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.