Reviving Iconic Brands: Lessons from Banana Republic and Esprit
In conversation with The Creative Mindset podcast
In this Thursday’s edition of the Sociology of Business, I am sharing the conversation about the cultural influence strategy, design of technology, business strategy behind engineering a brand comeback, the emerging brand marketing formats, and the key ingredients in building culturally relevant brands. Buy my book The Business of Aspiration and find me on Instagram, Twitter, and Threads. With one of the paid subscription options, join The Sociology of Business WhatsApp Community.
I had a pleasure of being a guest on the June 20th edition of the acclaimed podcast The Creative Mindset, which also hosted John C Jay, Cindy Gallop, Greg Hoffman, and Paola Antonelli, among others. In the course of our conversation, I shared - per podcast description - “powerful strategies for reviving brands and emphasized the importance of aligning product propositions with overarching brand concepts. The discussion also delved into the divide between brand and performance marketing and the influence of technology on perception.”
Key discussion points were:
The synchronization of performance and brand marketing
Brand marketing today
Design of technology
How culture, society and technology interact to create the new
Listen to our conversation below or here.
Timestamps:
• 0:03 Reviving Brands with Ana Andjelic
• 1:50 Balancing Productivity Between New York and Miami
• 4:12 Reviving Brand Identity Through Founders' Original Intentions
• 6:46 The Imaginative Origins and Evolution of Banana Republic
• 8:25 Reviving Banana Republic's Brand Through Strategic Decisions
• 9:32 Imagined Worlds and Functional Maximalism in Banana Republic
• 11:23 Balancing Brand Vision and Designer Creativity in Fashion Marketing
• 17:39 Defining New American Sportswear Through Urban and Creative