A to Z of Branding

 With the apocalypse and tsunami of change coming there is only one way to survive this and that is through personal branding of yourself and the product or service you do. The avenues available to broadcast your brand are many and it is imperative it is utilized to project the brand you want to be known for. It is all about the promises you make and promises you keep. This has been around for a long time but now it is all the more urgent to define what you want to stand for and ensure you live up to the brand message you define.

Here is my A to Z of Branding.

A for Attention: A brand that is not known is not a brand. You need to come to the attention of people who matter. You can do this through writing, speaking, webinars or podcasts. Bottom line you need to be ubiquitous with your presence or even better be omni present so your name becomes permanently associated with a particular word you want to be known for. Social media is a great tool to enhance your personal brand and also use it to market your service constantly so that you are always in the minds of the people you want to influence.

B for Bravery and Beauty: Be brave with a touch of audacity. For your brand to stand out you need to be bold and take appropriate risks in broadcasting it. Fortune favors the brave and we all need to overcome all our inhibitions to broadcast what we stand for. It is also imperative that your brand appeals to the right side of the brain through the aeshthetics or User experience. You want the user or prospect to feel the beauty when they interact with your brand.

C for Consistency: Ultimately your success as a brand boils down to the confidence people have in your message and their trust in your brand. All failure in branding boils down to lack of trust. So it is imperative you define a mission statement that stands the test of time and you stay true to what you are peddling. The most important factor for your brand to live on forever through consistency. Be consistent in your messaging and what you stand for.

D for Distinctive: A brand that is distinctive stands out and sets the world alight with its uniqueness. As a personal brand you need to be distinctive so take the time to identify where you can differentiate yourself from the competition. Define your unique selling proposition and align your brand to the USP.

E for Emotions: The branding expert Scott Bedbury said "A great brand taps into emotions. Emotions drive most, if not all, of our decisions. A brand reaches out with a powerful connecting experience. It is an emotional connecting point that transcends the product." For your brand to live on in the minds of people it needs to transcend boundaries and limitations. Tapping into the emotions helps build your brand and ensures its longevity.

F for Fulcrum: This is the pivot around which your brand turns. So you need to have a unifying point of view about your brand through which the entire brand revolves. This is the fulcrum of your brand.

G for Grace: If you want people to remember your brand for ages to come you need to exhibit grace in all your interactions with your target audience. Your personal brand is enhanced when you exhibit grace in all your messaging. More people will be willing to listen to you if you are graceful and not abruptly selling your brand.

H for Hope and Hallmark: I like this quote from Tom Bodett “They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.” Only when we have a compelling future vision can your brand be truly successful. You also need to create a hallmark for your brand namely a distinguishing characteristic, trait, or feature to help it stand out in an ever crowded marketplace which demands freshness. You need to fend of staleness for your brand to thrive in the 21st century.

I for Imprint and Impute: Your brand should be so visible and engaging that it should be imprinted in the minds of the audience. Your brand should immediately evoke images and showcase what you stand for. All the messages here will enable your brand to stand out and ensure you are remembered. One of the three simple principles Mike Markkula wrote for Apple was impute. Apparently the word impute fascinated Steve Jobs and this mainly meant people do judge a book by its cover. So do make sure you provide an elegant design to your brand that is appealing and trust worthy.

J for Journey: You need to project your brand journey from its inception and create an aura around it. You need to be a good story teller and weave the journey of the brand and where you are taking the brand in the next few years. Remember the Apple ad in 1984 and it was another example of weaving a story and having the audience spell bound. Steve Jobs famously said "It is better to be a pirate than join the navy" and each launch he did for Apple signified this.

K for Kindness: For your personal brand to be successful be kind to everyone you meet. Everyone has enough problems on their plate and your kindness could be the best experience they have had for that day. Kindness improves our mood and also those around us. This will ensure people would be want to be around you and augurs well for the brand. If you are in the service industry the best way to enhance your brand image is by being kind to every customer and this will be remembered long after the interaction.

L for Lighthouse identity: All successful people are aware of what they stand for and want to ensure that their actions are aligned with their brand statement. It is not only organizations that need to broadcast their brand. Everyone has an opportunity to broadcast and communicate what they want to stand for. The avenues available to enhance the brand through blogs, webinars and podcasts are plenty and the content is always king. Brand strategist Adam Morgan has something he calls “lighthouse identity” which is basically organizations that stand for something and have a strong point of view. Similarly, individuals at the top of their game know what they want to be known for.

M for Marker: A marker is an object which is used to showcase the position of something or it can also be used to help someone remember something. Your brand is something you want people to remember so use the appropriate marker to keep enhancing the brand and be in the mind of everyone you want to influence.

N for Noticeable: For your brand to be successful you have to be noticeable in your area of expertise. You need to sell yourself with your talents and make people notice you. As Steve Martin said “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” Unless you show others what you are capable of nobody is going to know. I think we should learn to sell ourselves not in an abrupt manner but a classy manner. This requires practice but this will pay off in spades. A brand that succeeds needs to be visible and unless they are noticeable there is no way the brand will be remembered.

O for Optimism: Your overall brand image should be optimistic. Never use your brand to project anything negative. Be the torchbearer of optimism and your brand will continue to live on and inspire others for the consistent messaging which helps in bringing joy to those you want to influence.

P for Purple Cow and Promises: As Seth Godin said Purple cow is all about being remarkable. You need to ensure your product stands out for something unique. Similarly your personal brand is all about the promises you make and the promises you keep. Be very careful about your brand promises because that is the fulcrum around which your entire identity revolves.

Q for Quality: Vince Lombardi put it beautifully when he said “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” Go for quality in every area of your brand and you will be successful as a brand. Personally be known as the person who goes for quality and your personal brand will be enhanced.

R for Remarkable: Something that is remembered has to be remarkable. The movies we remember are the ones which are remarkable and has stood the test of time. So being remarkable and having high quality goes hand in hand to create your magnificent brand.

S for Story telling: Scott Bedbury who helped brand Nike and Starbucks among others has this to say about stories. "A great brand is a story that's never completely told. A brand is a metaphorical story that's evolving all the time. Stories create the emotional context people need to locate themselves in a larger experience."

T for Tools: Think of every avenue to project your brand as a tool. For example Social media is a tool to broadcast your brand. You can use podcasts to broadcast your brand and of course you can use advertising as well if you think that would help. You can also run voting options to identify what your customers want and tailor your brand according to the message your brand needs to stand for.

U for Unique: You are unique and there is no one else like you in this world. This uniqueness enables you to provide services that enable you to stand out and show case your talent. Keep developing your talents and understand where your strengths lie. If you understand your uniqueness and go forward in developing the required skills success will follow. At the same time since branding is a contact sport you need to really be in touch with your target audience all the time.

V for Value: Your brand value determines your brand identity. The more highly valued your brand the better chance you have for people coming back to your brand. Add value at every stage of the customer interaction and or target audience. Adding value consistently and continuously enhances your brand equity.

W for Words: Ultimately your brand has to own certain words. For example BMW owns "The Ultimate Driving Machine" and an example closer to home I want to be known for my brand as "Maximise Potential." It is critical you really think what your brand word should be and start projecting that relentlessly to own it and make it happen.

X for X: I am not talking about Twitter being renamed here. A lot of brands start with X and it could potentially mean moving forward. For example Peter Diamandis had the X Prize name a $10 million contest meant to encourage the creation of new space vehicles and a whole new space industry. X can also signify cooperation as in cross.and it can also be known for experimentation and innovation. Some of the brands beginning with X are X Sport Fitness. X-Golf. XB. Xclusive. XD Dark Ride Experience. It wouldn't be a bad idea to start your brand name with X.

Y for Year-around: Brand building is an all time activity and not a one-time activity. So keep your brand in the minds of your stakeholders, influencers and everyone through consistent and constant branding throughout the year. In an era of exponentially short attention spans if you are off you are branding even for a week people can forget it. So be present and omni-present.

Z for Zest: Finally you need to have an undying zest for your brand. If you love your brand and live the brand message to the fullest you will inspire people to follow your brand. Keep your enthusiasm for the brand ongoing and show your zest in maintaining the brand image at the highest level.

To conclude all of us can define what our brands stand for and continue broadcasting the brand message through the journey of the brand which would be never ending. Personal branding is the key to your success in the 21st Century. If you are into services again your success would be based on the brand and how it is spoken about from all your stakeholders. So do give branding the attention it deserves and you will be happy you did. All the best for a wonderful brand journey.

The views expressed here are my own and do not represent my organization.