The art of branding is grasping that a human being is made of reason and emotion, the emotional being far more powerful than the rational.

Playing for Change is a multimedia musical project featuring musicians from all over the world, playing for a message of peace.

In March 2005, Mark Johnson, a director and sound engineer, films the guitar player and singer Roger Ridley in the streets of Los Angeles as he interprets Stand By Me. He then adds other singers of the same song by superimposing their versions over that of Ridley’s. The eclectic composition includes Clarence Bekker in Barcelone and several others in South Africa, Nepal, and the Middle-East, eventually expanding the concept to other hit songs. The Stand By Me video boasts over 30 million YouTube visits.

Why have so many viewers been touched by this song?

When a communication succeeds in engendering emotion, a strange phenomenon occurs, which we’ll call Attention. This Attention is imperative in capturing what brews in human beings—that which makes all the difference between a compelling, forceful communication and one that is far less.

Building an emotionless brand is like building a house without a foundation, and expecting the ideal home. I urge you to look at your brand image with this perspective in mind and critically review the presence—or lack thereof—of this dimension in your communications with your employees and your customers.

Does your brand image truly touch those towards whom it’s destined, or does it only inform?

To effect this analysis is fundamental in making a significant difference in your advertising investments and in your retention and loyalty of your best collaborators.

Since 2008, the Playing for Change Foundation has built three music schools in the name of peace; and I’m willing to wager the adventure will turn into a huge planetary success.

I invite you to listen to the song Somewhere Over The Rainbow / Playing for Change and let it its soothing vibrations sway you…truly magnificient.