Branding

I am finishing up my most recent course of my masters degree titled "Business Story Telling and Branding". It has been a very useful course for me as a focus on creating the brand Trade Sound Productions. I don't think many of us think about the thought, work, and creative thinking gone into the brands we know and love, and the brands we have grown up with. I think most of us just think they "are". I know I have been trying to explain to my 17 year old son, a brand is not a company, and it's like trying to convince him the sky is not blue. I think the conversation would go roughly the same with the general population of adults. According to The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier, a brand is "A person’s perception of a product, service, experience, or organization; the art and science of brand building". Do a search on "what is a brand", and many perspectives will pop up. It's almost as complex as searching "how did the universe originate". According to Forbes "Put simply, your “brand” is what your prospect thinks of when he or she hears your brand name. It’s everything the public thinks it knows about your name brand offering—both factual (e.g. It comes in a robin’s-egg-blue box), and emotional (e.g. It’s romantic). Your brand name exists objectively; people can see it. It’s fixed. But your brand exists only in someone’s mind". Simple right? Hardly. The course has taught me about the steps I can take to create and expand my brand. It is a science, and I will be referring back to the course content for years to come. These great questions were proposed by Carol Phillips, professor at Notre Dame, "Seven Signs you have developed a Brand Identity; 1. What is the brands particular aim or mission? 2. What makes it different? 3. What need is the brand fulfilling? 4. What is it's permanent crusade? 5. What are it's values? 6. What is its field of competence? Of legitimacy? 7. What are the signs which make the brand recognizable?" Answering these questions as I continue to focus on strengthening our brand is becoming extremely helpful. I think many entrepreneur companies who do not have the backing of marketing gurus, branding experts, and a team of know-it-alls, will never even think about what they can do to turn their small company into an iconic brand. I strongly recommend watching the short video "Visual Hammer" by Laura Reis. This video has me contemplating ways of placing my brand AND my logo into the minds of my specific consumer.

Altruism: Unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness.

I recently watched Matthiew Ricard give a speech at TED on Altruism, and how he believes the concept can change the world. For those of you not familiar with the word, or with the concept, Altruism is the "unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness". This is a concept we at Trade Sound Productions live through our business. We want to help others, and touch people's lives. We do not do it because we think it will help us in the end, or that it will make us feel good, or that it is "good for business". We do it, because that is what we do, that is who we are. We believe that if we can bring help, or joy to one, they may spread it to others. Just like when Ricard posed the question "So what is altruism? It is the wish: May others be happy and find the cause of happiness". We do this with our company with each job we take on, and with the bands we represent. We think about their end joy in the project. I enjoyed hearing Ricard speak on how even people who are not altruistic by nature, can train their brains to become more like the selfless. I agree with this, and think that if more companies were focused on the end client or customers happiness, contentment, or joy; instead of their own bottom line, the structure of business itself may just change. This quote by Ricard nails the concept on the head, and I have to have faith that others agree with me, "If you have more consideration for others, you will make sure that you remedy inequality, that you bring some kind of well-being within society, in education, at the workplace. Otherwise, a nation that is the most powerful and the richest but everyone is miserable, what's the point"?