On Brand

Brand has never been more important. What's yours?

I had a lot of “Brand”conversations this week. Discussions with clients, agency folk, people (and their personal brands, oh yes, that’s a real thing.)

First things first. What’s a brand? 

A brand is the expression and manifestation of a business, entity or a person. 

I like to get elemental. 

Think ranch. Wyoming. What’s the mark on your gate? What’s the mark on your livestock? And that mark, what does it say about your ranch?

That’s branding — literally. 

I like to think of two quotes when it comes to understanding and enacting a brand. One, I’ll paraphrase from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos: “…a brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” This is the outcome of your efforts. 

The other set of words I think about when it comes to brands is: “What do you get out of bed to do every morning?”

Let me show you. 

Amazon gets out of bed to bring anyone, anything from A to Z.

BMW wakes up every morning to make the Ultimate Driving Machine. 

Disney gets out of bed to inspire your imagination and help you see the magic in the world. 

Google wakes up to bring all of the world’s information to your fingertips.

Tesla arises to electrify the world.

Virgin Atlantic wakes up to help you see the world differently. 

Teams, colleges, politicians and bands have brands, too.

The New York Yankees wake up to add championships to their legacy.

Harvard wakes up to be the smartest people in the room, in every room. 

Barack Obama wakes up to bring the world hope and change. 

The Rolling Stones wake up (late) to be the greatest rock ‘n roll band of all time. 

If you see a brand and you can’t quite put your finger on why they woke up this morning — chances are they don’t have as strong a brand as they could. 

So back to you. 

First, what gets you out of bed?

Second, what do folks say about you when you’re not in the room? 

Answer those questions and you will see your brand.