Today many marketers struggle to maintain margins and studies show that consumers see brands in most categories becoming less and less differentiated. But an elite set of brands dubbed “Mythic Status Brands” somehow avoids these problems. These brands are able to grow share, margins and market value by connecting with consumers on a deeper level that creates irrational loyalty. What can you learn about how these brands are developed that can help you improve the power of your brand?

Join Bruce Tait, founding partner of Tait Subler, as he discusses the special kind of brand theory and strategy that his firm has developed to help iconic brands like Gucci, Gulfstream and Nike become more successful. His presentation blends real world case histories with intriguing new ways to think about how consumers use brands to define themselves. To bring some of his theories to life, Bruce will share an in-depth look at the brand strategy approach his firm developed for Gucci that Business Week estimates has added nearly a billion dollars in value to the brand over the last two years. Bruce was recently recognized as one of 40 “global brand gurus” by Britain’s prestigious Admap magazine. The unique perspective he will share in this presentation has drawn big-name clients from around the world to his brand consulting boutique “cleverly hidden in Minneapolis.”

Speech Content

- Establish where our perspective comes from (working with Gulfstream, Gucci, LVMH and BMW particularly).

- A review of the “state of the art” in brand strategy models used today including an introduction to the idea of brand theme (one guiding idea that works internally and externally).

- A look at the problem of differentiation that plagues marketing today.

- The creative synthesis model as a way of infusing original thought into brand strategy.

- The relative power of positioning a brand on a functional basis vs. an emotional connection vs. a values connection vs a movement (with examples of brands working on each basis)

- How we created a movement to launch Moet Hennessy’s new luxury rum (short case)

- How Gucci presented a problem to our existing models and the challenge Gucci faced after suffering the loss of its visionary designer, Tom Ford, and declining sales over a 4 year period.

- The need humans have for status.

- How a deep investigation of status leads one right into mythology, which exists in every culture in the world and serves to “help each individual through the journey of life”, using BMW and Gulfstream as examples.

- How great brands serve a similar purpose as mythology once did by helping to:

o Define a person’s role in society

o Promise transformation

o To extend beyond logic into “magic” or “mythos”

- The definition of a “Mythic Status Brand”

- The model we developed to create “Mythic Status Brands”

- How we applied this model to Gucci (in-depth case history with results showing record-breaking sales, huge increases in stock value, profitability and brand value)