With several years experience in providing branding service to non-profit projects, and understanding about sharing economy and Creative Commons, I has developed an innovative model called Open Brand Standard, which consists of four core principles: Brand Commons, Open Branding Service, Brand Heroes and Open Media.

The model offers a new way of thinking about brand ecosystem including high-level concepts and practical actions. I think a common pattern of current traditional brand ecosystem has four roles: brand owners, brand agencies, customers and media. These four roles will transform into a new level of performance under Open Brand Standard.

Brand Owners: From Creative Commons to Brand Commons

Brand owners can not only adopt creative commons for their contents, but also allow their fans to build a tribute brand project. For example, TED launched TEDx program to allow active TED fans to organize independent TEDx events.

Brand Agencies: Open Branding Service

Under traditional branding service, brand agencies provide paid creative service for brand owners. The Open Branding service adopts a different approach that is brand agencies work for brand owner without payment, but brand fans make donation to brand agencies for they excellent contributions. For example, an agency can design a poster for promoting Firefox which is a open sources browser, and Firefox fans can donate for the work.

Customers: From Customers to Brand Heroes

Brand Heroes refer to active customers who not only buy and use the product, but also join the movement of promoting the brand. I believes regular customers can be brand fans, then brand volunteers, and then brand heroes under Open Brand model.

Medias: From Controlled Media to Open Media

The usual way of building a strong brand is that brand owners launch advertising campaigns in media. I believe this approach still means brand owners have control over which media channels to display their brands. In contrast, Open Brand Standard allows customers to choose media channels even build their own media channel.

As Joi Ito emphasized in Creative Commons: Enabling the next level of innovation, “Technology allows us to connect in an increasingly seamless way, but the complicated copyright system originally designed to protect innovation has become a source of friction. Just as we needed open network protocols to create a frictionless online network, we now need open legal standards to resolve the friction that results from outdated copyright restrictions.”

The concepts of Open Brand Standard aren’t designed for any business organizations, but for non-profit organizations and some positive organizations.

Just as Creative Commons brings an open legal standards to resolve the friction that results from outdated copyright restrictions, we now need Open Brand Standard to build a new brand ecosystem, in which positive brand forces can make the world better.