TORSTEN HENNING HENSEL
PARTNER // CREATIVE CONSULTANT
NOUVÉ INTERPLAY
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THE MOLECULAR BRAND 2
A BRAND MODEL FOR THE AGE OF CONVERSATION
BERLIN // JANUARY 2010
FURTHER INSIGHTS & SPECIFICATIONS
WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/PSYCHOMANTIUM/2920156622

BRANDS BECOME
FRAGMENTED
THE MEDIA WORLD OF TODAY IS ENTIRELY UNLIKE THE
MEDIA WORLD OF YESTERDAY. TODAY’S MEDIA WORLD
IS NOT BROADCAST, IT IS DISCOVERED IN FRAGMENTED,
MESSY, NON-LINEAR, NICHE CONVERSATIONS. HOW A
BRAND BEHAVES MATTERS MUCH MORE THAN OLD-
FASHIONED PRE-CONCEPTIONS OF IDENTITY.
WOLFFOLINS.COM

BRANDS BECOME
CONTEXTUAL
THE INITIATIVE COMES FROM THE COMPANY, BUT THE
EXCITING PART COMES FROM CUSTOMERS, WHO CAN RUN
WITH THE BRAND AND EXTEND IT IN THEIR OWN CONTEXT.
HTTP://TENAYAGROUP.COM/EPISODE1.HTM

BRANDS BECOME
LIVELY & DYNAMIC
THE DAYS OF THE STATIC BRAND ARE INCREASINGLY
NUMBERED, AS THEY BECOME A MEANS AND NOT AN END.
IN THE FUTURE BRANDS WILL LIVE AND, IF THEY ARE ANY
GOOD, WE WILL WANT TO LIVE OUR LIVES THROUGH THEM.
WWW.IMEDIACONNECTION.COM/CONTENT/21783.ASP

BRANDS BECOME
SUPPORTIVE
THE BRANDS OF THE FUTURE WILL BE VEHICLES
AND NOT JUST DESTINATIONS. ANY COMPANY CAN SPEND
MONEY BUYING FUNKY MEDIA, SPONSORING AN EVENT OR
PLASTERING LOGOS ON ENTERTAINMENT CONTENT, BUT
THERE’S A GULF OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THAT AND
ACTUALLY HELPING PEOPLE BROADEN THEIR HORIZONS.
WWW.IMEDIACONNECTION.COM/CONTENT/21783.ASP

BRANDS OF THE FUTURE WILL CONSIST OF A VISUAL
IDENTITY THAT ACCOUNTS FOR BRANDED CONTENT
DISTRIBUTED BY A MESSY, FRAGMENTED, USER-
CENTRIC WORLD. THESE IDENTITIES WILL LIVE AS
DIGITAL ASSETS DESIGNED TO CREATE DISTINCTIVE
BRAND INTERACTIONS.
GEORGE CRICHLOW
HTTP://2.BP.BLOGSPOT.COM

TASTES LIKE FUTURE?
ONE BRAND, MANY FACES
AOL EMBRACES FRAGMENTATION, BUILDING A BRAND
LIKE ITS CONTENT: FLUID, FLEXIBLE AND CHANGEABLE.

TASTES LIKE FUTURE?
ONE BRAND, MANY FACES
GOOGLE CLAIMS RELEVANCE AND TOPICALITY WITH
THE PLAYFUL DESIGNS OF THEIR BRAND.

INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMIZATION, PLAYFUL FRAGMENTATION
AND FLUID IDENTITIES – THE FUTURE OF BRANDS?
NO, JUST THE SURFACE OF THE NEW BRANDING.

BIGHUGELABS.COM/ONBLACK.PHP?ID=3668135448
BRANDS CANNOT BE REDUCED TO THEIR APPEARENCE.
IN THE AGE OF CONVERSATION THEY NEED TO BECOME
PLATFORMS FOR SHARED NEEDS

THE NEW BRANDS NEED AN IDENTITY THAT ALLOWS THEM
TO CONNECT AND INTERACT WITH INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE AND
GROUPS THAT SHARE THE SAME INTERESTS AND NEEDS.
LIKE HUMAN BEINGS, THEY NEED TO ADAPT TO DIFFERENT
SITUATIONS BY ACTING DIFFERENTLY AND SHOWING THE
DIFFERENT FACE(T)S OF THEIR COMPLEX PERSONALITY.

WWW.FLICKR.
COM/PHOTOS/
IMHARA
BRANDS NEED MANY
FACE(T)S TO CONNECT
WITH THEIR AUDIENCES.

THE NEW REALITY OF BRANDS IS THAT THEIR
IDENTITIES MUST ACCOUNT
FOR INDIVIDUAL NEEDS AND
PREFERENCES.
THUS, THE CHALLENGE IS TO CREATE IDENTITIES THAT
ARE BOTH FLEXIBLE YET CONSTANT.

WE CALL THEM MOLECULAR BRANDS.

CONSTANT CORE
FLEXIBLE COATING

WHY A FLEXIBLE COATING?
BECAUSE THE BRAND‘S AUDIENCE BECOMES
A CONSTITUENT PART OF THE BRAND!
WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/STEPHANGEYER/3174831170

HOW DOES IT WORK?
THE AUDIENCE ITSELF CHANGES – THE FORMER
TARGETS BECOME ACTIVE USERS: PRODUSERS
WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/STEPHANGEYER/3118260469

IN COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITIES THE CREATION OF
SHARED CONTENT TAKES PLACE IN A NETWORKED,
PARTICIPATORY ENVIRONMENT WHICH BREAKS DOWN THE
BOUNDARIES BETWEEN PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS AND
INSTEAD ENABLES ALL PARTICIPANTS TO BE USERS AS
WELL AS PRODUCERS OF INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE –
FREQUENTLY IN THE HYBRID ROLE OF A PRODUSER WHERE
USAGE IS NECESSARILY ALSO PRODUCTIVE.
HTTP://PRODUSAGE.ORG/PRODUSAGE

HOW TO CONNECT WITH THEM?
BY OFFERING INDIVIDUAL DOCKING OPTIONS =
INDIVIDUAL SOCKETS FOR INDIVIDUAL PLUGS.
HTTP://WIKITRAVEL.ORG/UPLOAD/EN/THUMB/8/85/PLUGS.PNG/400PX-PLUGS.PNG

SOUNDS LIKE 1:1 MARKETING?
NOPE. BECAUSE THE SOCKETS* NO LONGER COME
FROM THE COMPANY (CRM) BUT FROM THE USERS.
(THAT‘S WHY THE USERS MUST BECOME A PART OF
THE BRAND – AS PROLONGED BRAND SOCKETS.)
* NOTE: IN MARKETING 1.0 THE COMPANIES THREW PLUGS AROUND TO FIND FITTING SOCKETS.
THROUGH MARKETING 2.0, THIS ROLE HAS CHANGED. TODAY, THE USERS ARE THE PLUGS THAT
ACTIVELY SEARCH FOR FITTING SOCKETS...
WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/JORIEL/3064399706

HTTP://PETS.WEBSHOTS.COM/PHOTO/2952341190102516631XINRMS
AS A RESULT, BRANDS BECOME PERSONAL PLUG-INS.
IN THE FUTURE, THE QUESTION WILL NOT BE "WHAT IS
THE BRAND?" BUT "WHO CONNECTS TO THE BRAND?"

NOWADAYS NO TWO PEOPLE SEE THE SAME INTERNET.
WE INCREASINGLY DISCOVER ONLINE CONTENT NOT JUST
BY ALGORITHMS BUT VIA THE “LENS OF FRIENDS.”
MICROSOFT RESEARCHER DANAH BOYD
WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/19428171@N00/3355477682

THIS LEADS TO BILLIONS OF PERSPECTIVES:
NO TWO PEOPLE SEE A BRAND IN THE SAME WAY.
IT ALSO MEANS:
NO TWO PEOPLE WILL CONNECT TO THE BRAND IN THE
SAME WAY, FOR THE SAME REASONS, THROUGH THE SAME
STORY OR VIA THE SAME CHANNELS...

THE ONLY THING COMPANIES CAN DO
IS OFFERING INDIVIDUAL DOCKING OPTIONS =
INDIVIDUAL SOCKETS FOR INDIVIDUAL PLUGS.
HTTP://WIKITRAVEL.ORG/UPLOAD/EN/THUMB/8/85/PLUGS.PNG/400PX-PLUGS.PNG

WE CALL THESE DOCKING OPTIONS: CONNECTORS.
CONNECTORS ARE VARIOUS TYPES OF MEMES* AND CAN
RANGE FROM IDEAS AND IDEALS VIA SHARED VALUES,
ROOTS, INTERESTS, BELIEFS, FASHIONS AND LIFESTYLES
TO (SUB)CULTURAL CODES AND SIGNALS LIKE CLOTHING,
GADGETS, TOOLS, COLOURS, JARGON AND SO ON.
* A MEME IS A POSTULATED UNIT OF CULTURAL IDEAS, SYMBOLS OR PRACTICES, WHICH CAN BE
TRANSMITTED FROM ONE MIND TO ANOTHER THROUGH SPEECH, GESTURES, RITUALS OR OTHER
IMITABLE PHENOMENA. SUPPORTERS OF THE CONCEPT REGARD MEMES AS CULTURAL ANALOGUES TO
GENES, IN THAT THEY SELF-REPLICATE AND RESPOND TO SELECTIVE PRESSURES. MEMES SPREAD
THROUGH THE BEHAVIORS THAT THEY GENERATE IN THEIR HOSTS. MEMES THAT PROPAGATE LESS
PROLIFICALLY MAY BECOME EXTINCT, WHILE OTHERS MAY SURVIVE, SPREAD, AND MUTATE.

OUR CONCEPT:
CORE
*
+ AUDIENCE
+ CONNECTORS **
= BRAND
* DEFINED AS USERS AND PRODUSERS ** DEFINED AS SELF-REPLICATIVE MEMES

THE MOLECULAR BRAND COSMOS
BRAND GROUND
CORE COMMON GROUND
USER GROUND

THE MOLECULAR BRAND COSMOS
USER-ORIENTED BRAND-ORIENTED USER-ORIENTED
BRAND GROUND
CONNECTORS LEVEL 1:
BRAND MEMES
CORE COMMON GROUND
CONNECTORS LEVEL 2:
CULTURAL MEMES
USER GROUND
CONNECTORS LEVEL 3:
INDIVIDUAL MEMES
USER-ORIENTED BRAND-ORIENTED USER-ORIENTED

THE MOLECULAR BRAND COSMOS
STYLE MATCH
VALUE MATCH
CORE
BENEFIT MATCH
BOUNDARY MATCH

IN EVER NEW STRUCTURES AND INDIVIDUAL
PERSPECTIVES ON THE BRAND.

WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/STEPHANGEYER/3307134392
THANK YOU!
Want to know more? Get in contact:
torsten.hensel@nouve-interplay.com
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