Chaotic vs. Charismatic
Posted by Blake Howard on October 13, 2009
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"Meaning not money is the new currency of business." -Marty Neumeier
There are two types of brands, Chaotic and Charismatic.
Everyone has a brand. Admit it or not, if you have a product, service, or organization you have a brand. So, the question is, which one do you have?
AChaotic Brand is a product, service, or organization that lacks focus, differentiation, and owns nothing in the mind of the consumer. There is little alignment between its core purpose, product offering, and brand identity (the visual expression of the brand). It could easily be replaced in the market with little to no grieving.
Charismatic Brand is a product, service, or organization for which people believe there's no substitute. There is a solid alignment of brand ideals. Internal stakeholders know the vision and have buy-in. The look and feel of the brand, not only the logo, is distinctive and consistent. If the brand didn't exist tomorrow, people would border-line riot in the streets until it returned or was replaced. The brand has enough true believers to make it #1 or #2 in its market.
Which of these do you think are Charismatic Brands? (There are no right answers, its all about YOUR gut feeling)
SHELL MARRIOTT APPLE PHILIPS
BMW POLAROID BP GOOGLE
CLUB MED IKEA ATITALIA NESTLE
TWITTER SAP ZARA MCKINSEY
SMART DHL PRINTEMPS CROCS
PEPSI-COLA AVTOVAZ UBS DISNEY
GE MUJI HITACHI BLACKBERRY
SAFEWAY MINI SUBWAY KPMG
MR. DONUT PRADA HYATT NISSAN
Alana Dy
Alvin Diec
Becky O'Mara
Craig Johnson
Dustin Britt
Jason Orme
John Bowles
Staci Janik
11 Comments
"Everyone has a brand … mmm … I am not so sure about this statement. In a matter of fact, based on the definition of chaotic brand, it is better to think of it as a ‘no brand’ so nobody would fall under the illusion that there is actually a ‘brand.’
For the charismatic brands, my choices would be (BMW, Google, Ikea, Disney, Subway, and Hyatt). They are charismatic and smart brands with specific messages."
- Saad Al Dosari
"Just because a chaotic brand has a misaligned message doesn't mean its not a brand. It still causes a gut feeling or reaction (all-be-it a bad and confused one). Thanks for the thought Saad Al, I would agree with all of the charismatic brands you listed (except Hyatt &Subway) :)"
- Blake
"Brands are like uvulas. "All God's children got a uvula" - Barney Fife"
- Jay Holden
"Jay, that is definitely the first time I've heard a brand compared to a uvula. Very nice."
- Craig Johnson
"Oh, that ole' thing. I hear that analogy all the time."
- Blake
"Amazing doodles... (are they doodles if they were done on a computer?) - I love the simplicity. Keep it up!"
- David Ytterberg
"[...] + Chaotic vs. Charismatic [...]"
- Matchstic Blog » Blog Archive » Touchpoint Mapping
"[...] on every opportunity to create brand champions is the essence of a charismatic brand. In order for that to be fully realized you have to know every constituency involved along the way, [...]"
- Matchstic Blog » Blog Archive » What’s at stake?
"[...] claim we are busy, I’ll skip the lazy and destructive quadrants). Reactive behaviors lead to Chaotic brands, as opposed to Strategic behaviors which tend to become Charismatic [...]"
- Matchstic Blog » Blog Archive » Busy Little Bees
"[...] have done so much for them. Last question, What role do you think photography plays in building a charismatic brand? More specifically how will if effect the new AUM [...]"
- Interview with OTH photographer Stephen Hunton « Matchstic Blog
"[...] intimacy, or product leadership? From there you can start to fanatically champion the makings of a charismatic and powerful [...]"
- Choices, Choices, Choices « Matchstic Blog