In this week’s episode of the SIMPLE brand podcast, I talk with Emmanuel Probst.

Emmanuel’s the Global Lead of Brand Thought-Leadership at Ipsos. He’s an adjunct professor of Consumer Market Research at UCLA. And he’s a Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of two brand strategy books including his latest -  Assemblage – The Art and Science of Brand Transformation.

Just like a master blender uses the art of assemblage to know how to orchestrate, assemble and combine all the right elements to make a fine wine or cognac, a master brand strategist can do the same with their brand. But they have to be able to recognize and understand which elements to use and exactly how to combine them to craft meaningful, impactful brands.

That’s the art and science of creating a transformative brand.

Some of the topics we discuss include:

• Not all brands need to demonstrate a purpose, but they do need to help their customers transform
• How your brand can be empathetic, relatable, authentic, and genuine
• Your customers need to understand “the one thing” your brand can do for them
• What the history of James Bond can teach you about assembling and evolving a brand
• There is nothing original. Most creations are remixes and recreations of existing elements 
• Brands are now open-source and need to allow for co-creation with customers
• Your brand is not the hero of the customer story, but there are important roles it can play
• Your brand is what people say it is, not what you say it is
• What’s driving a decrease in consumer trust of brands 

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

• Emmanuel’s site
• Emmanuel’s book - Assemblage: The Art and Science of Brand Transformation
• Emmanuel’s book - Brand Hacks: How to Build Brands by Fulfilling the Consumer Quest for Meaning
• Emmanuel on LinkedIn