Ueber-Brands is a consulting firm that helps brands become "peerless, priceless, and profitable" through their approach called "Ueber-Branding". The model is based on analyzing over 100 brands that achieved sustained premium growth. Ueber-Branding focuses on developing brands that accrue "meaning beyond the material" for key stakeholders. This allows brands to go "Ueber" and stand out in the minds of influencers, consumers, and employees. Ueber-Brands' process includes deep diving into a brand's DNA, understanding their "Ueber-Target", defining iconic elements, and ensuring the brand's "Truth" is expressed consistently across touchpoints.
3. WHO
JP Kuehlwein [ˈjp kʊlwine] Co-Founder and Principal at Ueber-Brands
Consulting. Previously Executive VP Frédéric Fekkai, Brand Director
and Director of Strategy at Procter & Gamble. JP has a track record of
turning consumer- and business insights into propositions that win big
in-market, across categories and countries.
Wolf Schaefer [ˈwulf ʃeɪfɜr] Co-Inventor of Ueber-Branding and
Chief Strategic Officer at partner agency Select World, one of
the leading premium brand-building networks. Wolf is the
strategy builder for companies as diverse as Coty, LVMH,
Nestle or P&G with a particular focus on prestige brands.
A global network [ˈnetwɜːk] of associates we draw on. Experts in their fields
which range from anthropology and consumer research via analytics, team
moderation to storytelling, digital design and marketing planning through
launch execution.
4. WHAT
The Ueber-Branding [ˈyːbɐ brændɪŋ] model is based on six years of analyzing over a
hundred brands that were able to generate sustained growth at premium prices
and on some fifty years of our own, combined experience in brand building,
advertising and marketing.
Our findings are summarized in the Book “Rethinking Prestige Branding – Secrets of
the Ueber-Brands” (Kogan Page, 2015) and in numerous articles, case studies and
interviews, many of which that you can read on our website.
The objective is to develop effective, feasible and sustainable ways in which a
brand can accrue ‘meaning beyond the material.’
This allows a brand to go ‘ueber’ [ˈyːbɐ] - become peerless and priceless in the
mind and experience of key stakeholders like influencers, consumers, employees.
6. Ben & Jerry’s manifests its mission and brand myth consistently from the pint to the plant,
thus creating ‘meaning beyond the material.’ - A true Ueber-Brand. More about that here.
7.
8. HOW
Key Steps and Outcomes
• Deep dive into the brand history and DNA to update/derive a relevant and
desirable mission and/or relating and engaging elements of a brand’s myth.
• Understand the concept of ‘Ueber-Target’ (vs ‘consumers’) and definition
of that target for the brand and of ways to ‘activate’ it.
• Review of the holistic brand experience* and extract defining- and iconic
elements/rituals to create, use, celebrate.
• Lay out a ‘Brand Truth,’ that is to come to life over time and across touch-
points accounting for capabilities, capacity and capital available.
(*product, pack, production, service, organization, language, in-store/on-premise experience,
etc.)
10. Brand DNA
Motivations
Beliefs
(Founding) Story/History
Actions & Rituals
Style, Character
Manifestations
Communications, Tone
…
How Get There:
Customized research plot that can
include
- Founder-/Leader-/ Organization
Interviews
- Brand Maven Identification/
Interviews
- Brand Anthropology
- Cultural Study
- Semiotic Study
11. Brand DNA – What guides the
beliefs and actions of the brand? To
answer that, we deep-dive into the
DNA… or construct one where it is
missing.
The strongest brands feel
consistent in their pursuits and
from the inside and outside.
We revived Fekkai, by drawing on
its unique French-American mix
of ‘casual sophistication,’ on ‘the
man himself’ to style models in
the ads, on the salons for social
media content, on Aix-En-
Provence for scents, colors and
ingredients…
13. Mission – Today, people
expect the purpose of a
brand to go beyond utility.
– You might be a humble
cleaner. If they care about
your cause, they are
willing to pay a price.
Method’s 'people against
dirty' is also a stance
against toxic ingredients,
pollution or false industry
claims. To express it, they
field initiatives like ocean-
plastic bottles or events
like transforming parking
lots into parks.
16. Ueber-Target - Red
Bull gives extreme -
athletes, -aviators, -
stuntmen, -dancers
wings -- sometimes
literally.
They are the Ueber-
Target that guides RB
design, events and
communication …
17. … but this Ueber-Target is not
generating the $6bn+ in global RB
sales.
Those core users are students,
truck-drivers, nurses and
everyone else who needs to get a
kick and stay awake.
The Ueber-Target is the muse, the
design target that shapes the
brand and attracts the core users
who aspire to ‘be like them’.
Another example: The Outlaw
‘Hells Angels’ versus the key
Harley Davidson company client.* * hint: a high-net worth male with a midlife crisis
18. Myth
How Get There:
- Brand Legend Workshop
- Archetype(s)
- Comms/Org Implementation
19. Myth - What stories around
the brand and can be
elevated to a compelling
myth? Myths forever
fascinate us.
Method is the also about the
fight of small David vs the big,
bad industry Goliaths. RB
about becoming superman/-
woman and Nespresso might
transforms us into a 'suave
connoisseur’ – just like
George!
20.
21. Product
How Get There:
- Iconic Brand Book
(iconic elements, language &
rituals derived from audit and
design workshop)
22.
23. Product - What are iconic
elements of the product that
express your Mission and
Myth and should be elevated
and celebrated?
A pint of B&J or a Dyson
vacuum cleaner are
unmistakable and express the
brands’ hippy attitude cum
social activism or deep believe
in the superiority (and magic)
of engineering and design,
respectively.
25. ‘Truth’ – Are the words, actions, manifestations and the organization
behind them expressing a brand 'Truth' across touch-points that is seen as
authentic, relevant and relating to their mission and myth.
26. Freitag lives its belief in ‘recontextualization,’
recycling old truck tarp into messenger bags
and shipping containers into a flagship store-
tower (below) and letting us visit the plant
(left) to witness it.
29. We brought Pampers higher mission of
ensuring the ‘happy and healthy
development of baby’ to life for villagers
in emerging markets in the form of mobile
clinics providing basic but essential and
otherwise inaccessible pediatric care.
31. HOW
Approach
• We usually play the role of expert-moderator and adviser who will study
your brand and organization and have an informed opinions, but
• we will guide the client team to develop and judge their own ideas and
plans – for they have to be convinced to truly own and execute them.
• Our intervention can be as simple as inspiring clients with our unique
perspective on how to elevate brands and the best-in-class case studies
used to illustrate it.
• But we usually do hands-on workshops, customized to help a client work
out strategies and plans to elevate and grow their brand.
• If desired, we can take over idea development, planning or execution
through experts and agencies from our network .
Seven Core Principles – One Guiding Star:
At the core sits the ultimate objective of any Ueber-Brand, reaching ‘From Myth to Meaning’.
The first three principles leading up to this core goal concern themselves mostly with the external relations of modern prestige brands, starting with their ‘Mission Incomparable’ through balancing ‘Longing vs. Belonging’, all the way to ‘Un-Selling’.
Principles 5-7 on the other hand are about the internal strategies and culture of modern prestige brands, their organization, going in reverse from ‘Behold!’ through ‘Living the Dream’ leading (ideally) to ‘Growth Without End’.
But, too much for this presentation in detail. In sum therefore:
How Myths don’t need history – nor expensive
Adam Lowry, Eric Ryan, 2001 – Challenger of the Industry, Hero of happy eco-cleaning (Ueber) (now; 100+ Mio
Making green colorful and cute
Instigating people and inspiring them
Telling Story of Adam and ERic
People Against Dirty: Rallying Cry
Category, Ecology, Negentropy
Patagonia story of reluctant environmental activistYvon Chouinard HAS EPIPHANY in TIN SHED FORGE: pitons defacing nature he admires and exploresStops sales on 75% of productMISSION TO PROTECT THE NATURE YOU EXPLORE- mission spread from tin shed forge- FLEECE sweaters made from recycled PET bottles and toilet seats- INVENTS ORGANIC COTTON when he finds harmfulness and…
Stay close to Design Target
Space jumping Baumgartner to racing Vettel to underdog soccer club
Flugtag, Extremesports, Music Festival
Besides: Hero of Marketing in 20th century
Multibillion without innovation
Mediahouse – Community Magnet vs. Just Quality Marker
The beautiful innards of the Dyson Cyclone vacuum suction cleaner
James Dyson tells his story over and over:
- frustration with classic vac –
Epic struggle, 5000 prototypes, rejection by industry, 4-6x price of others…
- eventually win, even knited to SIR James Dyson, icon of british innovation and industry
- controversial stance on engineering education
- rejects ‘fluff’ like design, emphasizes ‘real’ technology disruption
BUT THEN, his entire story and product is a supreme one, elevated to myth…