23plusone included in the SWOCC Brand Model Book

How do you create an emotionally appealing brand in a well-founded way?

For the second time in the 20-year existence of the Foundation for Scientific Research on Commercial Communication (SWOCC), the foundation affiliated with the University of Amsterdam publishes the model reference work: Brand Management Models: The SWOCC Selection. As developers of 23plusone, we are proud that the model with which we connect brands with people daily for our clients has been included in this scientific standard work for every brand strategist.

Visual method

The 23plusone method stems from scientific research into the link between what drives and makes people happy and the attractiveness of organizations and brands. Twenty-four universal emotional drivers, clustered in 5 domains (Safety, Self-development, Ambition, Vitality and Attractiveness) unconsciously steer our behavior. The method reveals, through physical and online tools, the individual and collective drivers of employees, customers and other stakeholders and makes it possible to connect people on the things that really matter in life. This makes business and branding more human, more attractive and better for society and planet.

Creating a winning brand culture

At BR-ND People, we are committed to having brands contribute to people's happiness. Happy, engaged people create positive cultures and attractive brands. We believe such brands can help solve the challenges of our world. With 'emotive branding' we want to touch people's hearts and minds.

Therefore, we stimulate the development of an organizational culture that positively contributes to the lives of individuals, teams and organizations. For a culture-driven brand you need a collective of individuals who are happy, willing and able to contribute from their inner drive. We encourage everyone to participate, so that top-down and bottom-up forces can meet each other and determine the path together.

In our approach, 23plusone is central. We have been developing the method since 2006 based on scientific research aimed at better understanding the feelings people experience with brands. Because it is an accessible, playful method, everyone can contribute to thinking about the culture and brand strategy. This creates rich brand stories that are attractive to customers, (future) employees and other stakeholders and that lead to growth in the broadest sense of the word.

Since 2012, we have also enabled other professionals to help their clients create beautiful, attractive brands and cultures. In the Netherlands, Malaysia and South Africa, more than 50 licensed professionals work with the method, in the application areas of organizational development, marketing, branding, innovation, communication and coaching. Together, this group forms a community that inspires each other, learns from each other and collaborates.

About BR-ND People

BR-ND People is a boutique consultancy specialized in organizational development, brand and culture. We try to make the world more beautiful by developing organizations that touch people's hearts. This drives positive behavior and leads to renewal and responsible growth.

SWOCC

With practical relevance as a starting point, SWOCC collects and develops scientific knowledge about how brands and communication work. This enables marketing and communication professionals to keep up with and apply new knowledge in our field. SWOCC's activities are made financially possible by donations from commercial and non-profit organizations. SWOCC is affiliated with the University of Amsterdam.

23plusone.org

www.br-ndpeople.com

www.swocc.nl

The text below is taken in full from SWOCC's model book

CHALLENGE

How can the brand connect with people's emotional drivers?

SOLUTION

Besides rational variables that contribute to a brand's attractiveness, such as awareness and product quality, feelings play an important role. With this premise, Kim Cramer and Alexander Koene conducted research with the question: "Why do some brands feel so good?"

Encouraged by psychologist Nico Frijda and based on diverse values, interests and motivation research (including Reiss, 2000; Oppenhuisen, 2000), Cramer and Koene identified twenty-four emotional drivers. These drivers are universal and steer human behavior. Because it proved difficult to give the drivers unambiguous meaning through words, a validated set of visual-verbal stimuli was developed. Physical or digital 'cards' each with 4 photos and 2 words serve to investigate the emotional drivers of internal and external stakeholders and to engage in dialogue about them, to develop brand positioning based on aspects that are important in a human life.

USER MANUAL

When more emotional drivers are addressed by a brand, measurable with visual stimuli, this appears to feel good and the brand comes across as more attractive than when few drivers are addressed. The twenty-four drivers are divided into five clusters: safety, self-development, ambition, vitality and attractiveness. The more clusters a brand triggers, the more attractive the brand.

"The more, the better" does not mean that no choices need to be made. The desired emotional drivers ("how do we want our brand to feel?") must fit the culture and the capacity for change of the people who form the brand.

In the creative phase of building the brand positioning, 23plusone creates a triangle (Trinity), in which brand pillars are defined based on the drivers. They are written out into paragraphs of the brand story.

When choosing the drivers for the Trinity, the following patterns can be taken into account:

• The most attractive brands address many emotional drivers.
• The most attractive brands address many clusters of drivers.
• The 'vitality' and 'attractiveness' clusters have the greatest impact on brand attractiveness.
• The most attractive brands address unexpected drivers.
• The most attractive brands are clearly profiled with six drivers.

The Trinity forms the basis of the Brand Heart, a one-pager, in which brand culture, visual and verbal brand expression and relationships with stakeholders are interpreted in coherence with the (transformation of the) business strategy.

PRACTICE

The emotional charge of a brand is often only filled in at the end of a rational analysis process of the market, organizational strategy, core competencies and distinctive ability. With 23plusone, emotional drivers are actually used as a starting point. When it is important that the meaning of the brand creates connection between people, such as with mergers and rebranding of organizations in transition, the method can be deployed, because internal branding can already be started before the brand strategy is defined.

PACKAGE INSERT

There are various theories and models about values and motivations that have become famous in the brand landscape and provide grip in brand positioning, such as those of Maslow (see the processing in model 1.6), Mark and Pearson (see model 1.7) and the value systems of Hofstede (see model 2.2) and Schwartz (see model 2.3). Such models attach great importance to values and drivers.

With 23plusone as a so-called emotive branding method, Cramer and Koene have moved away from essence thinking in brand positioning as in Bulls Eye and Brand Key models (such as model 1.10) and have instead embraced the possible emotional richness of the brand story (compare Lafferty, 2001 and Akgün et al., 2013). This richness in combination with the 'soft' image of feelings is more difficult to manage than rational KPIs, which makes the method less suitable if there is a need for quick, hard results from brand activation.

SOURCES

Akgün, A. E., Koçoğlu, İ., & İmamoğlu, S. Z. (2013). An emerging consumer experience: Emotional branding. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 99, 503-508.

Cramer, K. & Koene, A. (2007). Brand Positioning. Create Brand Appeal. Admap, January 2011, 16-18.

Lafferty, B.A. (2001). Emotional branding: The new paradigm for connecting brands to people. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 10(7), 466-469.

Oppenhuisen, J. (2000). Een schaap in de bus? Een onderzoek naar waarden van de Nederlander. Amsterdam: SWOCC.

Reiss, S. (2000) Who am I: The 16 basic desires that motivate our actions and define our personalities. New York: Tarcher/Putnam.