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lastmonthmichaelwolff,mikedempseyandmartinlambie-nairngavetalksatthe'meetmasters'eventsinguadalajaraandmexicocity.thesecondpartofourcoveragefeaturesmichaelwolff'spresentationon'whatbrandingis'anddocumentsthecreationofthebrandidentityfortherussianbank'poidjom!'whichhehasworkedonwithNBstudiosince2007.---thefollowingtextisaneditedtranscriptofmichael'stalk-imagescourtesyofmichaelwolff&company---'whenIwasaskedtoworkonthebrandingforlifecreditbankprojectthefirstthingthatIaskedtheclientwas'whatisspecialaboutyourbank?'.becauseifthereisnothingspecialaboutacompanythereisverylittleyoucandotogetpeopleinterestedinit.theytoldmethattheygivecredittopeoplewhodon'thavemuchmoney,whodon'thaveabankaccount,peoplewhofindithardtogetcreditelsewhere.allofthecreditadviserswhoworkatthesebanksarewomen,becausethebanksfeelsthatingeneralwomenaremoreunderstanding.Isawpeoplecomingintothesebankswhohadreallydifficultstories.itwasinterestingtoobservehowthewomenwhoworkedforthebankstriedtojudgeifpeoplewerebeinghonesttothemornot.Iwasimpressedbytheirempathyandintelligence.butthebankslookedveryaverage.soIbegandiscussingwiththeownersaboutre-brandingbuttheyhadverylittleknowledgeofit.soIhadtoexplainittothem,butexplainingbrandingcansoundalittlebitsilly,alittlepretentious.Ihadtothinkverycarefullytomyselfaboutwhatbrandingis.brandingstartedwithburningamarkinacowsrump.thepurposeofthiswassoafarmercouldsay'thisismycow'.ifanybodystoleyourcowyou'dknowbecauseitwaspermanentlymarkedwithyourbrand.thenextphaseofbrandingcameintheindustrialrevolutionwhencompaniesstartedtosay'Imadeit'.forexampleafordbadgesaid'it'smycar-Imadeitforyou'andthisidealayswaytothesignaturebrands.nextweenterintoaverydifficultworldtounderstand.whichis'whywelikewhatwelike,whywechoosewhatwechoose'and'whatcreatesourexpectationlevels'.brandingislikeasortoffileinyourbraininwhichyouholdyourideasaboutsomething-that'swhatbrandingis-itexistsinthemindsofindividuals.it'slikeifyougointoacheapsupermarketandthey'verunoutofbread-yourjudgementmightbe'whatarubbishsupermarketthey'verunoutofbread'.butifyougotoanexpensivesupermarketandthesamethinghappensyoumightthink'howstupidIamIshouldhavegothereearlier.that'showbrandingworks.intheendit'salmostlikeashakespeareanquote:'tobuyornottobuy''tojoinornottojoin''toinvestornottoinvest''totrustornottotrust'ifwelookattheactualshakespearequotehesays:'tobe,ornottobe,thatisthequestion:whether'tisnoblerinthemindtosuffertheslingsandarrowsofoutrageousfortune,ortotakearmsagainstaseaoftroublesandbyopposingendthem.'manycompaniesarejustmanagingcircumstances,managingpredicament.sowhatItryandgetacrosstoacompanyishowtomovefrompredicamentmanagementtoamission.howdowemovefromreactingtothecurrentsituationtodoingthingsbetter,breakingnewground.appledidjustthiswiththecomputerindustry-theysawthatthelanguageoftheothercomputercompanieswasoneofexclusivity:'youdon'tknowhowtodothis'andthisonlyincreasedtechnophobia.applemadethecomputeraccessibletoeverybodybytellingthemhoweasyitwastouse.theyempoweredtheindividualbecausetheydidsomethingbetterthanitwasdonebefore.theyhavecreatedabrandidentitywhichhasallowedustocreateabrandoutofapple.iftheywentoutofbusinessnextweekmanypeoplewouldbeupsetaboutit.ifdellwentoutofbusinessnextweeklesspeoplewouldcare.tosumupwhatIthinkbrandingisIcameupwiththesetenpoints:1.customerscreatebrands.2.organisationscreatebrandidentities.3.brandidentitiesaredesignedasashorthandtoexpressasetofvaluesandqualities,sothatcustomerscanmoreeasilybuildbrands.4.customersbuildbrandsbyattributingqualitiestothem,andholdingtheirownversionsintheirminds.5.brandshavetobeuseful,attractiveandsubstantialbeforetheycanbecomevaluable;peoplecansensesubstance,orlackofit.6.theroleofthebrandidentityistoconstantlynourishthegrowthofthebrand.7.abrandidentityreaffirmsthevaluesofthebrandineverydetailandeverypointofcontact.8.godisinthedetailsandnotjustinthenumbers.'youcan’tfattenapigbymeasuringit.'9.thewholeisgreaterthanthesumofthepartsbutit’sonlythroughoutthewholethatthepartscanberepresentedandexperienced.10.theideabehindasuccessfulbrandhastobecompellingandauthentic.ifanorganisationdoesn’tbelieveinit,thenwhyshouldanyoneelse.so,togetbacktothebankproject...wechangedthenamefrom'lifecredit'whichhadanimagelikethis:to'poidjom!'whichtranslatedtowhichtranslatesasafriendly'let'sgo',or'let'sdothistogether'.Irememberasachildmydadsaying'poidjom!'tomewhenIdidn'twanttoleavethehouse.somehowitmademefeellikeeverythingwasgoingtobeOK.itwasbraveofthebanktoagreetothisnameasIdon'tthinkthatthereareanyotherbrandsinrussiathatareaverb.nextwebeganthinkingaboutwhatthebrandshouldlooklike.wewantedtouseadomesticrussianvernacular,whichislaceandpainting.wealsowantedasymbolthatwaswarm,attractiveandfeminineandsowedecideduponusingacat.butwhatcat?howwoulditlook?weworkedwithvariousillustratorstryingtodecideonhowitshouldlook.theseweresomeofthefirstillustrations:thenweaskedthecartoonistcharliebarsottitodrawacatforus:itbecamemuchmorerelaxedandcomfortable.peoplethoughtthatthiscatwasfunnybutnotwarm.soweendedupgoinginthisdirection:andthisisthefinalversionofthecatt