The foundation of an attractive brand is a positive culture.

The foundation of an attractive brand is a

Kim Cramer Alexander Koene

1

INTRODUCTION That is why we explain how the brain works and how activating unconscious and intuitive interests can lead to behavioral change. The scientific method 23plusone can help to provide insight into the emotional dynamics in individuals, teams and organizations.

In this article, we discuss the rapid emergence of a new kind of organization that responds to the enormous challenges of our time. As a society, we are in the midst of the transition to 21st-century post-capitalism. It is not yet entirely clear what this will mean exactly, which is why many organizations are struggling to let go of the business principles of yesteryear.

We also discuss the rise of purpose thinking in the past decade, and how this will evolve into brand activism in the coming years.

More and more organizations, both commercial and non-commercial, will commit to social, economic and ecological reforms. An important instrument in this are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (SDGs).

The last century brought much prosperity to the Western world, but the overexploitation of our natural habitat and the exploitation of labour for the benefit of capital has taken on such forms that many, on the left and right of the political spectrum, see that it must be different.

Finally, we will discuss a practical process for working with as many people as possible from within the organization and other stakeholders to discover what is worthwhile.

With the additional advantage that activating and disseminating this will lead to attractiveness for all stakeholders.

The need for a reset is not enough to get people moving en masse. The Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine measures of 2020 will accelerate the awareness that issues such as social connection, health and equal opportunities and possibilities for all must form the basis of a fair, clean and thriving society.

We hope that you too, like us, will contribute.

This challenging period stimulates a broad reflection on the need for such a new economic system. To bring about such a transformation, we must go back to the basis of our existence: our humanity.

Happy reading!

Kim Cramer PhD Alexander Koene

2

THE FOUNDATION OF AN ATTRACTIVE BRAND IS A POSITIVE CULTURE HOW MEANINGFUL ORGANIZATIONS WITH CULTURE-DRIVEN BRANDS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO SOLVING THE CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY. This creates a new system containing new behavior that will eventually become the norm. A system in which we think a little less about ourselves and a little more about the whole. A system too, in which everyone counts and has equal opportunities. In which people are no longer exploited as a means of production for capital and power. And in which we no longer poison our living environment and the atmosphere.

For some time now, attention has been paid to a positive culture with happy employees as a success factor for building strong brands. With happy, driven people it is easier to achieve something together. In this paper we go a step further: the positive energy in and between people is not only useful to achieve a goal such as customer satisfaction or growth, it is necessary to transform organizations and prepare them for a new sustainable reality. So that they are well prepared for the economy of the 21st century, the contours of which are becoming increasingly clear. What was attractive and commonplace at the end of the last century and the early years of the present, is no longer enough to retain employees, entice customers and reward investors.

Just a step back from the system to the creator of that system: the human being. We humans, Homo sapiens, are highly evolved social and emotional beings by nature. Our behavior is influenced by what other people around us do and especially what others think of us. We are masters at imitating what others show us. Moreover, our behavior is not determined by conscious rational considerations, but by deep-rooted interests that we mainly pursue unconsciously.

A RESET OF OUR ECONOMIC SYSTEM The social, ecological and economic challenges of our time are such that a step-by-step system change is underway.

Not only are our governments implementing targeted tax and legal reforms, they are also driving measures and investments to stop further exploitation of people and over-exploitation of our natural resources.

But companies and families will also have to change their behavior further, from often unconsciously harmful to consciously sustainable.

These interests of modern humans have been developed through evolution so that we as a species can survive and be happy and healthy for a relatively long time. They are not rational, but emotional.

3

and for several years the (social) media. In organizations, due to the focus on efficiency, job satisfaction and engagement have dropped to an all-time low, with only about 20% of employees performing committed and driven tasks. And then we wonder why so many people suffer from a burnout, boreout or depression.

Homo sapiens appeared on the world stage some 200,000 years ago. And until not so long ago, not much happened actually. In groups they roamed the land like barbarians in search of food, protection and opportunities for reproduction. Only in the last few thousand years has the foundation been laid for society as we know it today.

THERE IS HOPE. PEOPLE ADAPT! It is becoming clear on a large scale that we are in the process of converting from shareholder capitalism to a new system that puts the interests of everyone and those of a liveable planet first. This switch or "transition" takes place at all levels, from individual, to community, city, region, country and at a global level. In homes, residential areas, companies and governments. While we believe that all of these levels and environments are important to rediscovering valuable collective goals and taking impactful initiatives, we focus primarily on businesses.

Figure 1. Development Homo Sapiens

Modern Western society developed rapidly in the post-war period of the twentieth century, especially under Anglo-Saxon influences.

Liberal values such as self-reliance and freedom have led to market forces, a great emphasis on entrepreneurship and a flexible labor market. The capitalist model has brought growth and prosperity, but it has also ensured that self-interest has increasingly come above the collective interest.

â—?

The price we pay for this will only become clear at the beginning of the 21st century. A global climate crisis of unprecedented order is now looming, the gap between rich and poor is becoming untenable, lack of equal opportunities regardless of race, gender or origin is the norm, and polarization in politics with nationalist and racist sentiments is rampant. Not to mention the lack of confidence in our administrators, politicians

â—?

â—?

4

Companies have scale, we can make an impact on multiple stakeholders at the same time: boards, employees, customers, suppliers and other partners. Moreover, what sticks in the work context has an impact on private life and thus in families and circles of friends.

Companies are (if all goes well!)

Entrepreneurial, dare to take risks and want to be distinctive.

After years of profitability thinking and the erosion as a result, companies are ready to look at their people again.

â—?

HOWEVER WE WANT TO BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE RATIONAL BEINGS IS WHAT IT DOES HOW PEOPLE FEEL

By "companies" we mean commercial and non-commercial organizations.

Profit organizations have often forgotten their original goal and are unable to properly interpret their social contribution. Nonprofits have their origins in a social cause, but are often less good at connecting people emotionally with an attractive story.

We can help both types of companies well.

For decades, economic scientists have led us to believe that humans are essentially rational beings. In connection with the economization of society and the growth of economic knowledge and theory, we have come to believe that Homo sapiens as Homo economicus make rational decisions. That he is always able to think carefully and make logical decisions based on rational criteria.

There is a need for a new approach. An approach in which the connection between people is central. Where people discover again why they work for an organization.

Want to work there. Not just for the salary, but because the company is human and strives for something worth going for. An approach that takes the emotional drivers of individuals and teams in organizations seriously and connects personal happiness to the collective happiness of employees, customers and all other people who have a relationship with the brand. Finally, an approach that not only ensures a jointly created and meaningful story, but also faith and behavior that brings the story to life.

Brand and culture go hand in hand.

However, modern behavioral scientists are increasingly discovering that people are not very good at making rational choices. In most cases people make decisions based on first and especially superficial impressions, emotions that are difficult to interpret and their gut feeling. Well-known scientists who have investigated this irrational behavior of humans and deepened psychological knowledge about it are Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.

More and more organizations want and will find and embrace their calling or purpose, in which people are intrinsically driven to contribute together to solve social, ecological and economic challenges.

Photo 1. Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky in their early years.

5

EMOTIONS, WHAT ARE THEY?

Kahneman and Tversky showed that people use two different brain functions when making decisions.

Emotions are complex, but they are physiological processes that are expressed through feelings, physical reactions, facial expressions and other body language.

For the sake of convenience, they have called this System 1 and 2. These systems interact and complement each other, but they are very different. System 1 is always on, works very quickly, does its job unconsciously and takes minimal effort. System 2 works very differently. We have to make an effort to turn it on, it's slow and inefficient. Almost all choices people make are determined by System 1: our preference is determined emotionally and intuitively in a fraction of a second, based on a tangle of feelings.

System 2 then makes a logical check, it will post-rationalize our choice afterwards.

System 1 Intuitive Fast Emotional Impusive

There are many different types of emotions, both positive and negative. Positive emotions can include excitement, confidence, satisfaction, euphoria, hope and love.

Negative emotions include anger, fear, boredom, disgust, frustration, disgust, remorse and jealousy.

Emotions are generated by the nervous system. When the senses are stimulated, millions of reactions take place in the brain.

Chemical reactions occur due to the firing of synapses. Synapses are parts of the nervous system and through them neurons can send messages using neurotransmitters.

System 2 Aware Slow Rational Considerate

Scientists assume that all mammals during evolution are equipped with a brain and nervous system that not only controls the primary body functions such as heart rate and body temperature (through the so-called reptilian brain at the top of the brain stem), but also takes care of unconscious emotional processes. With this mammalian brain we fall in love, it activates our sexual urges, it directs our creativity, and allows us to enjoy the fine arts. You could say that System 1 of Kahneman mainly works in this brain. Besides, Homo sapiens has a strong, relatively recently developed part of the brain, the frontal lobe, also called the cerebral cortex. Apes and other mammals also have such a lobe, but it is not nearly as large as that of humans. This lobe is at the top of our brain and System 2 mainly does its job in this. Rational cognitive processes take place here.

Figure 2. System 1 en 2

If System 2 agrees, the choice has been made. However, this logical check does not always turn out to be successful. Because the brain is lazy, it all uses heuristics, simplifications of reality, based on assumptions or incomplete information. Thus we fool ourselves that we are making a rational decision, but in reality the decision is made intuitively in System 1. Only in exceptional cases, if we are willing to make an effort to feed System 2 with good information, does the rational quality take of our choices. However, our brain is usually not at all willing to put energy and time into System 2. Feeling rules.

6

When the mammalian brain (also called limbic system) is activated, synapses fire in the hypothalamus, among other things, triggering processes that ensure that all kinds of peptide hormones are secreted.

Peptide hormones are substances secreted by endocrine glands and perform hormonal functions in the body.

These so-called neurotransmitters cause physiological reactions to occur. Our heart beats faster, we get goosebumps, we start to feel aroused, we wake up and get creative, or we feel like having sex. In short, emotions are not mysterious elusive experiences, but they are the result of our bodily processes. Some neurotransmitters make you feel good, such as dopamines (provides happiness, pleasure, joy) and oxytocins (creates connection, love and friendship). There are also negatives such as cortisol, the stress hormone, and epinephrine that play with anxiety and cause us to flee. These are very useful neurotransmitters when there is danger. When we are almost run over on a busy street, we get scared and instinctively jump away. But if we are continuously exposed to these substances, we continue to rotate and burnout and depression develop.

In short, how we feel is due to all kinds of complex physiological processes.

Figure 3. Brain lobes Just think of make-up sex after a fierce argument between two lovers. During the fight, our bodies are full of an explosive mix of noradrenaline, adrenaline and testosterone. And let this just evoke the emotion of sexual desire. That probably explains why make-up sex is the best and most satisfying sexual experience for many people.

If you know that you can influence the production of hormones yourself, you can display conscious behavior that ensures positive happiness hormones. Useful!

Our behavior has a lot of influence on the production of neurotransmitters. But the way we treat people in our relationships and how we maintain them also leads to the production of positive or negative peptide hormones.

7

If you are even aware of exactly what you are feeling at all. We tried to solve exactly this problem when, in 2006, we started a scientific study into the relationship between the attractiveness of brands and human feelings.

23PLUSONE RESEARCH If you ask people why they prefer Coca-Cola over the house brand of their Wal-mart or Whole Foods, the majority is convinced that they like the taste better. But when the contents of the bottles are switched, people still keep making the same argument. The same applies to driving pleasure in various car brands. The Volkswagen Golf, Audi A3, Seat Leon and Skoda Octavia are technically 99% the same, equipped with the same parts. Yet car drivers have a completely different opinion about this. With System 1 it just does not mean that a VW Golf and a SKODA Octavia according to System 2 are the same.

All kinds of theories have been developed to order the motives of people hierarchically.

For example, with his pyramid, Maslow makes many people think that we must first have the basic needs such as sleep and food in order before we are ready for higher interests such as self-development. The Bain & Co drivers pyramid tells us that there is a prioritization in the kind of interests we pursue and distinguishes between functional, emotional, life-changing and social impact drivers. In reality it turns out that it is not so easy to create these kinds of logical structures and dependencies. It seems primarily the need of the researchers and advisers to get a grip on reality with these kinds of structures and pyramids. Reality is much more complex, unruly and unpredictable. We wanted to get it right!

Organizations or brands that manage to build strong relationships with people, with employees, customers, suppliers, partners and investors, have a strong emotional concept at the basis of this. These types of companies do much better than brands that only evoke a functional response. Investing in knowledge and insights about the feelings you can touch in people is therefore very worthwhile. Knowing that human behavior is largely driven by emotional interests (System 1) is the best way to start if you want to build a strong brand. This is followed by the submission of functional benefits to feed System 2. The problem is that you can't ask people directly about their deeper motives.

After all, a question is often a verbal, thus cognitive, rational construct. If you ask the question, there will be a postrationalized answer. The real answer remains hidden, because feeling is difficult to put into words.

In an extensive literature review we, like many before us, searched for an answer to the question of what drives people emotionally in their unconscious search for satisfaction, meaning and happiness. We suspected the answer would help us address the question "How come some brands feel so good?" On the encouragement of neighbor and emotional psychologist Nico Frijda and based on many values, interests and motivation studies (including Schwartz, 1992, Reiss, 2000 and Oppenhuisen, 2000), we distinguish twenty-four emotional interests.

8

In a later study it turned out that the same dynamics apply to a human life: the more emotional interests are addressed, the happier a person feels.

These interests, such as creativity, connection, health, self-assurance and sexuality, are universal and guide human behavior. They continuously play a role in the (unconscious) pursuit of a happy life.

The twenty-four interests are divided into five clusters based on statistical factor analysis: safety, self-development, ambition, vitality and attraction. For a brand and a team or organizational culture, the more clusters that are activated, the more attractive. No hierarchy has been discovered in the interests or the clusters. It has been found, however, that the clusters of vitality and appeal have a relatively strong effect on the appeal of brands in most cases.

To solve the problem that it is difficult to give unambiguous meaning to emotional interests with cognitive words and phrases, we developed a validated set of visual-verbal stimuli (physical or digital "cards" with four pictures and two words each). With this we were able to profile people (what do you think is important in life?) And brands (what do you think fit with this brand?). When we relate the profiles of brands to their attractiveness, it turned out that when many of the emotional interests are addressed by a brand, the brand is found to be more attractive than when few interests are addressed. Something that feels better is more attractive.

Figuur 4. Vierentwintig menselijke emotionele belangen volgens 23plusone

9

In summary, the research has yielded the following legal insights: ● ● ●

●

● Figuur 5. Five clusters of 23plusone

●

The most powerful emotional connections, preferences and relationships therefore arise when organizations can appeal to multiple interests. The more fundamental emotional interests are addressed, the stronger people feel connected to a team, organization or brand. However, organizations tend to think strongly in terms of the distinct advantages of products, processes and technology and therefore often focus on functional characteristics and benefits, without these being connected to the emotional forces that work unconsciously in the brain.

●

The most attractive brands strongly appeal to many emotional interests The most attractive brands appeal to many clusters of interests The "vitality" and "attraction" clusters have a relatively large impact on the attractiveness of the brand The most attractive brands address not only generic but also unexpected interests (which do not necessarily fit the category) The most attractive brands are profiled with six drives (highly scoring compared to the benchmark) The happiest people have activated many emotional interests in their lives The happiest people have activated interests from many clusters in their lives

The development of the 23plusone method was made possible at the time by sponsors from the business community, such as Friesland Foods, Sara Lee Douwe Egberts, Achmea, Postbank. During development, we made frequent use of the advice of a scientific sounding board group including Prof. Nico Frijda, Prof. Giep Franzen, Dr. Dirk Sikkel, Tjaco Walvis, Dr. Marjolein Moorman, Dr. Tijs Timmerman, Frank Reefman, Jeroen Kemperman, Monique Opdam, Mylene Heystek, Wienke Gelink, Koen van Niftrik and Dr. Linda Teunter. In addition, methodologists at Erasmus University participated in the data analysis.

But for most people, those functional features and benefits aren't that important at all, at least the System 1 brain can't do much with them. The challenge is to initially appeal strongly to the emotional interests of System 1 and link this to more functional characteristics and benefits, so that the rational brain of System 2 can also support the choice.

10

And if it is not, or if it is not entirely clear, then armies of tax specialists, accountants and lawyers are ready to stand up for the predatory builders.

BEYOND PURPOSE: EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT ORGANIZATIONS TAKE ACTION FOR THE CHALLENGES OF THE 21st CENTURY

Without realizing it too much, as users of products and services, we went for faster, more convenient, more and above all: cheaper. From tailor-made clothing at the local tailor to fast fashion. If you don't like it next season, do you throw it away and buy something new again? From lovingly crafted wooden toys to disposable plastic junk. We did not look further than our noses and did not see that in distant lands, children and adults in dire circumstances risk their lives to receive a salary that was consistent with the global system of exploitation. How can you speak of a profit when there is a loss to the world?

While it would be a big win if every company could leverage its knowledge of emotional interests for an attractive brand and positive culture, we believe it is not enough. There is too much going on in the world and the full commitment of industry is needed to meet the challenges of the 21st century. We cannot simply leave this to governments and NGOs. The problems in the ecological, economic and social field are also partly caused by the same industry. Companies should no longer put the financial gain of shareholders first, but the well-being of employees, customers, the local economy and our ecology. This is necessary for the world and thus for the survival of our human race. But it also has a concrete business-economic advantage: organizations that take their responsibility are preferred by investors, employees and customers.

We didn't see it. At least not in the world of marketing. Of course some people saw it. Like Naomi Klein, who published "No Logo" in 1999 as an indictment of the power of brands, called in her subtitle "the Brand Bullies".

C-suites and marketers shrugged and got on with their work. About ten years ago, the thinking that it would be much better to sell people a product or service if the brand story behind it tells that there is a very good intention behind it. Relieve people of worries, get them moving for their health, stimulate creativity, make them happy, enrich their world. Simon Sinek came on the scene to tell companies that their "Why", their purpose of existence, the reason why you matter as a company to people, should be at the forefront of the story they told. Partly because of his book "Start with Why", a new question arose in the business world in a short time: what is our Why?

The phenomenon that commercial companies add value to people's lives is of course not new. After all, most companies are founded to add something that is then assigned value by paying a price for it.

Nevertheless, shareholder maximization and profitability thinking has become the norm in recent decades and the usefulness and necessity of the offer has become subordinate. The goal of a business is profit, regardless of how that profit is made. As long as it is within the law.

11

"Companies are there to make a profit", after ambitions "beyond purpose" and towards brand activism. Up the barricades! Fight for your ideals! The world needs you!

How do we discover our purpose, the higher purpose? The marketing and branding world embraced this thinking en masse and currently, in the eyes of many, you as an organization are not complete if you have not defined a purpose.

Is it the job of companies to meet the challenges of the 21st century? Whose job is it anyhow? Are we not all in this as humanity?

Does it matter whether individuals, communities, companies, NGOs or governments take the lead? We're in this together. We have to solve it together, no one can do it alone. So yes, companies are made up of people and those people have to do it together. How activist companies are in this and to what extent it is part of their brand positioning can vary, but the issues of our time deserve the attention of everyone. In the meaningfulness economy, another increasingly commonplace term, our economy is more conscientious by increasing involvement and liveability and by putting the collective interest above the individual interest. And long term over short term.

Whatever you think of the almost frantic need for purpose, and the greenwashing through commercials, the process of seeking it out is helpful. It shifts the focus from profit for profit to truly important values. What matters in people's lives? What matters to users of products and services? And with that: what matters to people in organizations that make those products and services? This brings us back to people and their emotional interests. What is important? What drives people in their work and consumption behavior?

From a smile for everyone, to beauty as a source of confidence, to a slave-free chocolate chain and a safe planet, there are many things to stand up for. Small and bigger ambitions. Some ambitions are not authentic; enough companies fall through the basket because the nicely formulated purpose turns out to be a farce and the intention is not sincere: "greenwashing". Other ambitions are real, but difficult to achieve, because organizations do not change that quickly. Just think, even on an individual scale the gap between intention and behavior is difficult to bridge.

Figure 5. Sustainable Development Goals

But anyway, we are gradually seeing more and more companies around us daring to express ever greater ambitions. From a low-threshold purpose as a first transition step away from the old standard

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations can very well serve as a framework in this regard. They describe in detail which issues exist worldwide, which goals have been set by practically all countries in the world, and which steps can be taken to achieve the goals by 2030.

12

A growing number of organizations are embracing these goals and making policies to achieve them.

people - if you deeply look into our hearts think very different things are important than the latest gadgets and the hippest sweater.

But at the same time, there are still far too many people and organizations who have never heard of the SDGs. The SDGs were established by the United Nations in 2015 as the new global sustainable development agenda for 2030. They are promoted as the global sustainable development goals. The SDGs are in force from 2016 to 2030, and replace the Millennium Development Goals that expired at the end of 2015. There are 17 goals and 169 underlying targets to operationalize these goals.

And the solution lies precisely there: in the knowledge that people are emotional beings whose behavior is highly dependent on what we feel and experience.

RESEARCH TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD OF FEELINGS In this chapter, we briefly explain how we work to help discover purpose, the match between individual and collective motivations and conveying what matters.

The trick is to discover and understand the true needs of people (System 1) and on that basis design the offer in such a way that these needs are met as well as possible and that post-rationalization can be nurtured (System 2).

HOW DO YOU BUILD SIGNIFICANT, ATTRACTIVE BRANDS BASED ON A POSITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE?

If you are going to work on a strong relationship with existing customers, want to be attractive to potential customers or to be an attractive employer for existing and future employees, then it is first of all good to understand what people's emotional emotional world is. You have to understand what the motives and desires are. The challenge is to discover this and then organize the brand and the organization in such a way that people are emotionally affected. The first step, therefore, is to invite people to participate in the joint strategy-building process and ask them to share their feelings.

A much needed reset of our economic system, global goals for a sustainable future and human behavior driven by largely unconscious emotional interests. Are you already dizzy? How are you ever going to build an attractive brand with that overwhelming and perhaps distant background knowledge? Where is the time of the SWOT analysis, the segmentation models and the positioning relative to competitors?

Don't panic, that world still exists and marketing also still has a hard, concrete side that can be structured in excellences. But we can no longer close our eyes to the problems to be solved as a result of globalization and over-consumption, knowing that we

The 23plusone method offers an accessible and playful way to do this, in physical sessions or online, qualitatively or quantitatively.

13

A thorough investigation of the emotional dynamics of people, their organizations and brands is a first step to gain insight into the interests of certain groups of people, both internally and outside the organization. The insights from such research can then be translated into principles of brand and culture development and activation. By starting to take stock of the interests of individuals, teams and the entire organization, not only how it is experienced at the moment but also what people consider important in the future, it becomes clear how big the gap is between this moment and the future ambitions. of the people.

To optimally stimulate the operation of System 1, we want to create the answers that people give in this research as intuitively as possible. That's why we use 23plusone's visual maps and let people, often under time pressure, indicate the relative importance of each map.

Figure 6. Drive profile clustered (visualisation Totta Research)

This more or less turns off the rational brain and the fast emotional brain does its work.

People are asked to indicate which interests they consider personally important and which they consider fit the culture of the organization or the image of the brand.

Finally, and they may think a little longer about this, they are asked to choose the cards they would like to experience more in the future.

Figure 7. Detailed drive profile (visualisation Totta Research)

14

We have seen that more interests from several of the five clusters, which are also strongly addressed, lead to more attractiveness and happiness. So if you want to build an attractive brand that makes people happy, you already have a simple guideline: "the more, the better". However, this does not mean that no choices have to be made at all in determining the shared meaning, the brand story, the cultural principles. The desired emotional interests ("how do we want our brand to feel?") Must match the identity and the power of change of the people who are the brand, otherwise nobody will move.

It is now clearly clear that connecting positive relationships between people cannot be properly measured with traditional customer and employee satisfaction measurements and Net Promotor Scores that are measured on multivariate scales. Such studies provide rational (System 2) answers and do not tell much about feelings.

Incidentally, when collecting insights, we sometimes also use such questions, as well as questions about brand love and spontaneous associations. The questionnaire mustn't be seen as the usual boring long list, but as a fun and educational experience.

After all, for many people in the organization it is the start of a co-creative strategy process and enthusiasm and curiosity helps them to participate further.

It is important to involve people not only in the gathering of insights, but also in the decision-making about brand strategy and to solve the problem in a co-creative way.

Making the choices together, because living through that experience makes everyone's result. Without involving people and allowing them to discover for themselves what they want and are able to do, it is doomed to fail.

As the person ultimately responsible for marketing and communication or personnel affairs, you will have to seek cooperation with the people involved: those who realize the service and production together. If you do not do this, you will at best get a strategy on paper or an advertising campaign on the wall. But you will not be able to change people's behavior. That is something people have to do themselves and with each other.

And we know from all kinds of studies that autonomy and ownership are essential in this.

CHOICES FOR A RICH COCKTAIL OF MEANINGS As soon as we have an idea of the interests of people in the internal and external environment, we can choose which combination of interests we want to activate in the future through a clear and supported strategy and activation planning. It seems obvious here which interests are most important. Again, however, we should not fall into the System 2 trap. Developing the emotional principles of the brand and culture is not a rational, cognitive process. We will have to have the imagination here, with the insights gained in mind and trusting our own richly filled emotional world and creative fantasy, to arrive at an attractive, rich cocktail of positive feelings and meaningful meanings.

Put simply: people will change their behavior if they want to and can decide for themselves how.

15

Figure 8. Trinity of a NGO

It is a puzzle, but if you do it right, three brand pillars arise that together are an important part of an attractive brand and a happy culture.

In the creative phase, in which the new building blocks of brand and culture are determined, it is therefore advisable to involve representatives of the entire organization. Based on everything that is known about the emotional dynamics in the internal and external world of experience, a creative leap can be made towards what you could call "destination happiness". The desired situation in the future is outlined together. This often feels a bit uncomfortable as a utopia, because the status quo is usually very different. But it has been our experience that it is better to put a little more ambition into the ideal future than to keep it too close to home. Because that does not bring about any change.

A good copywriter can use this model to write a beautiful brand and organization story that knows how to hit the right chords. It gets even better if this is translated into the correct visual style and preferably also into a film with carefully chosen image, sound and text.

So make sure that you try to involve as many people from the organization as possible in such a change process. Involve them from the start by not only explaining the process to them, but also giving them a substantive role and incorporating their insights into the substantive development. Nowadays you can do that very well if you use online tools.

At BR-ND People, we capture that ideal future in a so-called "Trinity", a triangular model containing six selected cards from the 23 plus one card set.

For real life examples go to: https://br-ndpeople.com/cases

16

There is a lot of responsibility on the business community and that offers opportunities for organizations that now want to do the right thing for current and, above all, future generations.

It is a puzzle, but if you do it right, three brand pillars arise that together are an important part of an attractive brand and a happy culture.

And do not forget, after you have asked people for their input, also keep them informed of progress and substantive development through a transparent approach and frequent communication.

Let's build organizations that people want to buy, work and hear from. Where new generations of conscious employees are involved, heard and encouraged to fight together for a fair world based on intrinsic motives. Happy people in positive cultures of purpose-driven organizations radiate it: a difference is made here!

INSPIRING PURPOSE, POSITIVE CULTURE AND AN ATTRACTIVE BRAND.

At BR-ND People we are ready and we encourage everyone to make a positive impact just like us.

All these insights into human motivation and choices, in which emotional forces determine behavior in particular, combined with the realization that transformation of organizations and their brands can only succeed if employees are involved, justify a new approach. This is compounded by the immense challenges we face such as the climate crisis, the skewed distribution of wealth and opportunity and the polarization of opinions.

Change is needed. System change, organizational change, team change and finally, or perhaps first of all, individual change. Top-down rollout is not the solution.

You know in advance that it will not lead to the desired transformation. At best to inertia, but often also to great resistance and active resistance.

An attractive brand that meets the challenges of the 21st century comes from within, from a positive culture, driven by a purpose or perhaps by activism.

17

Foto: Janiek Dam

Foto: Janiek Dam

Alexander Koene

Kim Cramer

Alexander is a creative optimist who strives for progress. He takes things apart and then puts them back together, but better. After an international career in the food, beverages and tobacco industry, he started his own business in 2000 and has now helped more than a hundred organizations with their brands, innovation and cultural development.

Kim is a social animal with a love for environments in which people can live and work together positively. She takes people by the hand to let them experience how things can be done better. After studying communication science and social psychology, she obtained her PhD at the University of Amsterdam on the subject of brand portfolio management. Since 2005 she worked as a consultant, inspirator and entrepreneur, and she helped many organizations with brand strategy and culture development.

Alexander has a son and two daughters, is a ski instructor, hockey trainer-coach, sea sailor, handyman and mechanic. He lives and works in the center of Amsterdam. If he is not there, he is on a high mountain or tropical island. In real life, or maybe just in his dreams.

Kim has two sons and is married to her great high school sweetheart. She likes to perfect her skills, but also likes to throw herself in the deep end to learn something new. She has exchanged her career as a show dancer for an attempt to learn to skate on speed skates.

23plusone 23plusone is a scientific method to create connections and stimulate positive action. It affects behavior, both business and private, based on positive motivations. It bridges individual and collective motives and stimulates organizations to grow based on common values. People intuitively and unconsciously strive for happiness in life by following 24 fundamental drives, activating the broad spectrum of these drives evokes happy feelings and encourages positive behavior.

BR-ND People BR-ND People is a consultancy that supports organizations with strategic transformations through "emotive branding". We make the world a better place by developing culture-driven brands that contribute to a better world. Such brands direct positive behavior and lead to innovation and responsible growth.

BR-ND People is a B Corp.

18

References Bain & Co, The Elements of Value, 2016 Cramer & Koene, The Science of Brand Appeal, 2010 Kahneman & Tversky, Thinking Slow and Fast, 2012 Klein, No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, 1999 Maslow, A Theory of Human Motivation, 1943 Oppenhuisen, Een schaap in de bus, 2000 Reiss, Who Am I?, 2000 Schwartz, Theory of Basic Human Values, 1992 Sinek, Start with Why, 2009

19

English edition - 2020

BR-ND People | Emotive Transformers Amsterdam | The netherlands welcome@br-nd.com www.br-ndpeople.com

20