Aesthetic Intelligence: How to Boost It and Use It in Business and Beyond

by Pauline Brown

Overview

Longtime leader in the luxury goods sector and former Chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton North America reinvents the art and science of brand-building under the rubric of Aesthetic Intelligence.

In a world in which people have cheap and easy access to most goods and services, yet crave richer and more meaningful experiences, aesthetics has become a key differentiator for most companies and a critical factor of their success and even their survival. In this groundbreaking book, Pauline Brown, a former leader of the world’s top luxury goods company and a pioneer in identifying the role of aesthetics in business, shows executives, entrepreneurs, and other professionals how to harness the power of the senses to create products, services, and experiences that stand out, resonate with their customers, and create long-term value for their businesses. The power is rooted in Aesthetic Intelligence—or “the other AI,” as Brown refers to it.

Aesthetic Intelligence can be learned. Indeed, people are born with far more capacity than they use, but even those that are naturally gifted must continue to refine their skills, lest their aesthetic advantage atrophy. Through a combination of storytelling and practical advice, the author shows how aesthetic intelligence creates business value and how executives, entrepreneurs and others can boost their own AI and successfully apply it to business. Brown offers research, strategies and practical exercises focused on four essential AI skills.

Aesthetic Intelligence provides a crucial roadmap to help business leaders build their businesses in their own authentic and distinctive way. Aesthetic Intelligence is about creating delight, lifting the human spirit, and rousing the imagination through sensorial experiences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062883315
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/26/2019
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	1,001,596
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

For more than 25 years, Pauline Brown has acquired, built, and led global luxury brands. In January of 2016, she joined the faculty of the Harvard Business School, where she introduced a new course for graduate students, called “The Business of Aesthetics.” Since 2016, she also has been hosting a weekly talk show on SiriusXM, called “Tastemakers,” on which she interviews business leaders, innovators, and influencers in creative sectors. Prior to her career as a writer, speaker, and lecturer, Pauline was the Chairman of North America for the world’s leading luxury goods company, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, where she provided regional leadership for 70 brands in 5 sectors, including fashion & leather goods, watches & jewelry, perfumes & cosmetics, wines & spirits, and selective retailing. While at LVMH, Pauline also served on the Board of Directors of L Capital, a private equity fund backed by LVMH, as well as the Boards of several LVMH subsidiaries, including Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, and Fresh Cosmetics. 

Table of Contents

Introduction: Aesthetics Matter ix

Part I Mastering the Other AI

Chapter 1 The Aesthetic Advantage 3

Chapter 2 Coming to Our Senses 23

Chapter 3 Cracking the Code 49

Chapter 4 Designed to Last 71

Part II Boost Your AQ

Chapter 5 Tuning In to Taste 101

Chapter 6 Interpreting (and Reinterpreting) Personal Style 121

Chapter 7 The Art of Curation: Restoring Harmony and Balance 147

Chapter 8 Articulating Artistry 173

Part III The Aesthetic Future

Chapter 9 The Future of Aesthetics 203

Conclusion 217

Acknowledgments 221

Notes 225

Index 251

Editorial Reviews

08/30/2019

Brown (former chair, North American division of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) has written on an unusual topic: the role aesthetics plays in business. Aesthetics in this context means values and styles. For example, Steve Jobs of Apple regularly dressed in a black mock turtleneck and jeans, and the company's iPhone is designed to be elegantly simple. Brown argues that developing an aesthetic awareness allows us to empathize more with the aesthetics of others, including potential customers. She believes aesthetics is important because people tend to make decisions (including consumer decisions) based on emotions. Brown asserts that while aesthetics is more obviously involved in consumer products and retail and restaurant services, it is by no means limited to them, offering numerous examples of how companies have used aesthetics well or badly. Brown believes aesthetics will play an even larger role in business in the future postconsumerist age, in which people will be looking for pleasing experiences rather than to acquire things. VERDICT Will appeal to those interested in the intersection of marketing and consumer behavior.—Shmuel Ben-Gad, Gelman Lib., George Washington Univ., Washington, DC

Library Journal

08/19/2019

Brown, former chairman of the luxury behemoth LVMH, offers a thin meditation on sensorial pleasure and the business opportunities it provides. The book contains lessons from her Harvard Business School course “The Business of Aesthetics,” which teaches how to use an understanding of aesthetics to win over customers. Tactics include “enhancing attunement,” “translating emotional reactions,” “articulating aesthetic ideals,” and “curating inputs and ideals.” In layperson’s terms, this is about finding a personal style for one’s product or service, while managing the sometimes conflicting interests of commerce and creativity. Brown talks at some length about how aesthetic intelligence (“the other AI”) can inform business strategy, offering the negative example of Google Glass—which failed, despite state-of-the-art-technology, because it made users feel awkward—and the positive one of Target, which has managed to compete against Walmart by creating a “cheap-chic” message. She argues that, in an era of increasing automation and a correspondingly stronger yearning among consumers for emotional connection, businesspeople should tap into aesthetics, “the pleasure we... derive from perceiving an object of experience through our senses.” This descriptor—and the text itself—is a lot of words to express the concept that people like pretty things, making for a book which is more filler than help. Agent: Gail Ross, Ross Yoon Agency. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Aesthetic Intelligence emphasizes how important it is for people to develop a strong voice—a voice that expresses who they are, that is inspired by their personal stories and desire to help others, and that helps them build a business that captivates others. — Donna Karan, fashion designer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist

Successful leaders and innovators are skilled at looking outside their own fields for inspiration and knowledge. In Aesthetic Intelligence, Pauline Brown shows how you can apply critical lessons from fields like fashion and beauty to transform all types of businesses. — Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Aesthetic intelligence is not just important for those who are leading luxury brands; it’s also important for businesspeople in all sectors. In her groundbreaking book, Pauline Brown shows how aesthetics have the power to transform all types of businesses, and how individuals can develop and use their own AI to engage, inspire, and delight their customers. — Mindy Grossman, CEO of WW International (formerly Weight Watchers)

Aesthetic Intelligence shows executives and entrepreneurs how to harness and apply their personality, preferences, and tastes to their companies, and, in so doing, create long-term sustainable advantage. — John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market

It’s fascinating to realize how much of our economy is premised on consumers making aesthetic choices. Yet this aspect of what drives behavior has been largely ignored by thoughtful analysts until now. Pauline Brown opens up a new area of inquiry as she highlights the power of aesthetic intelligence as a success factor for business leaders today. — Dan Nordstrom, consumer brand investor and former retail leader

From the Publisher

It’s fascinating to realize how much of our economy is premised on consumers making aesthetic choices. Yet this aspect of what drives behavior has been largely ignored by thoughtful analysts until now. Pauline Brown opens up a new area of inquiry as she highlights the power of aesthetic intelligence as a success factor for business leaders today.

Dan Nordstrom

Successful leaders and innovators are skilled at looking outside their own fields for inspiration and knowledge. In Aesthetic Intelligence, Pauline Brown shows how you can apply critical lessons from fields like fashion and beauty to transform all types of businesses.

Walter Isaacson

Aesthetic intelligence is not just important for those who are leading luxury brands; it’s also important for businesspeople in all sectors. In her groundbreaking book, Pauline Brown shows how aesthetics have the power to transform all types of businesses, and how individuals can develop and use their own AI to engage, inspire, and delight their customers.

Mindy Grossman

Aesthetic Intelligence shows executives and entrepreneurs how to harness and apply their personality, preferences, and tastes to their companies, and, in so doing, create long-term sustainable advantage.

John Mackey

Aesthetic Intelligence emphasizes how important it is for people to develop a strong voice—a voice that expresses who they are, that is inspired by their personal stories and desire to help others, and that helps them build a business that captivates others.

Donna Karan