Last One Standing

Hurricane Michael was called a once-in-a-100-years storm. One of the towns that Michael knocked square in the nose was Mexico Beach, which was virtually flattened. It wiped out most of the structures, but also severed the deep emotional connection of it’s residents. 

But one house made it through virtually unscathed.

Russell King and his nephew build their home on 40 foot pilings driven deep into the sand, constructing it out of re-enforced concrete that far exceeded all of Florida’s famously stringent building codes. They called it the Sand Palace. Their family’s emotional connection to Mexico Beach weathered the storm because they had built a solid foundation.

Verhaal will be leading a brand strategy workshop next week were we will be building a “brand pyramid” with our client. Brand pyramids are strategic tools constructed in five layers, much like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, with the brands functional benefits on the bottom building upwards to the emotional essence at the peak. 

Defining the emotional essence of a brand is critical. Why? Because people don’t buy using their heads, they buy with their hearts. They buy based on a deeper emotional connection. And you architect that connection by building from a solid strategic foundation.

Would your brand survive a 100-year storm?