A brand model developed by think moto that understands a brand no longer as a customer-centred disc, but as a sphere operating in nine simultaneously active spheres. Each letter of the word SPHERICAL stands for one of these spheres.
A Spherical Brand is no longer oriented around a centre, but around nine spheres that are active simultaneously. The concept originated with think moto (Katja Wenger, Marco Spies) and forms the conceptual foundation of Spherical Brand AI.
The nine spheres (the acronym SPHERICAL)
The nine spheres are defined by the letters of the word SPHERICAL — not by stakeholder groups. This is a common misunderstanding that we deliberately clarify here:
S — Sustainable: Brands think long term and act sustainably through planet-centred design.
P — Purposeful: Brands know their purpose and act accordingly — the 'why' drives business decisions.
H — Humane: A brand's emotional impact lies in its personality and consistently authentic behaviour.
E — Evolving: Brands never stand still, but continue to evolve in an agile way — this requires an agile organisation.
R — Responsible: Brands take responsibility for society and the planet and take a stand.
I — Intelligent: Brands act intelligently, taking a data-driven, systemic approach — KPIs are defined before data is collected.
C — Conversational: Brands are open, engage in dialogue with their stakeholders and foster community.
A — Archetypical: A brand's archetype defines its role in the market and is the basis for storytelling.
L — Living: Brands are living entities that use creativity for flexibility and dynamism.
A distinction to make: a brand's stakeholders
A Spherical Brand should not be confused with a stakeholder model. A brand depends on various stakeholder groups — customers, employees, partners, competitors and, at a broader level, society, politics and ecology. These dependencies are the starting point of the Spherical Brand idea (the brand no longer revolves solely around its customers), but they do not define the nine spheres themselves. The nine spheres are a brand's fields of action, not a list of stakeholders.
Why the model was developed
Traditional brand models, including purpose-oriented ones, are no longer sufficient to understand, define and manage a brand holistically in an age of multiple global crises. The Spherical Brand is not a rigidly defined brand model, but an evolving concept for brand management in a time of major global challenges — the foundation for how Spherical Brand AI works.