With Writing Show host, Paula Berinstein.

This chapter of my story is actually rather upbeat. Here I describe one of the few bright spots in the whole sorry affair. In the summer of 2004, I went to a one-day branding workshop and learned a lot of helpful stuff. It was also a very surreal experience.

I guess we’ve all heard about branding up the wazoo, but I’m not sure how many people realize how important it is to come up with the right brand. A brand is your identity. It’s a set of expectations, a reputation, an image. Your brand shows what you stand for, whether it’s being cool, rich, stodgy, intellectual, funny, reliable, or some other quality. It’s not the same as a logo or a slogan. Those are manifestations of your brand and come after the brand is defined.

Defining your brand is also a way to clarify your own thoughts about what you do and help your staff and colleagues understand your goals. If you know what your brand is, you can decide which products, marketing campaigns, and other manifestations of you fit within that brand and which ones don’t. If you stray outside your brand, you confuse people, and your identity gets muddled. (Have you ever been in a Fry’s store? Just what are they? They sell everything from computers to greeting cards. What business are they in?) You can switch brands, but that has to be a conscious decision implemented through a consistent strategy.

Continues....

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