One of our most favorite marketing topics to discuss here at THuS Marketing is brand. We are geeks for it and can't get enough of it. It's a five-letter word that packs a vigorous punch. B-R-A-N-D. There's not much there at first glance. Yet, take a closer look. Go ahead, focus on each letter and gaze at this magnificent word.
Can you see it? There is so beneath the surface when you take a closer look, isn't it? It's tiny yet powerful and so critical to our organizations. It carries significant weight and bears tremendous value. Your brand is the very foundation your business is built upon. Everything your company does should be centered around an established brand.
Why you exist, who you exist for, how you do what you do, what form you do your do in, where you drive your organization, and when you lead it there, are all informed by your brand.
A brandless business is a lost business.
Your five W's and your how either go unanswered or are answered incorrectly when a defined brand is absent. It's building an entity that is doomed to struggle every step of its way to obtain success and may inevitably crumble.
Think of the three little pigs. We know the tale of porky siblings, all skilled in construction and each trying their best to keep from being dinner. A big bad wolf was coming for them, and the only saving grace was to craft a house so strong he could not break in to snatch the pigs. One constructs a home out of straw and another out of sticks. That big bad wolf came and blew both their houses down with just a huff and puff of his breath.
Those two piggies found shelter in the third brother's home, who built his shelter out of bricks. The wolf came by the house expecting the same results. He huffed, and he puffed. He blew, and he blew, but nothing fell. Every brick stood in its place. The pigs then overtook a tired and worn-out wolf and had him for dinner instead.
Organizations investing in developing their brands are building and conducting business on a foundation made for bricklaying. Competition, rising and shifting trends, evolving generations, and even pandemics cannot shatter companies with established brands. We can withstand the huffs and the puffs when we have created an unmistakable identity within our industry.
That's all a brand really is—the organization's personality. We all have one and are defined by it. It's the total sum of our nature, what makes us who we are—likewise with your company's brand. As we present our organizations to the outside world, we must ensure that we connect with, pull from, and point back to this personality.
Allow THuS this month to take you on a brand journey that provides tangible examples of organizations built with straws and sticks finding themselves preparing for a fall. However, with dedication and commitment to rebuilding on the foundation of a brand, not only did the plunge not occur, but they rose to the creme of the crop in their respective industries.
May is the "Mother of all Brand Reinventions" month. While you celebrate the mom in your life (we will, too), we'll pay homage to the brands that wowed us all.
Happy early Mother's Day from THuS Marketing + Branding Services!