What's Your Brand?

In the earlier history of our country branding became an important aspect. Cattle were hog-tied and a permanent brand placed upon them to prove where they belonged. The brand protected the owner from rustlers trying to encroach upon another’s property. Although not nearly as physically painful, branding and protecting our brand is still important in today’s society.

Branding identifies who we are, what our culture is and what we do. Branding becomes how we are known to others. Every person or organization is identified by certain qualities or characteristics. Considerable time and money is spent establishing and maintaining the brand. In 2012, and for the ninth year in a row, Proctor and Gamble spent more on advertising than any other company with $3 billion spent. The company started in 1837 and is well-known and yet continues identifying and protecting their brand. Three activities are essential for success in branding; we’ll explore each of them.

First we must pick what our brand will be. How do we want to be known? What is important to us? What are the qualities necessary to be successful? We will live with these choices throughout our lives or careers so care needs to be taken. It is important to choose well because the brand we communicate tends to stick with us: positively or negatively.

Second, we must consistently exhibit the qualities and characteristics chosen. These will be how we are identified to our friends or customers. We want these to stick so this is how we’ll be known and come across. They should accurately reflect who we are or where we are trying to go. We should try to remove any guesswork and have a clear picture of who we are and what we want to become.

Finally, once the brand is fine-tuned we must continuously protect our brand. Part of the protection is to be true to the characteristics chosen as important and also flexible enough when times or conditions warrant changes. Deviation from the brand can be devastating and confuse those around us. Not recognizing changing times can also hurt. Sears was late in reacting to Wal-Mart’s variety of product selection in their stores and fell from being the nation’s number one retailer.

We live with our brand for a long time. Research shows that people often spend more time planning a two week vacation than establishing a plan (brand) for their lives or careers. Rather than a hit or miss approach we need a plan for our brand!!
Contact Chuck at: chuck.wright@sckans.edu