Brands: Found in Translation I strive to translate the untranslatable. The Swahili word tuko pamoja denotes a shared sense of purpose and motivation in a group. Verstehen in German translates to “meaningful understanding,” or putting yourself in the shoes of another person. The modern Greeks use meraki to describe doing something with the soul, creativity, or love.1 While all these words are untranslatable in English, their collective meanings create a recipe for brilliance within the realm of branding. The ability to craft an array of ideas into an identity defines the most compelling brands. They capture something that we all know and give it the power of a name, a definition, and a purpose. It takes a group of artists to do this. And it takes the world to do this. The process of branding is similar to that tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. You can’t quite think of the actor who starred in that one Steven Spielberg film or the name of that great Thai restaurant in San Francisco. Often individuals report a feeling of being seized by this state of thought where much focus and motivation is required to produce this one single word. Your eyes suddenly fill with life and you breathe a sigh of relief as the word is finally found. Yet, in regards to branding, this missing link might not always be a neatly wrapped word waiting to be found. What if it is a personality? Or an environment? No matter what, it is our job to construct the untranslatable. There is no definitive answer to the question, “Which came first, the people or the brand?” It is a seesaw effect that bounces back and forth as a result of changing times and culture. On one hand, we need to employ tuko pamoja. I believe that a brand needs to fashion their own sense of purpose and ultimately ask, “What defines us?” In Edmund 1 "Better Than English: Untranslatable Words."
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Snow Carpenter's “They Became What They Beheld," the anthropologist articulates this idea by saying, “Artists don't address themselves to audiences, they create audiences. The artist talks to himself out loud. If what he has to say is significant, others hear and are affected."2 While I find this to be certainly true, there is no doubt that a brand must always subconsciously be thinking about people as well. Just as the Mona Lisa’s eyes mysteriously follow you no matter where you stand, a brand must constantly take a peak into society’s lives and culture for answers. In 2006, "You" was chosen as Time magazine's Person of the Year.3 Give yourself a pat on the back because you were one of the millions of people who contributed user-generated content to the GNU/Linux operating system, Wikipedia, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc. For this reason, it is the brand’s responsibility to integrate themselves into the lives of the people to understand their needs and desires. Lifestyles are patterns that shape our taste, behaviors, action, preferences and beliefs; they inspire a mosaic of individual brands. I am hesitant to use words such as “target market” and “audience” because where is the emotion and connection with such word choice? It’s that tip-of-thetongue moment. Let’s translate this connection. Social media epitomizes a pixelated coffee shop where people come together to communicated, entertain, and stay updated on current events. While social media might appear to be the goldmine for advertising and creating revenue, brands must utilize verstehenm. During times of crisis, we must drop our job title for a moment and absorb what’s going on with a truly humane nature. In seven short words, Courtney Seiter at 2 Joel, Mitch. "Brands Need To Think Like Artists | Six Pixels of Separation - Marketing and Communications Blog - By Mitch Joel at Twist Image." Twist Image. 3 Kornberger, Martin. Brand Society: How Brands Transform Management and Lifestyle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. pg. xii.
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Raven Tools wisely advises to “be helpful, be kind, or be quiet.”4 These simple actions will translate a genuine sense of empathy and compassion. Brands should be the comforting friend who gives you a silent hug during times of grief and loss. I find hashtags to be inappropriate during social crisis; they only produce clutter amongst a stream of much more relevant information. Brands need to acknowledge the right moments to say a few simple words or give helpful advise when necessary. The beauty of the word meraki captures the essence of why I wake up each morning to pursue a career of advertising. I am constantly painting a blank canvas with inspiration drawn from the world around me. While meraki entails putting “something of yourself” into what you do, I would further this by saying “yourself” requires others as well. Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk writes in his book Invisible Monsters, “Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I’ve ever known.“5 Whether I am acting on a stage, taking a spontaneous trip to Hawaii, or dancing like a fool at a concert, I surround myself with people who have passion and I experience wonders that heighten my sense of creativity. The ability to share unique perspectives amongst a group of people translates into good work. And brands need to craft good work. Just as Starbucks created the “third place” and Apple embodies the slogan “Think Differently,” it’s time to the challenge ourselves as creatives and yield definitions for the most untranslatable sensations. While brands produce incredible definitions, the individuals are the ones to employ these meaning within their own context and use them in much more personalized ways. This is why I strive to translate the untranslatable.
4 Seiter, Courtney. "Be helpful, be kind or be quiet." SEO Software, Social Media, PPC & Marketing Tools by Raven. 5 Palahniuk, Chuck. Invisible Monsters. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. pg. 104
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Sources/Inspiration Bedbury, Scott, and Stephen Fenichell. A New Brand World: 8 Principles for Achieving Brand Leadership in the 21st Century. New York: Viking, 2002. "Better Than English: Untranslatable Words." Better Than English: Untranslatable Words. http://betterthanenglish.com (accessed April 27, 2013). Palahniuk, Chuck. Invisible Monsters. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. “Exclusive video of John Jay on creativity,” YouTube video, 2:29, posted by "FastCompany," May 13, 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=EpfYPVzJohc&feature=player_embedded Haig, Matt. Brand Success: How the World's Top 100 Brands Thrive and Survive. 2nd ed. London: Kogan Page, 2011. Joel, Mitch. "Brands Need To Think Like Artists | Six Pixels of Separation – Marketing and Communications Blog - By Mitch Joel at Twist Image." Twist Image. http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/brands-need-to-think-like-artists/ (accessed April 29, 2013). Kornberger, Martin. Brand Society: How Brands Transform Management and Lifestyle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Seiter, Courtney. "Be helpful, be kind or be quiet." SEO Software, Social Media, PPC & Marketing Tools by Raven. http://raventools.com/blog/social-media-in-atragedy-be-helpful-be-kind-or-be-quiet/ (accessed April 28, 2013).
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