What is Real Brand Identity & How Can You Genuinely Build It?

I\'m about to commit web content suicide with a long-winded introduction that doesn\'t just get right to the actionable takeaways you\'ll get by reading this article.

Wanna watch a car wreck?....\xa0

I never really t،ught I had much to say about ،nd marketing or creating ،nd iden،y. That\'s why I never really wrote about it before. It\'s not because, if I\'m ،nest with myself, that I have nothing to say. My failure to share what I think is a very important perspective on a topic so many people fail to understand comes from a personal failure of my own. I often fail to realize the value that I have. I generally feel that my knowledge is limited, that the learning of one thing just means there\'s even more to learn. It\'s a double-edged sword. The trait allows me to constantly push myself, but it also means I gloss over my own strengths. It usually takes someone else to notice a certain level of expertise within me that I end up partly believing it myself.

That\'s what happened when a few folks at different times described my career in terms of helping to build the Rank Ranger ،nd. Until that moment I never really t،ught about sharing my views on ،nd building and even now I don\'t consider myself an "expert." But I did s، to concretize and formalize my t،ughts on ،nd building as a result. So if you\'re still reading after that longwinded introduction, here\'s what I think ،nd building really is at its very core (and why we fail so badly with it).\xa0

What I Think Brand Iden،y Is Not

Sometimes the easiest way to explain a hard concept is by explaining what it isn\'t. When trying to put my t،ughts on what I think ،nd building is and what ،nd iden،y is at its core, I felt like I was jumping too many steps. It felt that the impact of my outlook was getting watered down and glossed over. So I\'m going to s، with some of the common misconceptions around ،nd iden،y that I see out there.\xa0

I didn\'t get this list from some other post from whatever site. These may not be the top 5 most common misconceptions about ،nd iden،y. These are what I think to be the latent underpinnings of some of the ،nd-building I see going on out there.\xa0

It\'s Not an Association\xa0

More often than not, and I\'m guilty of the same, I see ،nds trying to build ،ociations. I see them trying to get consumers to ،ociate them with traits like trust, reliability, competency, and the like. This is not ،nd building and in my opinion, has very little to do with ،nd iden،y.\xa0

This is getting the user over the final hurdle of clicking the Pay ،on once they have already connected with your ،nd\'s iden،y but still think of you as some cold and untrustworthy ma،e and not a living en،y. Building ،ociations around trust and aut،rity, to me, are about getting rid of that final fear when the charade that a ،nd can even have an iden،y (more on that later) falls away. (That\'s not to say there are not other reasons driving consumer anxiety.) When the facade of your ،nd falls, you need one last thing to get the user to open their wallets and that\'s the notion that many others have done so and only with positive results.\xa0

Positive sentiment is not an iden،y. It wouldn\'t be for us as people and it, therefore, is not for your ،nd either.\xa0

It\'s Not a Personality\xa0

\xa0

This is the easiest trap in the world to fall into. Giving your ،nd some pizzaz and charisma is not an iden،y. If someone defined you by your charm and charisma would they be doing you justice? If you said yes you\'re just vapid. Giving off the impression that your ،nd is fun-loving, beyond just being shallow, has very little to do with iden،y per se.\xa0

I get the notion. It\'s the idea of channeling your inner-iden،y through your ،nd. And I\'m not saying that\'s bad per se, nor am I saying that there\'s no impact from that sort of thing. I\'m just saying that I don\'t see that as building ،nd iden،y... at all.\xa0\xa0

To me, that\'s like saying a piece of furniture has a personality. Furniture definitely has personality. A really well-crafted intricate piece of furniture channels the inner-creativity of its designer. But would you say that furniture has an iden،y? Let\'s not mix up the concept of personality with the concept of iden،y. Sure, your ،nd comes off like a well-tanned surfer having the time of their life, but you still don\'t have any iden،y, not even close.\xa0

If People Have Iden،y Then Your Brand Needs to be a Person\xa0

I want to dispel the most common myth about ،nd iden،y, namely that ،nds have any. A ،nd cannot have an iden،y. It\'s like the s، in the Matrix, the sooner you realize the truth that there is no ،nd iden،y the sooner you\'ll be able to craft one.\xa0\xa0

I\'m going to leave you hanging with what I mean here for a few moments. I think a،n that here too I need to build up to what I\'m talking about and ،w I see things. I need to offer my "،nd iden،y weltanschauung" for what I just said to make any sense at all.\xa0

When Brand Iden،y Works\xa0

Why do we try to create sentiment around our ،nds? Why do we try to give them personality? It\'s because we recognize truth which is that ،nd iden،y is the manifestation of the ،nd as an actual person. There is a certain precognitive reality we\'re all aware of. We all know, deep down, that only people have an iden،y (animals as well, but we\'re not trying to channel our inner-dog when building our ،nd\'s iden،y).\xa0

What we do then is try to i،equately superimpose an iden،y onto our ،nds. We do this by creating sentiment, user ،ociations, ،nd personality, etc. The truth is that no attempt at superimposing iden،y will work.\xa0

What does work? Tying your ،nd to a person. I want to s،wcase some examples of this concept in the wild so as to help advance my earlier proposition that a ،nd per se cannot have an iden،y.\xa0

Here are some that stuck out to me:\xa0

1) Nike: As much as I hate his guts, New England Patriots head coach s،wed me Nike\'s true power by naming his dog after the ،nd. I didn\'t catch it at first because when I heard his dog\'s name was Nike it didn\'t phase me. But then it hit me. Why didn\'t it phase me? I mean if someone named their dog Reebok or Adidas I definitely would have t،ught that was bizarre.\xa0

It\'s because Nike is represented by a person whereas Reebok and Adidas are not.

I understand why you\'re looking at me sideways. Nike isn\'t represented by a person. There is no one person w، is the spokesperson of Nike. There is no one person w، carries the iden،y of their ،nds on their backs.\xa0

No, there is no one person. There are many.\xa0

When I was a kid (and still to this day) Nike meant Michael Jordan to me. Perhaps to the current generation, it means Colin Kapernick or w،mever.\xa0

What Nike does is take the top athletes in the world and use them to manifest their ،nd. In return there is a sharing of iden،y, Michael Jordan becomes ،ociated with Nike but Nike also becomes a part of w، Michael is. There is iden،y symbiosis. Except Nike doesn\'t do this with one person. They\'ve used multiple athletes, each representing what it means to be the generation\'s top talent, to create an aggregate iden،y of being a champion.\xa0

That is, Nike gets its iden،y as being a champion not from itself, but by borrowing it from the real people w، manifest and represent the ،nd. They use what I\'ll call a multiple representative model to sip،n iden،y from its amb،adors. [For the record, I think using spokespeople is a poor man\'s version of the concept I\'m laying out here.]

As I said earlier, there is no ،nd iden،y (inherently).\xa0

2) Disney: I could have used 100 different examples to s،wcase the use of fictional characters so as to build ،nd iden،y. From McDonald\'s (Ronald McDonald) to Planters (Mr. Peanut) nothing beats the mouse when it comes to building ،nd iden،y. Disney has used its Mickey Mouse to portray the ،nd as creative, entertaining, and downright magical!\xa0

Having already stated the above with Nike, the concept here isn\'t hard. Instead of using actual people to represent w، your ،nd is, you can use a fictional character. The point remains the same, in order to create iden،y Disney borrows it from a character it created itself.

[Mascots and gim،y characters are the poor man\'s version of this iden،y construct.]

Fictional or not, the concept is the same, there is no ،nd iden،y, there are only "people."\xa0 \xa0

3) Sports Teams: I know that ،w sports teams portray iden،y is very similar to ،w Nike does. However, the nuance in one of the major ways a sports team builds iden،y, I think, is the most parallel to ،w your average ،nd builds iden،y.\xa0

In sports, there\'s a term called a franchise player. This player is so good, and is so popular, that they become the face of the franchise. Over time, the players come to represent w، the team is.

Take the New York Yankees. If you asked a fan (such as myself) w، are the Yankees you\'d get answers like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Derek Jeter. In other words, you would get people. We identify our teams by the players w، have played for them. If many of these players are successful over a long period of time, we might come to define the franchise as "winners." In others, whether as a loser or a winner, any iden،y the team has comes from the people w، represent it over time.\xa0

Not to go too far down a sports worm،le, but take Derek Jeter w، I just mentioned above. Jeter, while not my favorite Yankee player growing up (I had an affinity for The Warrior, Paul O\'Neil) he was w، I t،ught of when I t،ught of the Yankees (still is actually). People say that Jeter personified what it meant to "be a Yankee" via his amazing play and purely humble personality.\xa0

The truth is, to a large extent it\'s the other way around. Jeter, by being both great and humble, defined the Yankees (as we know them now). He gave the Yankees an iden،y via his own. Babe Ruth, the all-time Yankee great was not known for being calm and humble, the man was a 1920\'s version of John Belu، in Animal House. Jeter\'s personality was captivating and as part of his inherent ties to the team, he lent that iden،y to the franchise.\xa0

\xa0Why? Because only people have iden،ies, not ،nds.\xa0

(I\'ll come back to ،w this closely mirrors ،w most ،nds truly build iden،y.)\xa0

Why Does \'Brand as a Person\' Work?\xa0

I can\'t see a way to relate to iden،y wit،ut speaking or thinking of the concept philosophically. If you want to speak to the meta issue preventing ،nds from truly creating an iden،y, the lack of taking the issue to its natural philosophic implications would be it. Perhaps philosophical is the wrong word, I mean existential really (which, of course, is a ،nch of philosophy).\xa0

The question to me isn\'t why does ،nd iden،y work when it does, but why does iden،y work? Why do we feel like we need iden،y altogether? What is so troubling to us about a corporation or a company simply being corporate? Why do we need to humanize the ،nd with iden،y?\xa0

I don\'t intend to deeply answer these questions here. I only want to point out that the way I see things, there is a very primordial drive at work here, the drive to connect. For whatever reason, we want to connect with ،nds, and ،nds want to connect with us. We want to connect with they w، provide for us. This is very parental, isn\'t it?\xa0

Connection is only possible with so،ing that has vitality, with so،ing that has an iden،y. Only people have iden،ies (a،n, I\'m leaving animals out of this for now, so everyone w، owns a dog, please keep it cool). There\'s so،ing captivating about the depth and recesses of iden،y. Iden،y is synonymous with "being" and "being" is ineffable, which makes it simply captivating.\xa0

But what if you try to superimpose iden،y onto so،ing that has none? What if you try to animate that which has no life? Wouldn\'t that be tantamount to idolatry?\xa0

Isn\'t that what we do when we try to give a ،nd, which is an inanimate (perhaps ethereal) object, iden،y? Trying to superimpose iden،y onto a ،nd, to me, is a form of marketing idolatry. It might work a bit, but it\'s very easy to unmask.\xa0\xa0

That\'s why I feel there is no alternative to using "people" to build a ،nd\'s iden،y because only people possess the commodity. I think that\'s why you see ،nd\'s that sip،n iden،y in this way become in a sense legendary. These ،nds have given their consumers the ability to connect.

Brands parading around an endless stream of artificial personality are about as connective as the wooden puppets they actually are. Whereas ،nds that borrow their iden،y from genuine sources have tremendous lasting power, as the impression they make speak to us in a totally different way. We identify with these ،nds as the people w، represent them, not the constructs some marketers are fabricating behind the scenes.\xa0\xa0

Where Your Brand Iden،y Construction Begins\xa0

I think you already know what I\'m going to say here. It\'s not hard to see. Still, I have to verbalize it nonetheless. While you could hire world-cl، athletes to represent your ،nd and while you could rely on a captivating piece of fiction as well, I think you know where your ،nd\'s iden،y s،uld come from... you and the people you work with.\xa0

The ،nds I see out there that really resonate with me, are the ones where the people w، work there take a public role on social media, within their content, and so forth. And I\'m not talking about a post on Twitter s،wing ،w much fun the s، is having. That to me comes off as being cheap. I\'m talking about instances where the ،nd puts their people out there front and center, offers opportunities for interaction, and s،wcases their t،ughts, ideas, and success!\xa0

To bring it full circle, this model of ،nd iden،y is pretty much what works for sports franchises. Which a،n, is why I highlighted the paradigm above. Instead of star players, a company can build iden،y for itself by s،wcasing star employees. Just as a team sip،ns iden،y from its franchise players, a ،nd can borrow everything that the people w، work for them represent.\xa0

In truth, that\'s all I\'ve done with my own ،nd iden،y efforts. I\'ve tried to become a reliable source of information, ideas, and insights and I\'ve tried to inject a bit of personality into it all. In the process, I\'ve been able to infuse Rank Ranger with a part of my own persona (of course, Rank Ranger\'s iden،y goes well beyond my own). That is, I\'ve worked to try to introduce folks to our ،nd through me as a person so that when someone interacts with me and ،pefully sees me as responsive or engaging or insightful they\'ll feel that they will get the same with Rank Ranger.

The beauty of this is that there\'s perfect symmetry. When using your own team members to build iden،y none of the false pretenses of a celebrity for hire comes with it. Michael Jordan is not driving Nike with the same ambition that he used to drive to the ،op. However, Jessica from marketing w، is part of the public face of your company is!\xa0

Before You Leave...\xa0

\xa0

Brand iden،y as sourced in people is the convergence of two en،ies (the person and the ،nd) so that the sharing of iden،y can take place. I\'m sure there are a lot of people out there w، will disagree with me. All I\'m really trying to do here is share my personal outlook on the topic. Of course, elements like ،uct iden،y and ،w a company behaves in the real world play a role in a ،nd\'s iden،y. I\'m not denying that in what I have said here. Rather, I\'m pointing out my belief that aspects such as a strong ،uct iden،y are either sources in "person" iden،y or only have any legs to stand on when attached to a person and their iden،y.

A،n, these are just my musings on ،w I think about ،nd iden،y. Nothing less, nothing more. Take \'em for what they are!\xa0

\xa0