We certainly agree with the pundits that brands now operate in an environment characterized by relentless transparency.  No longer can brands create Potemkin Villages to conceal their true colors because it is so easy to find out what they are really like via the incessant and instantaneous commentary on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp (20+ million reviews alone), Amazon, Ebay,  Epinions, Foursquare, GlassDoor, Google Places/Maps,  Trip Advisor, Yellowbot, et al.  Of course not all of the brand experiences detailed in cyberspace are bona fide with some brands endeavoring to conceal advertising as editorial by hyping their own products and services and others slagging off competitors with false negative reviews. Yet with sufficient numbers participating in the hurly-burly of debate, some semblance of the truth frequently emerges in the form of crowdsourced wisdom with outliers being either explicitly voted up or down a la Quora, or simply being relegated to the margins of consideration.

Yet has all of this transparency caused brands to become too revelatory and confessional?  Remember Netflix CEO Reed Hasting’s sincere, but ham-handed missive last fall announcing (since rescinded) that the company was splitting into two brands and introducing Qwikster? Just as we are not always completely forthcoming in our interpersonal interactions (NO! Those skinny jeans absolutely do not make you look fat!) should brands sometimes adopt the declaratory equivalent of soft focus in what they reveal to actually enhance customer experience and satisfaction?

Case in point: the siren song of exceptional client service has led us of late to frequent travel between BrandCulture HQ in Los Angeles and Atlanta.  This has allowed us to spend some quality time in the world’s busiest airport and aboard the planes of Delta Airlines (Delta dominates the LAX-ATL market as its 4th businest route with over 900,000 passenger trips each year  — a point that has not been lost on Southwest, which is adding service starting in June).  One recent evening our ALT-LAX flight was oversold, but instead of bumping the extra passengers, Delta decided to swap the scheduled Boeing 767 for a larger Airbus A330-300.

So far . . . bravo!  After all 298 of us stowed our luggage and took our seats we waited  . . . and waited.  About forty minutes after our scheduled departure time, the captain explained that because the substituted plane was used primarily for overseas routes, they needed some additional time to conform the aircraft to domestic requirements.  Fair enough; we appreciated the update.  But then he continued that they were actually waiting more specifically for “oven inserts” that would allow the crew to prepare the hot dinner choices for the folks traveling up front.

We’re sure this was welcome news for the 34 passengers who were to enjoy this repast, but if the 264 of us traveling in steerage had a vote, we’d suggest offering the high-flyers a sandwich along with canapes and cocktails as an appropriate substitute if it would shave a few hours off of our travel time. Had the captain simply left the explanation at “modifying the aircraft for domestic operation,” we would have never been the wiser as to the actual picayune (and infuriating!) reason for the delay, and traveled in blissful ignorance that Delta was doing all it could to assure all passengers that we would reach our destination safely and swiftly.

The first thing we learned in law school (a story for another day) was that a lawyer should never pose a question to which he or she does not want to know the answer.  Perhaps the brand-building corollary is that sometimes the most effective customer and brand experience involves revealing some, but not all of what goes on behind the curtain.  Just as Chancellor Bismarck noted about making legislation and sausages, the less you know about the process, the more you can enjoy the result. Building brands that rely heavily on customer service is also hard, ongoing work, and sometimes TMI can spoil the experience as well.

But maybe Delta has taken this to heart.  Last week we showed up at LAX to travel back to Atlanta.  We were delayed again, this time on a Boeing 777 that had flown in from Sydney.  The explanation? The crew needed extra time to “remove some international items” that were left aboard the aircraft.  Enough said.

Say what you will about their politics, you’ve gotta love their naming chutzpah…

Piratenpartei Deutschland (Pirate Party Germany) was founded in 2006 to address file sharing and data protection issues. Not exactly a broad enough platform for  first-past-the-post voting, but apparently appealing enough among under-30 Berliners to prevail in a Parliamentary system. The party had never won state or federal representation before,  has no paid employees, has a poor grasp of letter spacing and a penchant for light flare effects.

But we love them anyway.

Consider that the major parties in Germany are the Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union, the Social Democratic Party, the Free Democratic Party, The Left and The Greens. It’s always invigorating to see a fresh approach to naming in a field that’s grown stale. (Citizens in Rage is a different kind of name too, but their politics are tough for us to swallow).

The Pirate Party is also a gleaming example of building a brand that’s true to the organization’s purpose. Something tells us they didn’t run this name through focus groups before adopting it. Rather, they took what was a pejorative term (piracy) and claimed it for their own, turning it into a badge of honor for a generation that believes sharing data is not just a technological given but a basic right.

Finally, they’re having fun. After all, who wouldn’t want an invitation to a Pirate Party?

Swapping the elephant or the donkey for a skull and crossbones may not be the right way to win the White House anytime soon. But with the way the job market’s going, we bet Frank Luntz and Joel Benenson are polling likely 2012 voters on the appeal of eyepatches already.

Okay, so the title of this blog is intentionally provocative – we haven’t seen any serious scholarship advocating reductions in pay. But what studies do seem to indicate is that for people charged with carrying out complex tasks, financial rewards don’t motivate better performance. In fact, they correlate with poorer performance.

The things that do appear to correlate with higher performance are:

• The opportunity to achieve mastery over a skill or subject;
• Free time to work on what one wants in the way one wants;
• And, most germane to this blog, a sense of PURPOSE.

We at BrandCulture believe that an organization’s brand and its culture are two sides of the same coin. Put simply, your people must believe what you say to the market, and must behave in ways that support it: What you say is your brand, how your people behave is your culture. In order for either to be strong, they must both be grounded in a clear Shared Purpose.

Shared Purpose is not to be confused with moral purpose – we’re not saying you need build your culture and your brand around world peace or a whaling moratorium. But we are suggesting that your people will give you their best when they are working towards something greater than the task at hand, and your customers will recognize it too.

You don’t even have to call it a Shared Purpose (though some do). But you do need something that gives employees something higher to aim for and customers something bigger to buy into – something like Nike’s mission ”to bring innovation and inspiration to every athlete” (according to Nike, if you have a body, you are an athlete). Like the Wikimedia Foundation’s commitment to “a world where every single human being can share in the sum of all knowledge.” Like Charles Schwab’s purpose “To help everyone be financially fit.”

And sorry, but no. Your company’s vision “To become the market leader in (insert industry here)” does not count as something greater, higher or bigger.

If this topic is of interest and you haven’t already read Drive by Dan Pink, find 10 minutes to watch this piece. It’s not only an illuminating talk, it’s a great example (from the RSAnimate series) of an engaging way to present information:

If ever there was a food in need of a brand makeover, the noble pizza would be up high on the list.  Beloved by young, old and underutilized interventional cardiologists alike, the 3 billion pizzas served up in the US each year amount to 46 slices for each of the 94% of all Americans who admit to eating pizza. Although popular, the delicious cheesy dish isn’t always known for a positive brand image . . . or heart-healthy content.  Indeed, the perennially popular pepperoni will exact its revenge: three slices from a 12-inch Papa John’s Thin Crust Pepperoni Pizza will fill your belly and arteries with 800 calories, 48 grams of total fat and a whopping 1,860 mg of sodium (the recommended dose of sodium for an entire day tops out at 2,400 miligrams). Add to the mix well-publicized brand fails of employee mishaps (remember the Dominos case in 2009 with this revolting employee video) and you have a branding challenge only the siren song of fat, sugar and refined flour can overcome.

Enter Naked Pizza, one of the most-expertly executed branded pizza-makers to hit cities such as San Diego, Miami, Boston, Cincinnati, Louisville, and soon The Big Apple where it will compete with the estimated 9,000 other pizza purveyors in NY.  Originated in New Orleans in 2006 “in a 500-square-foot building that took in six feet of water after Hurricane Katrina,” Naked Pizza has injected the pizza franchising world with stunning, clean and fresh design in their logo, brochures and website to remind even the most jaded consumer of the multiple Meat Lovers that pizza can be fresh and healthy.  Hence, the word “naked,” with nothing to hide (the playful double entendre of course adds to the brand’s insouciant pluck — the company was originally named the more prosaic “World’s Healthiest Pizza“).  Even the napkins tell it like it is, which in light of our BrandCultureTalk “no bull” promise, we rather like.

In keeping with the brand’s commitment to transparency, Naked Pizza also proudly hosts the LivNaked Blog, which boasts “What we’re about.” Sprinkle in a healthy dose of (and deft touch with) social media, and consumers can interact with the brand through a behind-the-scenes peak into the employees (literally on a Flickr stream), understand what goes into making their pizza and where the ingredients come from, and how they can continue to develop their relationship with the brand across social media channels.  [We're hardly the first to note the company's social media prowess. Other leading outlets like The New York Times and even irascible billionaire Mark Cuban have voted with their prominent posts and wallet, respectively ]. The Naked Pizza brochure breaks down their pizza-making process with raw questions such as “Ten grains in the crust? Really?” and “What’s prebiotic agave fiber? Will I wake up with a Bengal tiger in my bed the next morning?” and “What’s with all the social media?”  This is certainly the patois of a brand that’s proud of its healthy-earthy credentials, but doesn’t take itself too seriously — all delivering a consistent, proprietary and fresh brand experience.

Diners experience the high-tech, transparent vibe inside the store as well, transforming what really is a cramped facility footprint (800 – 1200 square feet with 70% – 80% of a typical Naked Pizza outlet’s business being delivery) into a highly engaging, interactive brand experience including giant QR codes in the store front and iPads adorn the counters with neon green walls — taken right from their logo palette.

What’s the verdict?  We think there are some smart folks (and brand-builders) running Naked Pizza who have reimagined a global treat into a new, healthier incarnation. But don’t trust us, trust the numbers.  Social analytic firm DigitalCoCo just ranked Naked Pizza among the top five most influential casual brand concepts.  That’s some boffo brand-building that builds the bottom line.  Bravo.

The visual vocabulary is clever and innocuous even if it is a little too now to be timeless, but what’s behind this new look? To answer this question, we look at Starbucks’ mission statement.

Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

Mission statements don’t have to be utter corporate drivel. In fact, we believe they can be incredibly powerful tools (both in terms of the process leading to their creation and their actual use to an organization and its stakeholders) in defining an organization’s goals, culture and personality. Starbucks appears to think so too, and has avoided the usual “to provide the best quality; to be the leading provider; blah blah blah.” We see two good points about this mission statement:

1. Clearly, the mission statement provides logic for removing the word ‘coffee’ from the logo. Even though it references a cup, the explicit omission of the word coffee is important, and it’s aligned with Howard Schultz’s strategic vision for the company.
2. The mission statement promises a local and even individual approach to business, which aligns with Starbucks’ talk of interactions rather than transactions, and its increasing attempts to recognize its patrons as individuals. (see the video on the Starbucks.com home page for an example)

But does this mission statement go too far? Even allowing room for a bit of aspiration, doesn’t the idea of Starbucks inspiring and nurturing the human spirit actually inspire and nurture peals of laughter?

Corporate mission statements are an easy target because they’re often devoid of absolutely any meaning, but they can be better. Here’s Apple’s:

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OSX, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

While it’s largely retrospective, its plain-spokenness doesn’t inspire ridicule, and it lets internal and external readers know that Apple thinks big as well as different.

And here’s Nike’s:

To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. If you have a body, you are an athlete.

Inspiration works for Nike because the company puts it specifically in terms of athletic pursuits. Who doesn’t want to be inspired to get off the damn couch?

We don’t hate Starbucks’ mission statement, but as positive as the idea of inspiring and nurturing the human spirit  must have made everyone around the boardroom table feel when it was presented, we believe the statement is actually a missed opportunity to define and cement the less abstract (but still very meaningful) relationship that people have with Starbucks, and a blown chance to galvanize employees into continuing to build those relationships.

It’s not that we can’t think of ways for baristas to nurture our spirits. It’s just that we don’t expect them to do so for 4 bucks.