Series C

Purpose

Lens

Transcript

Michael Campion: Let's break down purpose a little bit. Bob, Talk to me about the lens through which brands talk about themselves. How important is the brand lens?

Bob Sheard: The brand lens is a very interesting aspect because it really defines the difference between a brand understanding its sector and its role within the sector that it's in. I was recently looking at a new entrant and one of the first entrants to a sector which is in gardening clothing and you could see the brand was just first one there, so it was being everything in gardening and so it was mistaking the fact its sector was its brand, which leaves it vulnerable for someone who then comes in behind it with a more precise and focused vision.

With Nike, for example, the lens that enables them to inhabit the world of sport is victory. Nike is the goddess of victory. Victory is everything, the point of victory that Nike focuses on, so it's a very win-at-all-costs approach but very attractive to worldwide consumers. So the lens is really important. Nike isn't sportswear, it's victory in sportswear. Rapha isn't cycling it's pain in cycling, and Inov8 isn't running it's fearlessness in running, knowing that lens is critical.

Michael Campion: And I think if Nike started to talk about the importance of taking part, you would instantly feel like something was off, wouldn't you? You would feel like something was amiss in their brand communication. Let's maybe talk about a well-known brand that everybody knows that Fresh Britain haven't worked with, Ikea. So Ikea, a well-known brand. Everybody knows what's their lens. If their world is clearly furniture, what's the lens that made them special?

Bob Sheard: Having a nightmare in their warehouse is their lens. Getting lost? Yeah, getting lost, not knowing where the tills are. No, I think the lens that they brought to the world of affordable furniture was design, and specifically Scandinavian design, and so they really, in a wonderfully challenging way for the rest of the furniture market, were able to take high quality design aesthetic and deliver that from the few to the many, and I think their lens was really democratizing design.

Thanks for subscribing!
Something went wrong while submitting the form. Please check your email address.