Brand Leo...

“Brand” is one of those words that loses its meaning sometimes. It seems like it constantly needs revisiting for a definition of what it actually is. Maybe it’s to do with it being conceptual idea related to popular culture that is always on the move like ‘style’ which has a slightly mobile meaning. Or that it has a value attached to it.  Companies have to protect the idea that their brands have a quantifiable value, meaning that it’s an idea that needs upkeep like the word capitalism itself. I was reading ‘Creative capitalism’ which was a debate style book where Bill Gates’ concept of the same name was being interrogated. Lots of economists were arguing passionately about the need to maintain the purity of the profit motive of companies and that it was wrong to muddy the waters by confusing this with altruism. Maybe the advertising industry is to the word brand, what establishment economists are to the word capitalism i.e they have a vested interest in cultivating its meaning. What’s funny is that sustainability thinking offers clarity to a lot of the issues that branding is trying to work out since it realised that a lot of the old ideas need updating. In other words sustainability has helped me understand what brands really are. And so here you have it, no fanfare required…

“A brand is what people think about the things that you do.”

Pretty basic really. When people talk about your personal brand – they mean nothing more than this… what people think about the way that you conduct yourself and what they interpret from this about who you are and ultimately if they like you. Calling it a ‘BRAND’ does not change this even though it gets used in a way to suggest that it should. In fact if this notion that on one level everything is a brand did mean something it would mean something negative i.e. Looking after your brand would probably mean managing people’s perception of you regardless of how you really are. This is basically the assumption that has been made by advertising and marketing since they existed as independent departments and businesses. The idea that the perception of a brand can be created as whatever you want it to be regardless of what else is going on in the broader company. This is not saying that marketing and advertising is not necessary – the company needs a voice and it needs to get heard. It is the idea that the voice is disconnected from everything else and can basically be the mother of its own invention that is shaky. If that was the case then you could not really explain away why it makes sense to build your brand in simple common sense speak. It would probably be something like…

‘Brands are something that companies create to give the appearance that the products that it sells are more interesting or attractive than they actually are. ‘

Logic would say that if you chose this definition then you would also end up thinking that actually this was not sustainable (in the enduring sense) for very long and would probably end up opting for a strategy of actually trying to become more compelling as a company in the way you go about doing things and hope that this would rub off.  This is basically what sustainability thinking wants you to conclude. If a brand is what people think about what you do then you focus on that.  

Which in a long winded way brings me to the point of the post which is an example of this at work. ‘Brand Leo’ (not Leonardo Di Caprio these days apparently,) is nothing more complicated than what people think about the things that he has done. This means massive movies that will put off some cultural elites but also includes some with real merit. A string of super model girlfriends which commands respect from the ex-teenager inside men and from what I can tell does not seem off-putting to women. Then there’s how he comes over in real life situations such as interviews – do you come away thinking funny, big ego, boring, takes himself too seriously, insincere, smart?  Well from the couple of times I have seen him he seems to come over pretty well - articulate, passionate but also strikes up a rapport with the interviewer, seems to be ‘being himself.’ Of course all of this could fall to pieces if a Christian Bale like outburst  (remix,) at one of the on set minions emerged but so far it seems to be genuine. So a pass on most measures or 'a strong brand' some might say.

There is however another part to his ‘brand’ which is his vocal support and the time that he has dedicated to supporting awareness of climate change.  If this was just talk or he did not really seem to understand the issues then this would look like spin or tokenism but the commitment needed to get a film project off the ground suggests that you can judge on actions alone. And so what do people think of it? It makes us understand that he is smart and cares about larger issues i.e. a capacity for empathy. And rightly this makes his ‘brand,’ if you want to call it that, stronger. It gives additional strings to his bow outside of teenage girls by having something to say to more enlightened audiences. It also maybe even makes him more capable of being taken seriously which is a big challenge for the leading man with artistic ambitions. And of course the teenage girls like him even more for it. Maybe they do not understand all of the issues but they definitely approve. Would they choose a Leo film over a Brad Pitt film based on sustainability credentials alone – probably not, and if you asked them in a survey it would not register. However the extra notice that they took when they watched his environmental film did make them feel good and some of it might just have sunk in.  

So currently its working well for Leo but the important point is that he could not have done it in the sense of a ‘branding’ exercise if that means through perception creation and manipulation… he had to mean it. So in actual fact its as simple as ‘doing things that are worthy of credit.’ Don’t let branding detract from a simple truth. People, celebrities, corporations, its all the same.