Brands Without Faces: Secret of Humanized Brands

This piece was originally published in the Fall Newsletter Issue of Canvas8, a Behavioural Insights agency based in London. The interview was inspired by the recent ‘unmasking’ of the designer behind Maison Martin Margiela.

Key topics: Virtues of Human Brands, Power of Anonymity in Branding, Concept of Facelessness in Fashion, Applied Semiotics & Brand Meaning, Intangible is the New Tangible.

How important is it for a brand to seem human?

It is absolutely critical. And not only to seem human but to be human. Human brand is a brand that respects me as a person, knows me and has meaningful things to say. A human brand can in essence mean two things but they are both equally important.

Firstly, it’s a brand having a personality and values — in another way the meaning I can relate to as a human. Secondly, it is a brand treating me as a human in formal aspects of how it communicates with me, what content it uses, through which channels, how frequently and where it chooses to engagewith me. Notice I’m not saying target me. These days are over. Targeting and humans do not go together, it’s a warlike language and deeply rooted in an idea of a magic bullet from the beginning of the 20th century.