The concept of your brand is a tricky one. Most people stumble around it. Is it your unique selling proposition? Not really. Is it what you aspire to be? A little bit. Is it the articulation of your values? Perhaps. Whatever brand is, it is damn hard to pin down.
To offer some guidance on the subject, think of your brand as your truth. Distill down everything you are, everything you want to be and the value you create for your clients into its purest, most simple form. To accomplish this, think about the last thing you want to say before a meeting wraps. Imagine running a marathon, getting over the line, absolutely exhausted, and explaining your business. Your quintessential truth is unguarded, raw and basic. There can't be complexity to it. It isn't about your strategy, your experience, or your performance. It is deeper, more powerful and harder hitting.
For an example, one our truths. we are courageous. That's it. Off the tongue, it may feel over simplistic. However, when you let the comment hang, when you let it settle, there is "biggness" there. Furthermore, it sets up a very personal conversation. Such as, we aren't afraid of the unknown, we are prepared to challenge tradition, and we won't back down. Are these traits important for a marketing organization. you tell me? More importantly, I am not overly concerned if you don't believe these traits to be important. Our truth, your truth, isn't going to resonate with everybody. It is incredibly freeing when come to this realization.
Finding your truth isn't something you can rush or force. Our role as marketers is to help you find this truth, to talk through the complexities of your story until the basic elements are exposed. We then need to help you "feel" this story and build consensus around it. A firm should only have one truth. It should be authentic and earthy.
There is truth to every story. The key is to find it. Keep asking yourself why someone should care about your company. Focus on using fewer and fewer words to answer that question. You will eventually reach at point where you are at peace with the answer. More importantly, you will be able to walk in a room, be truthful, and be ok with the outcome, whatever that will be. At that point, you are no longer selling anything. You are being genuine, and people are choosing to buy from you or not.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
