Andrew Douglas, Author at Tenet Partners | Where brand meets innovation®

What’s the big idea?

Posted on January 13, 2025January 13, 2025 by Andrew Douglas

When thinking about your brand, it pays to consider what’s truly at its core.

The strongest brands are built on fundamental truths that have to do with what they actually do and why, rather than the surface details that first spring to mind.

There’s a seemingly simple, yet surprisingly deep, question to ask: What business are you really in? The answer can profoundly impact both brand and business strategy.

Two examples show why this question matters: Apple and Amazon.

Apple isn’t really a technology company

In the mid-1990s, Apple was going to market as one might expect. It cast itself as a computer company, making technologically superior hardware and software. Its entire marketing strategy was built on the products themselves.

In 1997 Steve Jobs returned as CEO and embarked on a radical transformation of the brand that ultimately yielded the Apple we know today. While on the surface the push had to do with product innovation, arguably the underlying big idea behind it all was that Apple isn’t really a computer company at heart: it’s a lifestyle company. The products are simply the means to an end.

Looked at through this lens, the entire arc of the Apple brand for the last quarter century snaps into sharp focus. Every product, from the iPod and iTunes, to the iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and the MacOS, contributes to a deeply intertwined, increasingly seamless and incredibly sticky digital lifestyle.

The brand has been carefully curated to play into this big idea. With every new product release there’s talk of the latest features, performance improvements and innovations, but at the heart of it all is the experience that Apple products deliver: the lifestyle.

Amazon isn’t really an online retailer

Another great example of a counterintuitive big idea driving a brand is Amazon. To most people the Amazon brand is synonymous with online retail, even though its online retail business brings in less revenue than B2B offerings such as Amazon Web Services and support for third-party merchants. But despite the public perception, at the core Amazon isn’t a retailer: it’s a distribution company.

Domestic competitors like Walmart and overseas outlets such as AliExpress have tried to replicate Amazon’s retail success, but haven’t really made all that much of a dent. Amazon is somehow different, and that difference is the smoothness and ease of doing business with the company.

The success of the Amazon brand is driven by the big idea of hassle-free, fast delivery. It’s easy to find what you need, easy to buy it, and delivery usually happens with incredible speed—sometimes within hours. Contrast this with Walmart’s price-centric approach, building its brand and business on “Every Day Low Prices.” It has also used slogans such as “Always low prices. Always.” and the current “Save money. Live better.” Walmart is at heart a retailer.

Amazon’s whole brand—even the business operation itself—is built around the big idea of getting people what they want as quickly as possible. The reversible logo is both a smile that hints at delight and a swooping arrow that communicates motion and speed. Even the small details, such as the ability to get delivery at Amazon lockers instead of your home and the ease of returning goods by dropping them off at partner retailers, all contribute to that central thought.

Amazon’s clear understanding of the true nature of the company and why it matters to its customers makes executing on the big idea possible. It could promote low prices and wide selection, but that would lose the essence of what makes Amazon unique.

What drives your brand?

The takeaway from high-profile examples such as these is that there may be an opportunity to elevate your brand above your competition by breaking free of conventional thinking about your category. Both Apple and Amazon, in a certain sense, asked the same questions: What’s the big idea behind what we do?

Both of these examples show the value of taking a step back and asking what your organization is all about. Doing so can bring clarity and purpose to your brand and marketing strategy—and even provide a north star to guide business strategy going forward.

What’s in a name?

Posted on December 17, 2024December 17, 2024 by Andrew Douglas

Naming a product or organization can be surprisingly difficult. It’s also a great opportunity to evoke emotion, memorability and positive associations for your brand.

It sometimes seems as if names are generated randomly in a process using a blindfold and a dart board—nice-sounding syllables jammed together with no real intent.

Pop quiz: What are these?

Nubira

Nuvis

Stelara

Stellantis

You’ve probably heard of at least one of these—Stellantis—because it’s been in the news recently. But if you didn’t already know that it’s an international auto manufacturer with 14 brands under it, would you have any idea what the company does?

(The others are: a) a car; b) a camera; and c) a pharmaceutical.)

The function of a name

A century ago, company names tended to be descriptive labels. You could tell what the company did just from its name. U.S. Steel. Standard Petroleum. General Motors. Bell Telephone. International Business Machines. The name communicated essential information about the company: that was part of its purpose.

That approach has fallen out of fashion, in part because so many large enterprises are highly diversified; a straightforward label would confuse, rather than clarify. Also, the number of companies—and therefore the number of trademarked names—has become so large that it’s nearly impossible to own a name like this.

It’s possible to get around the literal label name challenge without fully stepping away from it. For example, the label can be turned into an acronym. 3M, a name with high recognition, wasn’t the actual name of the company until 2002. It had been Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing—name that had nothing whatsoever to do with many of its products.

A name needs to be memorable. And yet, many are not. They fail to gain traction in the public awareness. Google renamed itself Alphabet nearly a decade ago, but few outside of the investment community think of it as anything other than Google. In common usage, it probably always will be. The company is synonymous with its product.

Sometimes a forgettable name may even provide a benefit by distancing an enterprise from controversy. An example of this is Altria, which formerly had been the Philip Morris tobacco company. As awareness of the health hazards associated with tobacco increased, a name strongly associated with such a problematic product could be seen as a liability.

What makes for a great name?

At the very least, a name should be “sticky,” so that it increases awareness. It should be easy to say and easy to parse when written. But that’s not enough.

A good name is tied to strategy as well as brand personality. It should age well. It needs to “feel” right and resonate in a way that speaks to your audience—it should, ideally, say something about the product or company and spark emotion.

The best names are those that become part of the brand’s story. America’s first high-speed rail service, Acela, is an excellent example. The word itself, derived from “acceleration” and “excellence,” connotes speed and suggests the benefit passengers get when they choose the service.

A Tenet Partners client, Broadview Federal Credit Union, shows how an evocative name can spark a powerful narrative that didn’t previously exist. The legacy naming was very literal, in keeping with the category: a straight-label approach that described location and clientele. Changing it to Broadview pivoted from talking about the enterprise to talking about the brand’s essence. The name became a centerpiece of a new brand story about expansive future possibility and all-encompassing customer relationships—taking a broad view of people’s finances and the credit union’s important role in the community. By changing the focus to put the spotlight on outcomes and customers, Broadview now has a way to show that it truly is different.

All the good names are taken… or are they?

Naming is a highly stimulating creative exercise. It’s truly fun to play with words, and it taps into the creativity of your team at the deepest level. But it’s not as easy as one might think. At Tenet, it’s not uncommon to come up with several hundred names for a given assignment before all is said and done.

Chances are, any name your team comes up with, no matter how original and clever it might seem, has been used by someone at some point. A legal review of trademarks is an essential part of the process. Prior use is not a deal-breaker—a name can still pass muster if the existing trademark is out of category—but we counsel clients to submit multiple names for clearance and not to fall in love with any particular name until the lawyers give the go-ahead.

Establishing a naming process grounded in objective criteria is critical. The question to answer is not whether the team likes a name. Instead, a name should be judged by whether it supports the business or product, and helps move it forward.

Even if the name you love isn’t available, you can still come up with a great one. In the end, a name is another tool for communications. If you can connect the dots to your brand and build a narrative around the name you’ve chosen, that’s a strong indication that it will serve you well and stand the test of time.

Think about that as you go about your day. What names have stuck with you over the years? Why do you think that is? What is it that you like, or dislike, about a particular name? What does it say to you? Let us know in the comments.

Avoiding the generative AI trap: Why human input still matters

Posted on November 6, 2024November 5, 2024 by Andrew Douglas

Our brand consultancy, Tenet Partners, is in the intellectual property business. Clients hire us for our original thinking and creativity—our distinctive expertise, developed over decades of award-winning work for some of the world’s most prestigious brands.

Today, we’re experiencing a new challenge: the rise of artificial intelligence, and in particular the generative AI tools that are taking the world by storm. This powerful technology is disrupting many industries, including ours. As part of our value proposition, we are making a commitment to clients that our work is not being done by AI.

AI is a double-edged sword

Make no mistake: when used properly AI can be enormously useful technology and in fact, our own analytics practice is rooted in predictive AI. There’s a lot of value there, and such tools can make it far faster and easier to uncover trends and create useful insight.

But at the same time, AI can pose a hazard, because it has the potential to diminish the perceived value of human expertise—particularly when generative AI is applied to creative activities such as content development.

AI is a trap that we willingly walk into

As useful as it may be for organizing thoughts and generating content quickly, generative AI can be a trap precisely because it produces good results so easily. Humans crave convenience, and are all too willing to lean on technology in the name of speed and ease. Over-reliance on technology risks erosion of creative, observational, critical thinking and decision-making skills through lack of use.

Does keeping creative skills sharp by exercising them matter? Are humans better when it comes to creativity simply because we are human? Generative AI blurs the lines, because it has the potential to be more than a tool that enhances our productivity. Why take the time and effort to craft thoughtful, compelling content if you can just tell a machine to generate it for you? It’s a legitimate question.

Why keeping it real matters

Relying on human creativity matters for brands because, while AI may deliver impressive content with a few simple prompts, there isn’t real intent or original thought behind it. It’s lacking in, for want of a better term, intellectual and creative nutritional value. The arguably excellent form of AI-generated content can mask an underlying lack of substance and nuance.

Branding is, in essence, storytelling done verbally, visually and experientially. And we are all storytellers. Storytelling is as old as humanity. It’s something we do our whole lives—we tell stories even before we learn to speak. AI simply cannot fully satisfy that deeply human urge to connect with others and share our experiences.

The best stories—the ones that move us—come from within. They resonate because they speak to shared human experiences. And that is precisely why it’s so important to base brands on human creativity.

No bots were harmed in the making of this blog post

As Tenet’s editorial director, verbal communication is my livelihood. Storytelling and the use of language are of great interest to me, as is the process by which great ideas come to life. The Tenet team has a very strong and productive collaborative approach to content creation in which we bounce ideas off of one another and bring different perspectives to the table. It’s a stimulating, engaging, and very human activity.

I am deeply aware of the potential of generative AI, both good and bad, and its impact on my work. As a content creator I know all too well that I, too, can fall into the AI trap. For that reason, I’ve made a personal decision to rely on my own ideation, composition and language skills rather than turn to AI. By fully exercising my abilities, I believe I can keep my mental muscles toned and continue to deliver the quality our clients expect from us. It may be more work, but I am convinced that it’s beneficial in the end.

Ultimately, the decision of when, how, and even if, generative AI should be used in your own organization warrants a deeper discussion and thoughtful assessment of its benefits and pitfalls, both practical and ethical. There may well be instances in which generative AI is the best way to handle a given task, but as the old saying goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. It’s a tool like any other, and its proper use is up to the person wielding it.

Campbell’s: Honoring the past while moving forward

Posted on September 23, 2024October 15, 2024 by Andrew Douglas

An iconic name is a tremendous asset, but it can also create a real challenge when the company that bears it needs to turn the page. The Campbell’s Company seems to have gotten it right.

The Campbell Soup Company was founded in 1869 and adopted its now-familiar name in 1922. Its best-known consumer brand is practically the definition of “iconic:” the instantly recognizable red-and-white can famously immortalized by Andy Warhol in the early 1960s and TV spots that bring back fond memories of childhood, such as the melting snowman ad that ran for years.

That’s the kind of equity and name recognition that’s well worth preserving. And a week or so ago, the company made a move that did exactly that: It dropped the word “Soup” and will now be known as The Campbell’s Company.

In a mid-September letter to investors, Campbell’s CEO Mark Clouse hit the nail on the head: “This subtle yet important change retains the company’s iconic name recognition, reputation and equity built over 155 years while better reflecting the full breadth of the company’s portfolio.”

He has a point. The $9.6 billion company has been far more than a maker of soup for many years… a diversification journey that began in 1948 with the acquisition of V8. Its consumer brand portfolio now includes many other familiar American staples: Pepperidge Farm, SpaghettiO’s and Swanson to name just a few.

It’s evident that the company sees the greatest growth potential in continued diversification and expansion beyond its traditional soup – ahem – base. By changing its name, Campbell’s is telegraphing its intentions to the market and showing confidence in its future direction: a powerful message. The ongoing shift in focus towards meals (including but not limited to soup), beverages and snacks is a trend that’s not going away.

It’s an astute move that shows Campbell’s has done its homework, listened to its customers and assessed the market before making a change with strategic implications. The company has concluded – rightly – that it cannot walk away entirely from its storied name, and yet there was a clear need to make a change.

The answer couldn’t have been simpler: a non-disruptive tweak that honors Campbell’s legacy while freeing the company to pivot. There’s a clear – and compelling – thread running through its brand story. Dare we say, the name change strikes us as Mm! Mm! Good!