Māori Brand Architecture approach?

Many of us know what brand architecture is but the most basic of definitions says a brand architecture is what defines the role of a brand and acts as a guideline for the interrelationship between the brand and the organisation in which it exists.

A brand architecture helps:

1. Increase clarity and positioning in the marketplace

2. Increase the soft equity of your brand/business

3. Create or define a better company culture

4. Reduce overall or potential brand damage

5. Be more effective in change management

All pretty good stuff but, kind of… errr… hygiene factored and rather soulless - except I’d say points two and three. And it’s those two points that got me thinking about how, if we employed an Ao Māori approach to developing brand architecture, we could really add some value and potency to the outcomes. 

Working in some pretty smart agencies over the years has helped me understand the deeper meanings and workings of brand building and Values Based Organisation models. So before I say any more I feel the need to acknowledge the likes of nearly everyone I worked with at LoweDraft back in the day, the team at Ocean Design and the stubborn teachings of Sion Scott-Wilson, Chris Knox, Stephen Pearson, Rob Hoar, Peter Brown and Blair Mainwaring just to name a few. 

So back to Ao Māori. What can we apply from a culture’s past to a methodology that is new-world in comparison and improve it? Well  being a bit like Māui and having an inquisitive haututū attitude (always asking why and having a play with stuff others say I shouldn’t) I used the timeless ‘there’s surely another way?’ scientific method to hypothesise that indigeneity (particularly Māori indigeneity) could add to or even amplify brand effectiveness and stickiness by leading out or integrating into traditional brand architecture methodologies. 

Why the hell not eh? I don’t believe current brand models fully take into account the fast changing social and cultural attitudes, the renaissance of mātauranga me te reo Māori and the shifts and movements of a younger more activated population within Aotearoa New Zealand and the wider world. 

At Mura, we are aware that at many times we need to look back so as to move forward (ka mua, ka muri). We’ve incorporated many of the old/new, new/old insights of te ao Māori and tikanga Māori to create our own Hoahoanga - Architecture approach. We believe that adding this new/old ingredient to an already successful and proven brand building methodology is an effective way to strengthen the brands value and relevance within an ever changing world and market landscape. No harm in that. The world continues to evolve.

Organisations and brands can become more awakened, more enlightened and more relevant by including ao Māori or indigenous thinking into their approach to building brands. We’ve already applied this thinking to a number of brands with great success.

To understand how this comes to life and what relish Ao Māori adds to an already proven methodology keep an eye out for our next brand kōrero/wānanga.

Nā Darryl Roycroft