B R A N D W O R L D B U I L D I N G
What is a brand world?
A brand world is an idealised universe: a shared space where a brand and an audience, current or undiscovered, hold the same point of view about what is interesting, valuable and worthwhile. It has its own rules, citizens, and a core that generates ongoing reasons to return.
You buy a brand. You belong to a world.
Eight kinds of brand worlds, within three realms.
Matter
BUILT ON AUTHENTICIY
Worlds built on something physical: an object or a place. The core can be held or visited, and it cannot be copied, rushed or moved.
01. PRODUCT / 02. DESTINATION
Mind
BUILT ON INSIGHT
Worlds built on a point of view: a taste, a hand or a conviction. The core lives through someone’s judgement, and the brand is believed because that judgement is claimed as worthy.
03. STYLE / 04. PERSONA / 05. VALUES
Myth
BUILT ON BELIEF
Worlds built on a shared story: a dream, a canon or a culture. The core is imagined together, so it has no physical ceiling.
06. LIFESTYLE / 07. STORY / 08. FANDOM
THE PLAYBOOK
THE BRAND WORLDBUILDING PLAYBOOK
Eight kinds of brand world, the three realms they fall into, what each one gives a business, and the six questions that tell you which world your brand already lives in. Seventeen pages.