If I asked you to name a brand you might mention Coca-Cola, Nike, Apple, or Starbucks.
But what is a brand? It’s not just a logo.
I could create a logo just like Apple’s. But it doesn’t mean my company will instantly be successful.
The brand isn’t just the product. The annals of business are littered with better products which lost to the “inferior.”
The brand isn’t even the experience. Uh oh, I might have lost some of you here. I know it is popular to equate the brand with the experience. But what creates that experience? Better asked, who creates that experience?
People.
People are the genesis of the brand. The logo represents them… it’s their signature. People create the product. People inspire the experience.
It may seem like an obvious truth, but we act as though this is obscure.
We forget it as we make hiring decisions based on paper and cloth. We are persuaded by diplomas, certificates, resumes, and a snappy suit. What about the person, his passions, her personality? Do his values align with the organizational culture? Will she take the risks necessary to grow and enhance herself and the company?
We forget it as we make decisions based on “the market.” We peddle ourselves to a nameless, faceless crowd. We speak to them in generalities from a podium, instead of specifics across the dining room table.
Lately, the concept of personal branding has been very hot. It seems like such a jump from corporate branding. It shouldn’t be.
Because corporately, or individually… it’s all about PEOPLE.
I would disagree with you somewhat. You are correct that the people who work at a company – the employees – work to create a certain image and brand. But I would argue that the brand can only be controlled so much by the people who run the company. Employees can steer the brand in a certain direction, but ultimately, a brand is something intangible: it is not the coffee that Starbucks sells, or the people who market it, but the particular unique place that it occupies in the mindspace of the consumer and customer. That’s how we create preferences for one coffee company (or shoe brand, or cell phone company) over another.
I think that the characteristics that we associate with a company are influenced by the people who work there, but I don’t think that’s the only factor at play.
Agreed Laura. The people are the genesis of the brand, but you’re right in that they cannot control it. This was touched on in a post WAY back in my archives:
The 5 Es of Branding
The comments have some great information. It was a fun refresher for me to go back an read it.
Thanks for your comments Laura! Smart stuff.