Primal Branding Series #5 – The Leader. The last missing piece.

Posted at September 18, 2009 // Books

You’ve been waiting for this one. The final primal code highlighted in Primal Branding by Patrick Hanlon. We’ve discussed in previous posts the creation story, the creed, the icon, the rituals, the pagans / nonbelievers, and the sacred words. What else is left?

The Leader

Every brand needs a captain. Someone to steer the ship. Someone to set the direction. Someone to make decisions.

Don’t confuse the leader with the icon. This person is not necessarily the spokesperson, or the face of the brand. This is the person that truly decides how to put all the elements of the brand together.

Without this necessary element, all the other part of the brand would fall apart. Without someone with a vision, the icon would not work with the sacred words. Without someone who knows how to listen, the rituals would not leverage the pagans.

I could dedicate not just this post, but this entire blog on leadership. However, taking my tip from Marketing Job Search 101: Read Seth Godin, read Tribes. Alternatively, read this stable on many manager’s shelf, One Minute Manager.

And here you have it: The entire primal code. The code is designed to help a brand tap into the existing emotion of a consumer, to help them to believe you so they could follow you and your brand.

They need to know where you came from – the creation story
They need to know what you believe in – the creed
The physical attributes of your brand would become your icons
Drive repeated interactions between your brand and your consumers with rituals
Acknowledge that you can’t be all things to all people and accept the pagans
Give those who follows your brand a language all to their own – the sacred words
Have someone who could put all these elements together – the leader