Brand is the result

Brand is the result. Not the goal.

It’s one of the reasons I maintain that you can’t have a brand out of the gate – start-ups and new businesses have an idea not a brand. You can put things in place that work towards a brand and after a few years of actually doing “things”, brand begins to be a legitimate term for what you have.

But it’s the result of those “things”.

You can have a say in what your brand will be by being deliberate about what those “things” are. I’m not talking about happenstance.

You can build your business processes, engage with your customers and hire a certain type of person to support your intent.

You can be deliberate and make sure that all those “things” you choose to do are aligned with each other and your intent.

And brand will be the result.

Way too much time, money and attention is spent making brand the goal. It’s a kind of brand deficit disorder. The amount of time spent trying to “create” the brand in turn, takes away from the very things that when paid attention to, will build the brand.

I know I preach this like a gospel, but it’s worth repeating. When you focus on the operational things – well designed products and services, consistent delivery, authentic sales and marketing devoid of hyperbole, good customer service and follow up… brand is the result.

Making sure that result is the one you want is where your effort should go.

See you next week.

Michel Hogan is a Brand Advocate. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia and in the United States, she helps organisations recognise who they are and align that with what they do and say, to build more authentic and sustainable brands. She also publishes the Brand thought leadership blog – Brand Alignment.