• Fast Company, Thursday, August 20, 2009 10:35 AM

A real estate developer observing Steve McCallion's brand strategy firm at work trying to create a narrative for a new residential community turned to him after a meeting and said, "I finally understand what you guys do. You orchestrate the obvious."

McCallion writes that he was taken aback until he shifted his attention away from "the obvious" and to the "orchestration." "In an orchestration it's the collection of things that create value, not necessarily the things themselves," he writes. Too many companies look for silver bullet product concept that they can patent and protect. But, he says, the silver bullet is often a metaphor.

"A metaphor creates value by transferring associations from a previous experience to a new one. It functions as shorthand to help people understand the offering and what it means in their lives." Think Apple Store, REI, Whole Foods.

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