1. brandnography™
March 2010
©
AnEmilie
2010

2. a classically trained
anthropologist...
Strategy
BA in Anthropology, Yale, 2001
MSc in Social Anthropology, &
The London School of Economics and
Political Science, 2006
“If There are No Women: Muted Group Theory and
Feminist Assumptions of Universal Womanhood.”
MPhil in Anthropology Anthropology
The London School of Economics and
Political Science, 2007
“Youth and Hope in Arequipa, Peru”
©
AnEmilie
2010

3. sees the world in
a certain way:
©
AnEmilie
2010

4. this is the world I was coming from...
©
AnEmilie
2010

5. everything isthe world I was coming from...
this is cultural
©
AnEmilie
2010

6. everything isthe world I was coming from...
this is cultural
everything is changing
everything is cultural
©
AnEmilie
2010

7. a classically trained
marketer sees the world
very differently
©
AnEmilie
2010

8. ©
AnEmilie
2010

9. models are static
©
AnEmilie
2010

10. models are static
everything is about execution and outputs
©
AnEmilie
2010

11. most marketing models
don’t incorporate
cultural knowledge
or change
©
AnEmilie
2010

12. Media Advertising
Research
Strategy & Identity
Direct Brand Public
Marketing Strategy Relations
Internal
Online &
CRM Brand
Interactive
Strategy
©
AnEmilie
2010

13. but they could...
©
AnEmilie
2010

14. Media
Traffic Advertising
Research
Ethnography Strategy
Patterns &Symbols
Identity
Direct Brand Public
Artifacts
Marketing Kinship
Relations
Strategy
Internal
Internal Online &
Social
CRM
CRM
Archetypes Brand
Brand
Politics
Interactive
Behavior
Strategy
Strategy
©
AnEmilie
2010

15. if only they understood
culture a little bit better
©
AnEmilie
2010

16. culture has two basic layers
©
AnEmilie
2010

17. a structural foundation of social forces and human behavior,
religion politics economics kinship
©
AnEmilie
2010

18. and an evolving, ever-changing layer of ornamentation.
religion politics economics kinship
©
AnEmilie
2010

19. most marketers focus on what is cool now
“we need a twitter strategy”
“we need to get on foursquare”
“we need to talk about being Green”
©
AnEmilie
2010

20. but the real insights come from understanding the
bonds between the foundation and the now
lingui
ic
symbol
l
ia
ter
al
stic
a
ritu
m
religion politics economics kinship
©
AnEmilie
2010

21. seeing these bonds allows a real understanding of the
contextual web of meaning for each brand
mater
ial
ic
c
isti
symbol
lin gu
al
ritu
religion politics economics kinship
©
AnEmilie
2010

22. brand strategy becomes nimble and flexible using cultural
metrics to monitor the changing meaning of a brand
religion politics economics kinship
©
AnEmilie
2010

23. and cultural knowledge makes it easier to identify
and act upon opportunities
religion politics economics kinship
©
AnEmilie
2010

24. enter
brandnography™
©
AnEmilie
2010

25. brands & ethnography
©
AnEmilie
2010

26. Brands & Ethnography
©
AnEmilie
2010

27. Brands & Ethnography
brandnography™
©
AnEmilie
2010

28. brandnography™ comes
from one simple principle
©
AnEmilie
2010

29. understanding and identifying forces within
foundational social structures
“We must study what concerns [man] most intimately, that is,
the hold life has on him.”
-Bronislaw Malinowski, 1922
©
AnEmilie
2010

30. helps us see opportunities for people and brands in the now
©
AnEmilie
2010

31. !
the brandnography™ method incorporates both layers:
1. a long-term, ethnographic perspective on relevant
foundational social forces and structures and
2. a real-time investigation of the now
to generate rich insights and opportunities for the web of
meaning between people and brands.
©
AnEmilie
2010

32. !
brandnography™
1. identifies relevant foundational social forces and structures
methodologies
immersion
contextual interviews “what is the currency?”
journals
“who has status?”
imagination boards
“how are things related?”
social media monitoring
“which objects matter?”
archetype panels
“what are the common behaviors?”
network mapping
brand genealogy “what do people value?”
archival ethnography
©
AnEmilie
2010

33. !
brandnography™
2. traces the development of opportunities in the now
methodologies
trend mapping
symbology, semiotics and iconography “whatʼs hot?”
brand preference and perception “what are people saying?”
personal and archetypal profiling “where are they saying it?”
social media monitoring “who are the heroes today?”
network mapping “what are the favorite things
right now?”
object and experiential observation
“how have preferences
user experience analysis changed?”
pop culture tracking
©
AnEmilie
2010

34. !
brandnography™
analysis of tailored brand meaning metrics™ feed data into
various tools to help guide strategic brand planning
brand meaning metrics
shared linguistics
semiotic patterns
cultural elements
-brand meaning metrics™
kinship mapping
-brand bearing brief™
hierarchical/status
-design dashboard™
objectification
personification
evolutionary trends
social behavior
©
AnEmilie
2010

35. emilie hitch
cultural anthropologist,
Strategy
philanthropist, strategy architect,
hockey player, lover of cheeses,
brand builder, traveler, singer,
photographer and all around
smarty pants.
&
Thinkers & Makers, LLC
founding partner
emilie@thinkersandmakers.com
Anthropology
for thoughts on Good Strategy,
follow me: @anemilie
http://anemilie.com/blog/
©
AnEmilie
2010