What’s in a brand?
Who are you? What value do you have to offer that is needed? What is the first impression people get about you? In absentia what do they remember about you? Do you have some people that you might not even know that can stand up for and defend you incase you’re slandered because they know you or have worked with you?
All these questions might seem unrelated to branding but in actual sense they are the essence of branding. To understand these questions and be able to answer them, let’s explore and dig deeper.
What is a brand?
I like to refer to a brand as a mark either visible or invisible that any individual, business or institution possesses that sets them apart from the rest of the crowd.
According to Wikipedia
“A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.”
So a brand in this sense is a mark of distinction; it dates back as early as 2,700 BCE; In ancient Egypt, individuals used a hot branding iron with a specific symbol(a brand) to burn it into the skin of their livestock in order to differentiate their livestock from other animals.
In the event that there was a contention over ownership or loss of animals, it was easy to identify who the rightful owners of the livestock were basing on the brand present on the animals and thus easily settle disputes.
So over time these symbols(brands) that represented ownership of a thing evolved from simple symbols burnt into animal skin, to banners, crests and insignias that empires, kingdoms and monarchies used across Asia and Europe to mark their territories and prevent intrusion from rival kingdoms.
Present day brands(symbols) can be called logos; certain logos convey different ideas and brand strategists and managers choose to deliberately use certain colors in order to appeal to a specific target market.
For example the color pink(magenta) is without doubt most commonly used to appeal or portray feminine nature. It invokes feelings of care, creativity, passion, spirituality, delicateness, youthfulness and playful human nature. These are characters that are easily relatable with females and thus are
However this topic(colors) is another vast area that shall be unraveled another day. Branding isn’t entirely about logos, colors, catchphrases or taglines, but rather includes a deeper line of what the client perceives about your brand. What do they feel like when they see your packaging, product or ad?, that is the part of branding I want to delve into.
The art of branding
Branding is a process. It isn’t something that you will accomplish as a one-off. It has to keep evolving and adapting best practices to survive and thrive above the competition on market.
A brand is a promise, it’s the expectation a customer has towards the idea you present either as an individual or a business. There is a value attached to every idea that you present to the world.
Some ideas are valued differently from others and that makes the difference in how every individual or organization is treated and received by the masses.
An idea that is seen to be futuristic and noveau is usually highly esteemed although treated with caution and fear ; for two reasons,
- It is spelling hope and transformation; it points towards the future. Who wouldn’t want to travel to the future and live in that setting? So for this reason many highly esteem a futuristic idea and thus value it greatly; a case in point is Elon Musk and four of his ventures(Tesla, NeuraLink, SpaceX and Boring company)
- It is revolutionary, disruptive and unsettles most of the stable ideologies that have been built over time. As much as we love to toy with the idea of the future; many of us are innately full of inertia, we don’t want to move and change the status quo. We fear we might break things. But guess what, that is a small price to pay for the reward of moving.
An idea or ideology that has been tested over time and is trusted usually has an overwhelming loyalty from it’s customers or individuals who ascribe to it.
Although this too is commonly seen with ideas that are futuristic and new, the tendency to abandon a new idea in pursuit of another is quite common; or jumping from one trend to another is witnessed a lot which is not the case with ideologies that have stood the time test.
So the value an idea carries is also inherited by the brand that is presenting that idea. Your brand will be valued as long as your idea is relevant and aligned with the views and desires or needs of the people.
This is not to say that you ditch your moral and ethical values; in exchange for cheap popularity or short-lived recognition from a certain decadent segment of the population.
This will only lead to the loss of your identity, and eventually your downfall. Because the same people who put you up with their uncouth utterances and lustings after you will also pull you down with the same to put up another. That’s just the way of life. And you will end up lost in the crowd that is full of profanities wallowing in disgust and regret.
Instead seek to define and chisel out an image for yourself out of fabric that is genuine and dynamic.
Genuine in the sense that; it is the real you and not something you are trying so hard to be or faking so people can see and recognize you. This authenticity even goes beyond when the eyes are present to see and judge or applaud you.
Dynamic in a way that you can morph into any era that comes without being left out or feeling out of place. You can be ancient by origin but still current with your operations and ways.
That dynamic nature will make you relevant in any eon or generation. Your idea will stay afloat the tide of time and people will seek to perch to it because they know the fabric from which you are cut and they know you can weather any storm.
In conclusion
The next time you are opening your mouth to say something, tweeting something, sharing a photo on a social media platform; stepping out of the house to go meet a friend or even heading to a supermarket to buy something, know that you are a brand and think carefully on what a brand representative would say. Will they say anything because they have the platform and opportunity to speak? Or will they measure and weigh their words and speech carefully?
You represent a certain entity whether you know it or you don’t. There is a certain image that is cast and perceived by the people seeing you and interacting with you.
Represent and honor that brand well. Men and nations will value you highly. They will seek to associate themselves with you because you are of a substance. A substance they perceive and see is good for their preservation.
