as fast as possible. The strategy is this: get to market fast, test and learn, adjust to get to 2.0, test again, launch, repeat as necessary. This is the way the world is and there is no turning back. The leading brands get this. But even this is not enough. To stay alive for more than a month, brands need to live with all their senses, all the time, to constantly adapt to their changing environment. The enduring brands never let down their guard, never compromise quality for short-term profit, and never forget that brand loyalty is earned, never taken for granted. They also know that marketing today is more about listening and learning - or about diagnosing and healing, as I like to say - than about telling and selling. The relationship to a brand is more like with a doctor, who you tell the truth to, so that he can give you the right diagnosis and treatment.
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Brandlives is specialized in brand health: with our coaching and teaching services, we help our clients to examine, nurture and medicate their brands in the different stages of their brands' lives. We help brands live long and healthy lives. A strong and healthy brand is able to defend against commoditization and help dominate in it’s market category.