The “internet of things” favors the brand-led business

[Originally published on Brand Source: Labbrand's Blog of Branding Insights. Please visit that site to comment.]

The most recent edition of McKinsey Quarterly includes an overview of “The Internet of Things”—countless tiny sensors embedded in physical objects, all linked and sharing data through wired and wireless networks. Many examples of networked devices have already gained mainstream awareness, such as RFID tags and smart electricity-use meters. But the article also details more obscure applications, such as continuous optimization of manufacturing processes and presence-based advertising. All in all, the article’s authors propose, the resulting network of information will have far-reaching implications for businesses across all industries, and executives should be aware of “the potential impact and opportunities likely to emerge.”

We agree that awareness of relevant emerging technologies is imperative for any business leader. But mere awareness is only the first step for organizations that wish to truly capitalize on opportunities afforded by the internet of things. The next step is determining which technologies are most likely to directly impact a given company or industry. Answering this question requires a deep understanding of one’s business, competitive landscape, and customers—an understanding indicative of a brand-led business. We believe, therefore, that:

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Over-complicating the simple and oversimplifying the complex

I’ve been doing some competitive research lately, and for once it’s not for a client. It’s for my own company (the one that now employs me), which means I’m examining brand consulting firms and other shops that do basically what we do but maybe call it something different. (Which, by the way, is a plague in this industry—an industry that demands its clients communicate clearly, and yet insists on using nebulous terms interchangeably and coming up with proprietary “processes” that are little more than trademarked names for the same thing all their competitors do. But we can talk about that some other time.)

I looked at fourteen companies in total, including Landor, Interbrand, Futurebrand, The Brand Union, Lippincott, Wolff Olins, Prophet, Siegel+Gale, Added Value, BrandLogic, and four smaller, Asia-based agencies. I chose these firms based on

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Thinking different

In my last post I wrote about the strategist’s role of finding the compelling idea within an organization and stripping away the rest, and made an admittedly highfalutin’ comparison to Michelangelo’s statement that the sculptor’s task is to find the statue hidden inside every block of marble.

No one’s saying brand strategy or corporate ID design is competing with Renaissance art, but the truth is that the link between brand strategy and art/design is more than a metaphor. As design thinking gains more momentum in the business world,

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