The Psychology of Quality and More

Sense

The Tao of Branding by David Straker -- Part 3

Start - Be - Sense - Harmonise - Lead - References

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We have five external senses with which to touch the world, though the meaning we create is far from these. What we consciously sense is, as Weick points out, an inner construction, within which we pay limited attention to what is really there. Sensing for many, like being, is a forgotten skill. What we think we see, hear and feel are numbed and distorted internal interpretations.

Tao awareness

A fundamental principle of Tao is sensing what is real, of stripping away all bias and preconception, of knowing ultimate truth.

Attending fully and becoming supple,
Can you be as a newborn babe?
Washing and cleansing the primal vision,
Can you be without stain?

-- Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tsu

Young children have not yet learned the layers of lies by which we insulate and protect ourselves from the world. They see the Emperor’s new clothes in all his vain glory. Each of us still has that child within, though it is too often bound and gagged for fear of it disturbing our convenient preconceptions.

Tai Chi sensing

What do we mean by ‘energy’ and how we are able to ‘listen’ to it?
This must be carefully examined.

-- Master Cheng’s Thirteen Chapters on Tai Chi Chuan, by Cheng Man-Ching

When the practitioner of Tai Chi touches another person, they feel far beyond the texture of skin or clothes. Extending their sense into the heart of the other person, they feel their structure, their balance, their intent. They also sense how the other person and themselves are now intimately connected into a single structure.

Brand sensitivity

A sensitive brand knows its targets. From the first contact through all interactions, it extends deeply into their environment and touches people so gently that the brand itself can feel every movement, every intent.

A sensitive brand does not use crude annual metrics to drive aging strategies. It senses constantly and in real-time so it can respond realistically and effectively. Like a creeping vine, it extends fingers and tendrils that touch, taste and test.

Amazon.com have built remarkable sensitivity into their brand. They sense who you are, what you look at, what you buy. Then give it all back to you to help you find what you did not even know you needed.

Generics sense brand leaders, rather than customers. Their skill is in knowing what is profitable not what is. They blindly follow coat-tails and hence are as vulnerable as their chosen leaders are insensitive.

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