The Power of Brands: a 67000% Return in One Day & 3 Tips to Make Your Personal Brand The Next Apple

I’m a child of Descartes. I grew up in a rational world where logical thinking was the best weapon against ignorance, the right way out of dogma, and I still think today that it’s a decent objective.

I had believed in rational behavior when it came to my credit card, too. I had never considered lining up for two hours (let alone two days) for the privilege of buying an expensive phone bearing a fruit logo. At least, not because of the fruit logo. I had believed that specifications, performance, price and ROI should be essential contributors to my buying decisions just as math, physics and other sciences are essential contributors to my understanding of the world.

But as I moved forward in life and in business, I’ve become increasingly sensitive to the power of the intangible, to the realm of the unexplained and to the legitimacy of feelings, myths and impulses to comprehend the world. Although it’s biologically questioned, the conceptual “left vs. right” dichotomy of the brain remains a good proxy to understand our decision processes. And when it comes to business, the shining power of our right, intuitive, emotional brain confirms Tim Sanders’ claim: “Love is the killer app.” Just like everyone else, I’m also irrational (much to my initial dismay), and victim of the power of brands.

In your business world where lawyers and bottom lines have so much power, how much of your decision process is based on love rather than on objective evidence and computable demonstration?

Bansky, the famous street artist, gave us a convincing hint. He offered some of his original artworks for 60 dollars on an anonymous street stall in New York. Buying them would have been quite a smart investment. Bansky is a hot property; his pieces regularly attract anything from $40,000 to north of a million! But the stall was not branded. It exhibited naked, intrinsic value. And…barely sold anything ($420 in a day). Let’s do the math: a $60 investment for a $40,000 market value, that’s less than 0.15% of the price allocated to its intrinsic value (its performance, so to speak); the rest, a hefty 99.85%, lies in the power of the brand. And if I had bought one of this canvas and sold it the same day, I would have made a mighty 67,000% return!

Watch the video here – and enjoy the bonus hug from Bansky:



This example with the street artist Bansky reminded me of a similar experience with Joshua Bell, who played for tips in a metro station in Washington, DC. Joshua is one of today’s most acclaimed violinists. He played Johan Sebastian Bach, arguably one of the strongest long-term brands in music: JSB is the Coca Cola of cantatas, Steve Jobs turned contrapuntist! Joshua played on a Stradivarius, the ultimate violin brand and undisputed worldwide leader for the last 300 years. Joshua, Johan Sebastian and Stradivarius collaborated to create the ultimate musical experience and value. But they delivered it raw, unbranded, naked, and free.  It went totally unnoticed. Joshua made $32 for a 45-minute performance, an hourly rate on par with Bansky’s stall, ridiculously below the market value of their relative brand.

Take a break, sooth your soul, enjoy Bach by Joshua:


Joshua and Bansky have, intentionally or not, developed and earned their brand equity through a long and complex process. But we, the unsavvy audience, the serendipitous passers-by, the market, we value these resulting brands more than their talents, more than their intrinsic performances. To such an extent that it’s even reasonable to say that now, we value only their brands.