Ouch! But does branding really need to be painful?
In English, the German-derived word “brand” originally meant anything hot or burning, such as a fire-brand (a burning stick).
By the European Middle Ages it commonly identified the process of burning a mark into a stock animals with thick hides, such as cattle, so as to identify ownership.
In the corporate world, branding still refers back to this original root meaning:
- Ownership of our range of products and services.
- Ownership of our approach – how we work with our clients and suppliers.
- Ownership of our voice – the message and logo we put out for people to instantly recognise who they are dealing with.
Simply put, our brand is our promise.
I often sense it’s the third point: the voice that gets left behind. Frequently, so much developmental emphasis is placed on the product and service line-up and their routes to market, that the message doesn’t resonate or make sense. There is a conflict or a lack of consistency.
Currently, I’m working through a branding exercise for New Era and hoping that any pain or discomfort is temporary, just as it would be for a bull, from which part of my name derives!
“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.” – Jeff Bezos
Quote source: https://brainyquote.com
Thank you for reading.
