Nov 19, 2018
This week's guest is Allen Adamson, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Metaforce, a boutique, hybrid marketing services firm focused on growth strategies. Allen was previously Chairman, North America of Landor Associates, and has written four books:
- BrandSimple: How the Best Brands Keep it Simple and Succeed
- BrandDigital: Simple Ways Top Brands Succeed in the Digital World
- The Edge: 50 Tips from Brands that Lead
- Shift Ahead: How the Best Companies Stay Relevant in a Fast-Changing World
We started the conversation by talking about the importance of simplicity-the premise of his first book. Allen says he likes to think of your brand as your story and asks, "When someone hears your name, what do you want to pop into their head?" While he acknowledges the utility of the various components of a typical brand platform (i.e., brand pillars, brand personality, etc.), he keeps coming back to the ultimate goals of focus and simplicity. I asked how companies or brand managers should find that simple, relevant, differentiating story or idea, and Allen recommended one exercise he likes to do with clients: Write down everything special about the brand on index cards, and try to prioritize them into pyramids. Force yourself (or your clients) to put one card on the top of the pyramid. Once you have one or two brand stories, he recommends developing some prototype to ensure a story can be translated into execution. We talked about longer brand narratives (that read like ad copy), adlobs, and other potential prototypes. As I've done a few times recently, I ended the interview by asking Allen for a book recommendation. Rather than suggesting a brand or business book, Allen said he likes to read anything that helps him "get out of [his] bubble." A recent book he enjoyed was Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari. To see other books recommended by podcast guests and branding people, check out our recent post, Useful List: Books recommended by branding experts. To learn more about Allen, visit Metaforce.co. His books are available on Amazon.