Sweden is…

It's about time for another brand insight. What can I say, it's the time of year when Sweden is changing. From suicidal to extatic. From grey, dark and depressing, to light, green and promising. The same country, same brand. How is this possible?

Brand dissonance - or why we should read for ourselves.

One of the strongest personal brands in the world right now is Nelson Mandela – or "Madiba" as he's called by his fellow South Africans. We all have a pretty unified picture of who he is, or at least of what he's accomplished, helping South Africa on the way to a brighter future. And still today, at the age of 89 (he is turning 90 in July), earning the respect of the people of his country and world leaders alike.

Since my first visit to South Africa in 1999, I have been meaning to read Long Walk To Freedom, Mandela's autobiography. The book has been staring at me from my bookshelf, no matter where in the world I have been residing. But I haven't gotten around to reading it. And then, last week, I saw the recorded CD version at the library, and thought it would be the perfect book to listen to during my trip to Barcelona. So I borrowed it and started listening, excited about finally "reading" it.

From living in South Africa, I know some of the different cultures and language fine tuning. Mandela is Xhosa, whose language contains three click sounds. He's also born and bred in a country where lots of words are influenced by Afrikaans (the "africanised" Dutch).

Then came the disappointment. The book was read by Danny Glover, the American actor. I have nothing against Danny – he makes a fine cop in Lethal Weapon and The Royal Tenenbaums is one of my favourites. But I could bear only a couple of minutes of listening. This was not the Mandela I knew, and not the country which I call my other home. Listening to Glover trying to pronounce the Xhosa and Afrikaans words didn't turn me on at all. It was merely confusing.

The morals of this story? Most likely: any brand dissonance, even if it concerns a country or a person, is confusing, and thus creating frustration among the target audience. And: God is in the details, like the design guru said.

Or perhaps: Don't be a lazy ass. Read the book yourself.

The brand as a year.

We're used to thinking about the brand as a product, a company, or even a person. Something with some sort of image attached – whether you like it, detest it, would like to be friends with it, or simply don't care. Perhaps we've heard companies talking about brand equity, and we've definitely seen tons of adverts trying to change our attitudes towards a specific product or a whole company.

But even years can be seen from the brand perspective. Have a taste at these words: The brand as a year. 2008 is lying mostly untouched ahead of us, and it's time to think about what we want it to be like. For politicians it's about the nation, the region, or the city. For you, the individual, it's about matters closer to home. Is it finally time you stop smoking? Or buy that house despite the rumble on the property market in the big country out west? Or perhaps make the biggest decision of your life and move to another country?

There is no telling what our perception of 2008 will be, in retrospect. Just think about 1968 – what does that year bring to mind? Or 2001? We all have personal perceptions about certain dates in time, but from a bigger perspective, don't we all share some common perceptions?

2007 has ended and initially I thought of nominating all the brands of the year – such as the person of the year, the decision of the year, or perhaps even the nation of the year (and I may still, later). But instead I want to pose the following question: which will be the prevailing image of the year 2007? For me, 2007 was the year when I returned to Göteborg, Sweden, from Cape Town, South Africa. As well as the year I started my brand & design consultancy company.

But which will be the unified image of 2007? The image most people will share? Perhaps the year when the world finally awoke to find the environmental nightmare to be true? Or the year when Benazir Bhutto was assasinated? The year when Carl von Linné would have turned 300 (he was born on 23 May 1707)? If we ask Wikipedia, 2007 is the year of Rumi, and the dolphin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007). And what will 2007 be remembered as in 100 years?

Happy New Year!

merry christmas cards

To do or not to do (and when)? And what do they tell people about you and your brand? That is the question when it comes to the annual christmas cards. At least if you are a trained graphic designer, currently running a brand and design consultancy. The pressure is massive, or perhaps that's only in my head.

I was, however, delighted to get an invitation by design studio mermermer (www.mermermer.com), run by seven talented designers, to get the christmas card business taken care of. The simple recipe was to hand in a list of recipients and 25 SEK (€ 2.50) per card. The rest was to be taken care of by mermermer. Including sending the cards out on time!

It was an absolutely fabulous idea. But pressure got the better of me and here I am, without the, no doubt, ingenious and very special christmas cards designed by mermermer. Instead I made them myself. Again. Now, what does that say about me (and my brand)?

So, merry christmas to all of you! I hope the holidays will be filled with rest and no decision making. And perhaps a bit of snow. Or sunny summer days.

Soul food

I'm in love with a brand. I know it's unorthodox, but this one deserves it. Since 1964 the company, Saltå Kvarn (Saltå Mill) in Järna, Sweden, has been in business – in the field of biodynamic and ecological crops.

If you walk into a fairly well stocked food shop in Sweden today, you will find anything from dried apricots and pineapple juice to bulgur wheat and rye flour. All ecologically grown. All biodynamic. By Saltå Kvarn.

A few years back Saltå Kvarn redesigned their packaging, giving the brand a real energy injection. It's a pleasure to see the retro looking packages in basic colours stand out from any food shelf. The packaging is what made me, and many others, I'm convinced, rediscover the brand. And it's a pleasure to buy biodynamic food when the whole experience feels good.

PS: If you're in Sweden, don't miss their sourdough baking courses, using their traditional stone ovens.

www.saltakvarn.se

guess my country

There has been a lot of focus on nation branding lately. At this year's Design Indaba (www.designindaba.com) in Cape Town in February, brand and design guru Wally Olins spoke about the nation as a brand. And in the September issue of Monocle (www.monocle.com) a whole section (40+ pages…) is dedicated to the basics of country construction. And honestly, we do have strong ideas about certain nations. Which country is associated with skillful engineering but a lack of emotionality? Where does a cheerful, blond, cross-country skier have his home?

Some nations lack images. Olins gave a good example:
– Ask someone in South America what they think about Lithuania. They don't.

Another issue that's currently on everybody's lips is global warming and the need for a change in our behaviour, or else we'll have to find ourselves a new home in a not too distant future. I'm just wondering which nation is going to be the first to make a real effort to become the "green nation", the nation we will all associate with ecological efforts and sustainable thinking.

Welcome to my world of brands!

This is a forum for brands, and everything that relates to them. From strategy to creativity, products to communication, nation branding to the logo of the local pizza place – it's all part of the world of brands. This is a forum for obsession, random thoughts, analysis and critique. So let's start. Here and now. Welcome to my world of brands!