One on One with Lippincott's Rick Wise

The world of branding has changed. Where the focus was once centered around design, logos and communication, brands today are looking for ways to differentiate themselves in how they reach customers. A big part of that is offering customers an experience unique to their brand that makes them feel emotionally connected to it. In other words, brands are looking to show they have heart. In the case of a recent engagement with Southwest Airlines, Lippincott took that literally, including in its redesign a large heart painted on the bellies of Southwest's jets as a nod to its Love Field origins. Consulting sat down with Rick Wise, CEO of Lippincott, to discuss the state of branding consulting and learn more about its acquisition of Bonfire Communications, its first in the firm's 70-year history.

Consulting: How is a successful brand built today?

Wise: The Lippincott view on it is that it has to be broader than in previous generations. Brands are increasingly experienced in a variety of ways that are much broader than traditional communications. We really focus on how do we take a brand, turn it into a really compelling story about the company, what it does and why and then translate that into experience, both the more traditional communications experience but also the actual delivered experience in terms of what customer is seeing and feeling around the brand. Also the experience employees have and how the brand actually frames the way they think about and interact with the company, such that it also supports and aligns them around the experience they need to deliver to customers.