The 3D Brand: How Brands & Business Evolved

What's all this talk about the social brand?

what does it mean?

how does-or did brands and business actually evolve?

when people say that brands needs to adapt or die, what does that actually mean? adapt to what, exactly?

I believe this article will answer that question.

But first, let me tell you a little story about the death of the One Dimensional Brand.

Old jack, frustrated with his business and the way things were going in his town which seemed to be much different than the city he once knew, the city he grew up in, decided to pack up his operation and venture off into a fresh new territory where he could execute his one and only function... to sell enough of his products and services to eat and sleep in comfort so he could wake up and do it again.

Sure enough Jack met the same problem in the proceeding three towns.

What started out as a mild inconvenience had turned into a glaring problem he was now forced to confront.

Mentally backtracking each encounter to identify the cause for what suddenly felt like business obsolescence, he was able to pinpoint the problem.

Jack simply lost his ability to compete, because several people were now selling the same thing Jack was, but they were selling it for cheaper than jack could even produce it.

Unfortunately, jack built his whole business on providing his product at the cheapest price.

If you say that business and the internet haven't changed commerce forever, i'd say, you don't know Jack!

Jack was what we could call a ONE Dimensional Brand. His business model was being the low cost leader. Therefore, Jacks Unique Value Positioning was built with only one pillar of support, thus a very unstable platform for success in ANY economy.

What's the lesson?

Insane levels of global Competition, openly accessible resources for everyone, the long-tail; has created more choices, and requires a greater level of distinction, a greater level of value-to be successful in the modern world.

Best buy is now amazon's showroom.

It's a perfect example when you can sympathetically point to a big box superstore as the underdog business model.

What's needed is a deeper level of value, of connection, a multi-dimensional experience, what's needed for thriving success in the new economy is brand loyalty.

What businesses who adapt and survive will do-is embrace the new economy and the 3 Dimensional Brand.

The 3 Dimensional Brand.

The 3 Dimensional Brand synergizes the other two dimensions into a congruent brand experience.

Stories and messages are how we are biologically wired up. It's how we relate, it's how we communicate. I think, although it's the reference point, the industrial age only existed for a very brief moment and only existed out of a primitive evolutionary process that was needed to get us to today. To the modern world.

I believe the stage is set for the next couple hundred of years or more. For the rest of our lifetime anyway.

Their's not really that much NEW stuff that's going to change everything. Sure their will be incredible advancements in science and technology, but we're not talking about anything radical like say, the INTERNET, or FLYING cars…

The infrastructure is in place, and the evolutionary process has quite naturally evolved the world of business as well.

The economy has evolved.

The Brand has evolved.

I don't think it's any coincidence, like a random and non-related set of events… I think it's been sequential, progressive, logical, and beautiful.

I don't think their's anything hard to comprehend about what that means, and I think that people who are voraciously searching for the next "thing," are missing the boat.

I think that the next big "THING," is that we all actually figure out how to use the tools… The tools of the Modern Content Creator.

This starts with embracing and developing the other dimensions of our brands.

What this requires is clarity, and focus.

Everyone has the capacity, but it's hard work.

Those who invest their attention in becoming a 3 dimensional brand, will inevitably find success in attracting and keeping the ATTENTION of their audience.

When I talk about being 3 dimensional, that simply means that in addition to the WHAT, it is you do/produce/provide, we need to also zero in on the WHY, and the HOW. It's a congruent story.

Here's what you need, a loyal audience that loves what, why, and how you do what you do.

This brings our attention squarely on 3 fundamental questions brands will need to become decidedly more focused on. The Purpose, The Vision, and The Mission.

The Why, What, How.

3 Dimensional Brands mean things to people. They have an emotional connection with their audience, products and services are proactively built FOR and around a congruent customer experience, and most important of all they illicit that all important factor, brand loyalty.

The 3 Dimensional Brand.

Why exactly you are doing what you are doing, and why you are driven and committed to your purpose and living your mission.

What your actual job is, and actually what it takes to be successful doing what you love in 2013 and beyond.

How to actually do that.

3 dimensional Brands = Attention, and Impact.

Meaning and connection are what count today. As Modern Content Creators that means that you're now in control. You have the power to discover, shape, design, and drive your unique message and purpose anywhere you want to take it, with virtually nothing more than you already have in this moment.

MODERN Content Creators Communicate In Technicolor!

The 3 dimensional brand not only pertains to the complete 3 dimensions of your business… but it also pertains to the communication of your content, of your message, in a 3 dimensional format… I.E. In technicolor! On and offline, there is ALL kinds of ways to sell a product or service.

But, unless you are trying to compete on price, by relying on being the low cost leader in your market, then it's important to understand the completely game-changing shift that has taken place in the world of commerce at a global level.

In the new economy, what Seth Godin would call the connection economy, the key to building a successful brand is to create meaningful value and relationships with your audience and within your marketplace.

Sparing an indulgent dissertation on the catalysts for it's development, the new economy belongs to those who understand that their brand IS a story, and their job is to express and communicate it congruently through everything they create, say, and do.

We aren't 50 pixel avatars that "may or may not be" who we say we are…

We aren't sterile, generic, voices that drift off into the expansive sea of noise…

As Expert/Artist/Personal Brands, WE are the MODERN Content Creators.

We are the storytellers, the thought leaders, the teachers, the voices for our deepest values, the global perspectives on OUR topics, causes, beliefs…

We are the ones who inspire, heal, motivate, transform lives and businesses, and on a greater level than has ever been even CLOSE to practical-ever before in history.

I know we say, hear, read this in some form rather frequently thus it doesn't strike us on the level of absolute incredible-it truly is, so you cannot be reminded of it enough.

This means everything. Words couldn't begin to accurately describe the power of the opportunity we have at our fingertips. The future is now. The world has changed and business has changed forever.

As Modern Content Creators WE are at the forefront of the 3 Dimensional Brand. We lead the way to the life, the careers, the uncompromising equation of freedom and fulfillment doing what we love, illuminating our audiences, and making a dent in the universe at the same time.

This is the promised land. This is what creatives have been dreaming about since, forever.

I hate to sound dramatic, Im no motivational speaker, I used to be a grunt, an infantryman…

But I've always been a content creator, and I've progressed along with the web since the turn of the century. I am simply awestruck with the magnitude of the opportunity that exists right now, and am continually seeing that illusive barrier that separates modern content creators from embracing it-is hard to put into words.

Are you ready for more in depth training content? I have created CONTENT ACADEMY: the audience development, content marketing, and traffic transformation course which you can sign up for here, once you are ready and have completed this multipart training series.

Follow me on twitter @JamieLeger

Be Your Best,

Jamie