Marketing Matters: Your Brand Makes All the Difference

By Dr. Ryan T. Sauers

How can we lead when we are looking down? We cannot. Leaders must look up. Leading individuals and organizations look up and ahead, and they almost always have a strong brand. So, let us focus on the word brand and how it positions us as a leader.

We communicate a message in everything we do – and it’s especially true when we use the term brand. We often discuss brands that we prefer and those we do not. Why? Because brands stand out in an emotional way in our minds. Think about our instant recognition of Nike when we hear “Just Do It,” or the image of Walt Disney World when you hear the words “the happiest place on earth.”

These messages are effective in connecting customers with the brand and in positioning us as market leaders. You see, perception is reality when it comes to our brand. Thus, the goal is to make such brand experiences personal in nature. For example, are you a Coke or Pepsi person? Mac or PC? You get the idea. Your brand is the one thing about you or your organization that people cannot copy. They can try to duplicate what you do, but they cannot be you or replicate your DNA. They cannot be your brand.

I hope you are beginning to see that your brand is the unique value that you bring to the table that no one else can. A price is the cost of something. In contrast, value= price + goods/services + YOU. Without the value of you (your brand) in the aforementioned equation, you are nothing more than a commodity where low price wins. No good as the goal is value.

So how can we best define a brand? It can be defined as the sum total of key ideas, emotions, and perceptions that are communicated to your audience and associated with you or your organization’s work. When your stakeholders reflect upon their experiences with you or your organization, the brand is the “shorthand” way of summing up those characteristics and feelings. A brand can be thought of as your distinguishing characteristics that could be considered your own unique fingerprint.

To help simplify this subject, I have developed a newly revised acronym: A BRAND can be considered the Baseline (measurement) of our Reputation, Attributes, Name, and Distinctiveness. Reputation is all you or your organization stands for; attributes are the characteristics others use when describing you; your name suggests something (good, bad, or indifferent) when a person hears it; and your distinctiveness answers the question, “Why you? What makes you different or unique?”

So the question is not if we have a brand or not, because we do. All individuals and organizations have a brand. Instead, the question is reframed to: What do we do with our brand? In short, our brand is not defined by what we say it is, but by what others say it is. To that end, successful individuals and organizations work hard to develop their brands through effective communication. Always remember that building a strong, recognizable, and reliable brand takes time, effort, and commitment. Simply said, it requires a deliberate, purposeful, and intentional strategy.

Such consistency in strategic branding pays off with brand awareness and loyalty – one of the most valuable assets any person or organization can have. To review your brand, obtain feedback from those around you as a first step. Be sure to obtain this 360-degree feedback (all directions) from those close to you as well as those who are more removed from you.

Moreover, develop a PACT mindset as it pertains to your brand (P = Passion; A = Authenticity; C = Creativity; T = Trust). Merriam Webster

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