In the midst of an animated conversation on the art of shopping, Jordan snacks on Trader Joes Spanakopita. Jordan sashays into the kitchen, swaggering from hip to hip as she often does. In fairness, her gait is partially out of her control. It’s the product of the way her body shifts her weight to compensate for [...]
Jordan in the parking lot of LAX, a few minutes before the whole trip was cancelled. She’s not happy. She was all set to make her very first trip alone. We booked her first class on a flight to Portland to spend the holidays with her aunts and uncles. At 4:45am this morning, all systems were [...]
Brandlore, Larry's newest book, is due out in 2009. Learn how to build a brand, sustain it, and elevate it to win the hearts and minds of key stakeholders. Stay tuned...
First published in 2002, Legendary Brands was Larry's first book and explores the narrative structure of some of the world's leading brands. Drawing upon cognitive psychology and the study of classic mythology, the book demonstrates that great brands succeed by tapping a universal story structure.
Mad Man's Creed is a collection of 33 poems about hope, loss and the curious promise of that which lies in the spaces in between. Written in a three-year span of life-changing experiences, this is a collection of random thoughts and narrative fun.
I’m a big Apple nerd and this post is about the new ‘Genius’ feature in the latest release of iTunes. As I fiddled with it more and more, I decided to scan the web and see what others are saying. The reviews are mostly positive. But a few reviewers discovered the same flaw I accidentally found.
I spend a fair amount of time coaching clients on how to apply their brand voice. Brand voice is most often associated with a brand’s personality. It guides the tone and style of verbal and visual identity. It’s easiest to understand brand voice when reviewing copy. Sometimes, the way the brand chooses to express itself in words just feels wrong. When that happens, we say the brand is not “in voice.”
Sometimes, the words a brand uses are out of voice but the brand experience still feels consistent. When that happens, it’s usually the visual system kicking in. Because our minds are wired to read more from pictures than words, we skip over the inconsistencies in the verbal expression and read the visual elements that are consistently in voice. Which leads me to the topic of this short post. (more…)