Building Brands on the Strength of 10,000 Immortal Victories
Posted in News
As FINE hits the 10,000 projects milestone, we pause to reflect on how little we’ve paused for 26+ years. And how much simple action leads business direction.
We’ve hit milestones for longevity before. This one’s all about productivity.
In many cultures, 10,000 is significant. It’s used the way Americans might say “I’ve got a million ideas.” And Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 practice hours for mastery. So finishing 10,000 projects seems big.
"One great brand results from doing many little things well. It's also how you earn a cool martial-arts-themed logo."
Granted, some projects were small. But that's the point—little things mean a lot. And when you tally it up, we’ve been running at about a one-thing-per-day clip. All projects have been part of the larger victory of productivity and improvement. Each has been a chance to battle test an idea in the streets, innovate, or just reinforce powerful purpose in some small way. Each has required some balance of peaceful collaboration and tough perseverance to complete.
The core strategy of getting things done, and evolving each time, has worked out so far for friends across industries and all company sizes and shapes:
- The many brands of Ste Michelle Wine Estates, leaders like Mondavi, Silver Oak, Jordan and Cakebread, global leaders like Pernod Ricard or boutique wineries like Darioush, or America’s first craft beers at Anchor Brewing.
- Pioneering hospitality from Kimpton Hotels to The Coppola Companies to Bode, historic places like Hotel del Coronado, and global players like IHG, or Viceroy.
- The consumer tech revolutions of Symantec, Norton, Cisco, and Apple.
- Leaders in private equity, venture capital investing in the next big things.
- Placemakers like Carmel Partners, Pebblebrook, JP Allen, to concepts transforming culinary like Makr, or later life like UK’s Guild Living.
- Innovators changing the world through tech like Lime and Mojo or with missions to save the world, like BrightEdge/The American Cancer Society.
What these companies share in common is a desire to get their visions out of their heads, boardrooms, and slides and into things customers see, feel, and buy into.
That’s how taking brand actions, big and small, can have huge impact on business direction. It’s what we’ve come to call Brand-Led Business Building™.
We’ve been happy and grateful to help. 10,000 times over.
{For extra credit, decipher the four main symbols in the new mark above; we'll publish the answer key soon.}