What Makes a Brand Magical
Brands are still crucial when it comes to building a company. People may say UI and design is becoming less important as AI changes how we interact with companies and products, but that doesn't remove the need for brand value, resonance and distinctiveness. If anything, it makes brand recognition matter more: when an AI agent sits between a customer and a product, brand is often what gets that product chosen. Working on MercuriDash, we're focused on consumer products, but brand is an intrinsic part of creating good product. Here are a few things I think are important when thinking about what I call a magical brand, as opposed to a generic one, and the things they have in common.
The first is deep resonance with a niche subculture or a specific customer segment. Here's a test. Imagine offering a Haribo lover "Horribo": exactly the same, only cheaper, and it tastes better. A true fan would say, "No thanks, I'll stick with Haribo." That is how committed you want your core customers to be.
The second is a clear and unwavering vision of who you are and what you stand for. Resonance with customers over a long period comes from that clarity. Rick Owens doesn't care if trend agencies say yellow is the new black this season. When you walk into his store, you know you'll see black, asymmetry and avant-garde silhouettes. Haribo speaks to the kid in all of us. Products change, but the vision has to stay consistent, and every ad, every piece of marketing and every product has to communicate it.
The third is emotion, and this is the part people miss because you can't measure it on a spreadsheet. Leave it out, though, and you miss what captures people's imagination and makes them fans. Haribo is nostalgia, fun, innocence and playfulness. Rick Owens is being alternative and edgy, part of a counterculture with a little danger and rebellion. Apple is being an independent thinker, a self-starter and a creative entrepreneur.
The magic in a product comes from the brand having a sense of magic about itself in the first place. Resonance, clarity and emotion are the core of the brand, and they get distilled into the product's DNA. That's why every product needs to be brand aligned. Drift off-brand on individual products and you slowly lose the magic. Over a series of product drifts, you lose your core fan base. That is how so many brands end up rebranding and hiring new creative directors.
Product strategy needs to consider brand at the concept stage. This is why, at MercuriDash, brand is part of evaluating a product from the very beginning. Good product decisions compound brand equity; bad ones erode it. The balance is keeping your core customers happy and your brand strong while evolving with the market you're in.
Defining your brand is ultimately the founder's and the team's job. It's a very human thing, and I don't think AI should conceive of what a brand stands for. That comes from your values and your creative standpoint. What technology can do is help translate that identity into products, put it into words and keep you aligned with it.
You don't need it all figured out from the beginning. New brands can refine their identity as they build. For established and legacy brands, the challenge is often remembering what made them special in the first place and bringing it back to the fore.