Act I: Can Your Brand Pass The Acid Test?

by Aaron Shields
About this author

One of the best metaphors for branding is the theatre. What makes a theatre production great is what makes a brand great.This shouldn’t be surprising: strong brands are expressions of a core idea that their customers love; and great shows make us fall in love with language, a character, a relationship, an idea, or pure visual beauty—something that cuts to the core of what the show is really about.

Most brands don’t make it this far—they’re stuck to the lower end of the loyalty continuum. But it is possible to get there, and the road begins with truly understanding your brand. The curtain opens. Let’s begin.

It’s hard to talk about modern theatre without talking about Peter Brook, and even harder to talk about the relationship between theatre and branding without him. Synthesizing the works of the great theorists before him, Peter Brook has spent his life examining what it means to get to the heart of the theatre—what makes an event a theatre performance, what is minimally necessary to put on a show, and, most importantly, how to make an audience in a specific time, in a specific place care about and understand the essence of the play.

In his seminal work The Empty Space, Peter Brook introduces the concept of The Acid Test, a simple criterion for determining the difference between a bad theatre production and a great one. Does the production contain a moment that if recalled a spectator can remember what the play was about years after the show ends?

That’s it. But, think about how powerful of a test it is: Years after you’ve seen a show, the only thing left is a memory. You’re not going to remember all the details of the show, but if there’s a singular moment burned into your mind that captures the essence of the play, it was able to connect with you on a meaningful level.

In movies, these are the moments we often see in highlight reels, moments that bring back memories and make us want to recapture the way they made us feel: Garland’s “There’s No Place Like Home” at the end of The Wizard of Oz, Brando’s “I Could’ve Been A Contender” speech in On The Waterfront, or Bogart sending away Bergman at the airport in Casablanca.

Great brands aren’t any different. Anything the consumer interacts with should clearly convey the essence of your brand. Think about advertising: How many great ads have a memorable image that captures the essence of the ad and the brand? I’d bet every one of them. How many bad ads don’t have an image that captures the essence of the ad and the brand? I’d bet every one of them again.

Apple’s 1984 ad has it: the image of the runner entering the crowd of drones says everything.

Bernbach’s “Think Small” ads for the Volkswagen captures both elements too: the image and the two-word phrase say it all—the text adds to the story, but the essence is there in the image.

Or, look at George Lois’s Esquire covers: Andy Warhol sinking in a Campbell’s soup can, or Muhammad Ali, hands tied behind his back, pierced by a barrage of arrows: clear images that sell the cover story and the magazine by conveying the core idea of the story in one, clear image.

All these shows, ads, and covers have one thing in common: they’re created by people who fully understand who their audiences are and what they’re really offering to their audiences.

Great theatre production and great brands can’t be built without this understanding.

In Act II we’ll take our first steps together onto the stage and work towards gaining a deep understanding of your brand so you can be great for those who matter most: your customers.

But, before we do, take account of how well you understand your brand now. Ask yourself, If someone were to ask you to explain the idea of your brand in one or two sentences, what would it be? And, Who does your brand really serve?

They’re big questions with small answers, and by the end of this production, you’ll be able to answer them and put them into practice.

EXEUNT.