Follow the Feeling - by Kai D Wright (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In a world of increasing digital connectivity, the most important signal of brand health whether a company, person, or nonprofit is simply how you make others feel; and brands that resonate the strongest maintain a consistent, positive feeling across five branding territories lexicon, audio cues, visual stimuli, experience, and culture. Based on research of 1,500 innovative and fast-growing companies, from Disney to SoulCycle, he uses pop culture to capture the attention of busy executives looking for practical ways to protect, build, and reboot their brands for growth. Combining his roots in economics from The University of Chicago and his academic teaching in communication at Columbia University, he breaks down the five parts of any brand that matter most lexicon, audio cues, visual stimuli, experience, and culture (LAVEC) through high-growth, industry defying, and global examples of brands nailing and failing to win customers."--

Book Synopsis

Elevate your brand, create a compelling brand story, and build brand loyalty

In Follow the Feeling, strategy advisor Kai D. Wright answers a critical question plaguing entrepreneurs, brand strategists, marketers, and leaders: how do you grow your brand in a noisy world? Analyzing 1,500 fast-growing companies from Alibaba to Zara, the Columbia University lecturer and Ogilvy global consulting partner unpacks five branding secrets. Starting with behavioral economic principles and ending with a new systems-based approach to brand building, Wright offers readers one constant that trumps the hundreds of factors entangling brand value--feelings.

Follow the Feeling will show you how to best build and position your brand so you can stand out from competitors, build a tribe, and engineer a positive feeling across five important branding territories--lexicon, audio cues, visual stimuli, experience, and culture. Sharing real-world lessons and practical advice he has gained helping everyone from Sean Diddy Combs and Meghan Trainor to Bank of America and HP, Wright can help you develop and implement shareable, culturally-infectious branding strategies. Through storytelling, global research, and practical tips, this valuable book will help you and your organization:

• Efficiently create and deploy a comprehensive brand strategy across the organization
• Quickly launch new brands or reboot existing brands for growth
• Build tribes from audiences, consumers, clients, and partners
• Lean into the convergence of communication, culture, digital, and technology

Regardless of industry or sector, branding is essential for companies, nonprofits, and even individuals. Follow the Feeling: Brand Building in a Noisy World is a must-have resource for anyone from C-Suite executives to aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to unleash the full potential of their brand. And in this world of ever-increasing metrics paired with waning attentiveness, it's not just what your brand does, it's how your brand makes your customers feel.

From the Back Cover

In Follow the Feeling, strategy advisor Kai D. Wright answers a critical question plaguing entrepreneurs, brand strategists, marketers, and leaders: how do you grow your brand in a noisy world? Analyzing 1,500 fast-growing brands from Alibaba to Zara, the Columbia University lecturer and Ogilvy global consulting partner reveals five branding secrets--lexicon, audio, visuals, experience, and culture (LAVEC)--that will help you lean into the future without getting lost in data.

Starting with behavioral principles rooted in economics and ending with a new systems-based approach calibrated for a hyper-connected audience, Follow the Feeling is a reminder that regardless of whether you're a startup, Fortune 500 company, non-profit, or even an individual, the most important indicator of brand value is simply how you make others feel. He wants to help you build a better brand; feelings are the blueprint.

Sharing research, case studies, strategy frameworks, and quick-start tips on how to grow brands using the LAVEC system, the book takes readers on a journey in discovering, envisioning, and implementing culturally-infectious branding strategies both observed in fast-growing companies and learned while advising brands from Bank of America & HP to Sean "Diddy" Combs & Megan Trainor. This book is full of secrets and shortcuts that will enable you and your team to use one branding system to:

• Invest time, energy, and resources in the parts of the brand that matter most
• Efficiently create and deploy a comprehensive brand strategy
• Quickly launch new brands or reboot existing brands for growth
• Build tribes from audiences, consumers, clients, and partners
• Lean into the convergence of communication, culture, digital, and technology

Offering a wittingly refreshing testament that brands are not built on data obsession, but rather, brands are built on customer obsession that starts with empathy towards communities, this book is a must-have resource for the entire organization, helping each team member unlock a growth path for your brand using the master key of feelings.

About the Author

KAI D. WRIGHT is a strategic advisor to C-suite executives, founders, and talent. He has been recognized as a leader by Forbes, Adweek, and the Advertising Research Foundation. A frequent speaker at major conferences and Fortune 500 companies, Wright is a lecturer at Columbia University and global consulting partner at Ogilvy. He lives in New York City.

www.kaidwright.com.