I entered the branding profession almost 20 years ago, armed with a graduate degree in Anthropology and some field experience. I was enthusiastic about this career change because I would now be a part of creating symbols, rather than only studying them. And that is what anthropology is – studying symbols to better learn about human behavior and the cultures that produce and recognize them. Symbols can be seen in archeological records left by people from the far past, or used in ceremonies by remote tribes in far away lands, or created and used right here in our own communities. Symbols are everywhere, most notably language, as words are essentially spoken or written symbols. My decision to enter branding was in part because in our modern society brand symbols, commonly understood as logos, can be found everywhere. Brands often act like the beginnings of a global pigeon language permitting the far corners of the globe to ‘interrelate’ by recognizing brands like the ‘Apple’ or ‘CocaCola’ symbols. Future anthropologists will note that brands were a testament to our time’s marketing-dominated society.Another reason why anthropology offers a unique insight to the field of branding is the ‘participant observation‘ methodology used by cultural anthropologists. This process is how scientists ‘live among the natives’ in order to better understand. Although participating, anthropologists maintain a mental distance from the natives, so they can observe and study various facets of a culture, like a puzzle, to recognize trends, patterns, structure, and laws within a culture. Anthropology training is especially useful in brand strategy analysis and development – as branding focuses on learning about a company’s culture, its goals, its competition. In branding we take those learnings a step further with recommendations – a form a ‘applied anthropology’ – with the goal of helping our clients to better manage their brand ‘symbols’.
Symbols are shorthand for a concept that extends well beyond a name and graphic, and they are often associated with a story, a myth, a narrative. Over thousands of years humans have been listening to stories around camp fires, in bed, or at the movies. The connection between a story and a symbol can be very strong – examples abound such as The Cross and the story of Jesus Christ, and the hammer and sickle and the communist revolution. Humans are wired to remember stories – and tapping into that predisposition can be powerful. Brands, like symbols, can be associated with a narrative, a story and ‘mystique’ surrounding them, for example Starbucks and the Seattle coffee bean importers, and Hewlett Packard‘s start-up in a garage. And in advertising, ‘fictitious’ stories (good copy writing!) are often created to sell products and services, and to create brand awareness.
Stories are not only easier to remember than ‘facts’, but they are a powerful way to transmit ideas, values, and culture. Anthropologists are attuned to listen to stories, recognize symbols and understand the messages they represent. And in our multi-media, marketing-oriented world, in order to stand out, story-based branding connected with memorable brand symbols have become more important than ever.
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By Raleigh Green
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