There are many aspects that go into developing and establishing a successful brand. But they really have nothing to do with it.
That may sound confusing and close to oxymoronic, but it’s true. One of the best moves a brand-building organization can take is to forget all of the substance that goes into building a brand. Once the auxiliary noise is quieted, then finding the perfect note to start the song becomes significantly easier.
But why simplify such a complex process at the very beginning? Well, you try determining a solid brand strategy while simultaneously brainstorming a name and designing a logo and creating a letterhead that will go on a yet-to-be created website that will be included in the on-brand email signatures that will be included in the email sending out the brand standards document to your employees who will need to have a detailed explanation how to live the brand characteristics…
Is your mind spinning yet?
When a brand to-do list starts to resemble a grocery list for Thanksgiving dinner, then it’s time to take a step back and focus on the driving factor, which is identifying the end game – who and what the brand should ultimately become.
Once the final goal is realized, then all subsequent actions and decisions will unite behind a common final destination, and the brand building process will become a synchronized and coordinated effort, instead of falling into the common trap of unfocused branding resulting in a jumbled mess of a brand that needs almost immediate fixing.
The brand naming process can be developed with the full resources available to know what it needs to convey. The same can be applied to the logo creation, the collateral designing and so on, down the line until the full brand has been established.
To carry the musical metaphor along some more, when writing a song, composers don’t begin by determining the exact varying note each different area of the orchestra will play. They begin by finding the foundational chords that will cultivate the song’s melodies and ultimately create the song. Only then, once they know where they want the song to go, do they bring in the building block components that round out the full vision.
The greatest creators had a unique characteristic of singular focus on their task at hand – they could shut out the world around them and devote their attention solely on their creative process, knowing where they wanted to go and not allowing the litany of distractions available divert them from that end goal.
Applying this same mindset and process to your brand building and brand strategy is a tried and true way to ensure that the end brand product is well-rounded and each brand ingredient carries the full potential for the final brand building recipe.