DANIEL L. LUNANI

The concept of network effects is a powerful mental model through which to evaluate businesses, human societies, and nature. But what are “network effects” and how do they work? First, a few definitions. A network effect is a phenomenon by which each incremental user of a product or service adds value to the existing user base. The product or service becomes more valuable to the users as more people use it. It is a positive feedback loop. The idea originated with Theodore Vail, the president of American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T). In the company's 1908 annual report, Vail wrote, "[The telephone's] value depends on the connection with the other telephones — and increases with the number of connections." While the term "network effects" had not been created, it was clearly at the heart of Vail's comment. The value of a telephone relies on its connection with other telephones in the network. For an existing user, this value increases with eve...

The world is going to change, and resilience is our best response. It’s not about building things that always turn out the way we expect. Bulletproof is too expensive, too rigid, and requires perfect knowledge of the future. Resilience is a commitment to a design, an attitude, and a system that works even when things don’t turn out the way we planned.  Especially  then. Instead of designing for the best-case scenario, we make the effort to consider how our work thrives when the best case doesn’t arrive. Because that’s far more likely. Sailors know that fixing on a point on the horizon is a good way to survive a storm. Flexibility, community, and a sense of possibility can go a long way. That doesn’t make it easier, but it’s our best path forward.

  The word brand is used in a variety of different cases in everyday speech. It can refer to a mark, set of values and guidelines, set of associations in the mind of the consumer, a product from a certain business, or the business itself. We switch between different uses all the time but this has an impact on what we and clients understand. Brand has been evolving over time. The brand evolved from a mark into a personality metaphor, people naturally give human attributes to products by appending personality attributes to them. This perception can be impacted by advertising and appearing to help people make decisions, which create price inelasticity of demand and make advertising more effective. In essence, by adhering to guidelines that create consistency — with an eye on the holistic impact on people’s perceptions — advertising’s incremental effects accrue over time. Brands are a strategic tool.  They are used to inform creative briefs with more consistency for specific ...