Published in The Attention Architect, a newsletter on LinkedIn, May 24, 20 22

Have you ever been wrong about a person before? Misperceived them initially or misunderstood their motives? Avoided them? But then discovered you really liked being around them? Or how about a place, such as a restaurant you didn't think you'd like, but now it's your favorite place to hang out? Or perhaps another city, state, or country you thought you'd hate? Only to later realize you might want to live there someday?

These misperceptions happen all the time. And while we blame ourselves for these misperceptions, sometimes it's not us; it's them—the people in charge of their brand.

PERCEPTIONS ARE REALITY

I'll be the first to admit that I don't live in reality. I live in a world of perceptions. Although I went to architecture school, I often refer to what my colleagues and I do as perception design and perception management because a big part of our job entails shaping customer perceptions. 

Most companies try to manage their brand through clever advertising campaigns and marketing materials, but my colleagues and I manage perceptions through the real-life experience of getting to know a brand in person. Much of what we do in our work with clients entails uncovering the general public's perceptions about a place — such as a restaurant, grocery store, mall, college campus, or urban district. But instead of just letting those perceptions fall where they may, we help our clients steer them in the right direction and towards a specific destination.

Listening to customers talk about the perception of your brand is not easy, particularly when it's not true or accurate. Many managers dismiss customers as "not knowing the facts," but the general public doesn't care about facts. Why? Because they don't have time, interest, or access to study the facts. Instead, the general public uses their power of perceptions to make snap judgments and decisions about a person, place, or brand, and many companies find themselves unable to get past "Hello!"

The old saying — "Don't judge a book by its cover" — is a nice thing we tell our kids. But as humans, we are hardwired to judge things based on their cover because it saved our lives in ancient days when lions, bears, and strangers were approaching our village. Those who could assess the situation quickly survived to tell about it and breed many offspring, and those who didn't weren't around long. 

Even though we don't have to worry about being attacked by lions or marauding tribes chasing us with spears, we're attacked daily by over 10,000 messages hitting us from all sides.

But that quick-decision-making part of our lizard brain controls what gets into our conscious mind and what gets stuck at the front gate.

While this daily bombardment of brand messages won't kill us, they slow us down and wear us out mentally and physically. Our subconscious senses help us sort through this clutter and make lightning-fast decisions about which signals and messages are worth paying attention to and which to toss away immediately. 

The whole complex process of understanding how perceptions work—particularly regarding place brands—is beyond the typical skill set, capabilities, and standard way of thinking for most organizations. But for those entities that can master the art of perception design and management, it can make the difference between creating an average brand experience versus an unforgettable brand experience.

STOP BEING PROFESSIONAL AND START WITH YOUR SOUL

Many companies believe the best way to present themselves to the public is to appear professional, established, and neutral. They focus on the outer layers of their brand, believing it will affect how customers perceive them. But thinking this way often leads to bland and impersonal brand relationships.  

I recommend that my clients do the opposite:

Start by putting your Brand Soul and Brand Values out on the table first.

The term "soul" is one of those concepts that is hard to define in words. But we all know it when we see it and experience it. There are many meaningful things in life—such as God, religion, patriotism, parenthood, love, and Elvis—that are also hard to put into words, much less grab ahold of in a tangible way. But this "ungraspable quality" makes these concepts so powerful, intriguing, and profound for us.

This soul is also what makes some brands so enchanting. When you go to a Harley Davidson rally, you can feel the palpable energy in the air that will make the hair on your neck rise. When you go to Apple headquarters, there is an invisible ethos and reverence for the brand with almost a religious quality. And when you walk around Washington, DC, or Harvard Yard or a religious facility, you can feel this spirit and soul. 

The soul of your company's brand gets at the internal core of who you are but is admittedly the most challenging part to excavate and articulate.

One of the more effective ways to pin your Brand Soul down is to start with the second layer adjacent to the Brand Soul, which we call your Brand Values.

Your Brand Values encompass the things you believe in, and the best way to surface these Brand Values is to define what your Brand Felonies are. What are brand felonies? Those lines you won't allow others—employees, consultants, and managers— to cross, no matter the financial gain or fame. Once you get these felonies out on the table, it becomes easier to articulate your Brand Values and locate your Brand Soul.

WHY REVEAL YOURSELF?

Harsh as it may sound, today's consumers have a great distrust of corporations. They don't trust their motivations, and what they want is for brands to reveal themselves more. To be more transparent and show the public what they care about upfront. They want to know what their brands are willing to fight for. 

However, many companies are afraid to reveal their strong beliefs because they fear offending or turning off some customers. And the truth is, if you put your brand values out there, you will surely turn off some potential customers.

But if you're not offending someone, are you really doing anything of substance or meaning? 

By revealing your brand soul, you will attract and cement a more passionate layer of customers that will align with your values, advocate your cause to others, and even fight for your brand's honor. (Think Harley, Apple, and Whole Foods at various points in their career evolution.) The more visible your brand soul is, the more passionate, loyal, and evangelistic your following will be.

MIND THE GAP

There is often a big gap between what a company's soul is internally and what the external public gets to see about them, but we believe in closing this gap.

The tradition in business is to let the customer get to know the brand by starting from the outside and then going deeper. But I encourage companies to be bold and work from the inside out. Start with your Brand Soul and Brand Values first, and get those qualities and beliefs out there for the public to see, feel and touch. Wear it proudly on your shirt sleeves, let everyone know what you care about right from the get-go, and watch how the passion and loyalty of your brand take hold of your target audience.