Making your brand mean more

When I saw this article on McCormick spice company's new retail store in Baltimore, I was reminded of an exercise I did with a consumer packaged goods client a few years ago to help them better understand their brand and create new products.

In order to help them bring their brand to life, we started the off-site session with a visit to The Weber Grill, a theme restaurant in Chicago built around the Weber Barbecue brand. After taking it all in (including the steaks and martinis), we spent the following morning imagining a restaurant bearing their brand by answering the following questions:

• Where is the restaurant located?
• What kind of building is it in?
• Who are your best customers?
• How do they feel when they enter?
• What does the decor look like?
• Who's the executive chef?
• What does the waitstaff wear?
• What's level of service do you deliver?
• What's on the menu?
• And finally, how do they feel after they've paid their bill?

It was an interesting and enlightening process.

What happened was the team went from thinking about the brand as a few well-chosen words and pictures in a powerpoint presentation to a customer-focused business that had to actively engage people.

So even if you're not planning on opening a retail experience for your brand, it's an exercise worth exploring to help make that abstract brand statement come to life in the eyes of your team.