I’ve been sitting on this quote from Aaron Brazell (@technosailor) since BlogPotomac back in June.

A few thoughts about branding:

NACHRI is currently going through a major branding initiative – consultants, fonts, colors, phrases, brand book, the whole nine yards. But, as Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff remind us:

Marketers tell us they define and manage brands. Some spend millions, or hundreds of millions, of dollars on advertising. They carefully extend brand names, putting Scope on a tube of toothpaste to see what happens. We bought this brand, they say. We spent on it. We own it.

Bull.

Your brand is whatever the customers say it is.

Groundswell, p. 78

Which of course leaves me with a lot of questions about branding consultants, the number one being: Are they even providing a useful service? If they’re helping an organization IDENTIFY what their constituents think about the organization, great. If they’re helping an organization figure out what they can do to help their constituents think better of them, great. If they’re trying to tell you what your brand should be, um, not great. I came into the process here too late to be able to tell which one our consultants did, but I sure hope it’s option 1 or 2.

But the larger point is that I think “brand” is too constructed a concept for people. A company has a brand. A person has a reputation. And it’s the sum total of who you are. Ever seen those Facebook pages that show NO personality? Guaranteed that’s someone who’s decided anything other than 100% professional information is bad for his “brand.” You know what else is bad for your “brand”? Coming across as a cardboard cut-out.

Furthermore, in an era where we’re all trying to become stars in the social media firmament, personal brand starts to eclipse corporate brand. Not to name names, but there’s a car company that rhymes with Mord that has a socmed star on staff. What happens if/when he leaves? Whose “brand” suffers? I’m just guessing, but probably Mord’s.

I’m not sure what the answer is, so I suggest you read Maddie on it here, here, or here, and then tell me what you think.
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I was at BlogPotomac last week, and as you’d expect in a room full of bloggers, there were some great roundup posts. The speakers included Shel Holtz, Shireen Mitchell, Scott Monty, Liz Strauss, Shashi Bellamkonda and more.Read this one in particular …

Throughout history stories have been served to weave communities and cultures together. Our nation has a story, our communities have stories and you have a personal story of your journey.

But does your organization have a clearly articulated story that you communicate to members, customers, and the world?

Jack Trout — the…