Evolving your definition of “brand” to drive success
Failing to understand what your brand is and its importance to the success of your business could be your biggest risk. It is far beyond your logo and identity, as most of us by now know. There are many definitions out there for what a ‘brand’ is, the intangible but most valuable element of your organization. Some of the most common ones are;
- The American Marketing Association: A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.
- The Business Dictionary: Unique design, sign, symbol, words, or a combination of these, employed in creating an image that identifies a product and differentiates it from its competitors.
Two that get closer are:
- David Ogilvy, known as the “Father of Advertising,” described brand as “the intangible sum of a product’s attributes.”
- The Dictionary of Brand: A brand is the way in which a company, organization, or individual is perceived by those who experience it.
While the notion that a brand is intangible and an experience is true, none of these quite encompass the scope of what a brand is and its importance. They certainly don’t include the impact your brand, and your ability to live and work through it, has on every single part of your business.
Definition of Brand
Your brand is the soul of your business, like each of us humans, it is the virtually indescribable essence or life-force that drives every aspect of your being. Like Simon Sinek’s famous TED Talk so poignantly describes – Great brands operate from a clear belief, their “Why,” rather than “What” they do. Your brand, your essence, is your core reason for existing and the life-force of your business that creates that shared belief or ‘why.’ And when that shared belief is disseminated throughout every aspect of your business, creating brand integrity, your business thrives. So, think of your brand as your soul and your business operations as your body. While the body functions more or less mechanically, it can’t function at all without your life-force, your soul. The way a successful brand drives and supports the functioning of relationships and business can seem almost as intangible and indescribable as consciousness itself. However, it is far less mysterious than you may think, if you are willing to work outside of the context of metrics and strictly quantifiable ideas.
While the inherent nature of a brand is somewhat undefinable, like our human consciousness, there are key reference points that represent its existence.
- Your brand, like you as a human, is in relationship. It has a relationship with itself, the internal organization, and it is in relationship with all of its stakeholders including vendors, partners and customers.
- Internally this is represented in your culture. How people within your organization treat one another, how they take ownership or internalize the shared belief and evangelism of that belief.
- Externally, your brand performs an emotional job for your stakeholders. Your brand is what your customers (partners & vendors) relate to that represents their own belief or personality; why they trust and choose you; and why they recommend you.
- Your brand encompasses the values and principles that your business is built on that define how and what you do.
Your brand provides the life-force for every part of your internal business because it drives human potential. It’s this collective human potential operating around a shared belief that in turn drives efficiency and success in all key areas of your business – marketing, operations, human resources and finance. A strong brand equals a strong bottom line. This value is transferrable brand equity that businesses can capitalize on in the future.