Making Meaning - The Art of the Start

I referenced this video, The Art of the Start presented by Guy Kawasaki, in my first blog post. I felt it would be best to share this message, as I find it quite inspiring.


In this video Guy is speaking to a group of future venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. And although he never mentions branding, this is exactly what he is talking about. He talks about the importance of making meaning - going into business for something more than earning money. Rather, you go into business because you have a great idea that will make the world a better place, and you want to share it!


Again, it comes back to having purpose! When a company begins to make meaning, it is focused on accomplishing a goal and being true to what it stands for. Focus makes it easier to make strategic decisions because you know what direction you are heading. It's like booking a vacation - you start with a destination (i.e. purpose) and all your subsequent decisions are made knowing where you want to go.


With this laser focus comes trade-offs. When you know where you are going, you have a clearer understanding of what will and won't get you to your destination. Making trade-offs gives customers greater feelings of trust for your organization, becuase they know what you stand for as you don't stray from your purpose. Mind you, these trade-offs always benefit the customer, rather than jeopardizing their well-being, because you are focused on making meaning.


Take Nike, for example, it's been said that Nike's extreme focus & clarity of vision has allowed for flawless execution of its marketing resources, which ensures they are in the right place at the right time to speak to their customers (& fans). In fact this focus, on Authentic Athletic Performance, has led to Nike's 50% market share - an all-time high in their industry - and double digit growth in revenue when their competition has been taking a beating.


Going into business to make meaning is key. And to me, this is the heart of branding - having a fundamental guiding purpose. However, if an organization began without purpose and is struggling, that does not mean that it is doomed. Instead, it's time to find meaning (I'll talk more about this in another post).


Thanks for reading my blog! Until next time...

Branding is more than a logo

Many people and/or organizations still refer to their brand as a logo. But I feel considerably different on the topic. Although a logo/icon/etc. is a part of branding, it is not branding alone.

In this post, I'm going to describe how I view branding:

A brand does not exist without people. A symbol/icon/etc. is insignificant without people giving it meaning. A brand is not just created and developed by an organization. Rather, it's mostly defined by consumers. Marty Neumeier  said it best in his book The Brand Gap:

It's not what you say it is. It's what they say it is.

A brand is the organization's reputation - how consumers perceive it. But, even though the organization does not fully control its brand, it can influence it. And the best way to influence anything is to be consistent with your actions. If you say you're going to do something - DO IT!

This is a diagram I use to illustrate how great brands achieve brand consistency:

At the heart of a great brand there is a guiding purpose. This is a crazy hairy audacious idea/dream/goal that a company sets out to accomplish. When I ask organizations what their purpose is, there are always a few people who say "to make money" or "we have a board to answer to - we can't chase dreams". These are all valid concerns, but organizations need to remember that they make money to stay in business, but it's not why they are in business! Their purpose is WHY they are in business, and like Guy Kawasaki says - if you make meaning, money will follow.

Google has a great purpose:

Organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useable.

If that doesn't get their employees out of bed and excited to go to work in the morning, I don't know what would. It's Google's amazing purpose and dedication to their goal that has gained them the most loyal following on the web.

Rippling out from the purpose is the value proposition, which specifies how the organization's purpose will benefit its customers. With Google, their value proposition is about delivering  the world's information anywhere you are & when you need it.

This is all well and good - you have a purpose (a reason for existing) and a promise (how the purpose will benefit it's users) - but these are just words. And as we know, words are meaningless without the actions to back them up.

We can't just tell people we'll do something great and not deliver. We need to make our purpose meaningful through actions. We need to engage people so they will  believe in our purpose! Thus, we need to create reasons to believe. These are actions that help the organization achieve its idea/dream/goal.

The reasons to believe produce customer experiences, which influences the perceptions of the brand. These experiences can range from using the product/service, interacting with a sales associate or customer service rep, reading about the company in the paper and so on.

Lastly, there is the brand's personality. This represents the aesthetics of the brand - its corporate colors, messaging, etc. The personality ties everything together, ensuring a consistent presentation of the brand.

These four elements work together to create a consistent execution of the brand, which influences the perceptions of the organization.

So, to me, branding is so much more than a logo - it's about giving organizations meaning.

My First Blog

My name is Nicole Armstrong, and welcome to my branding blog. What I love about branding is that it focuses on giving organizations a higher purpose than just making money - or at least this is how I perceive branding. I think Guy Kawasaki says it best when he talks about the "Art of the Start":

If you make meaning you will make money, but if you begin a company to make money you won't make meaning and you won't make money.

I believe all great brands are centered on a central purpose or core set of values that guides the organization's decisions, providing a strategic focus. Apple began with the purpose to...

Change the world by developing tools for the mind that advance human kind

... and to achieve this, Apple began by changing the perceptions of computers by innovating technology that was designed for humans ("... the rest of us" as one of the Macintosh I ads stated) and not robots. You can see, through Apple's actions, that they live this purpose everyday.

During the course of my career, I plan to help organizations make meaning. By starting this blog, I will express my thoughts on brands and branding, and hopefully encourage some dialogue around the topic, which I'm so passionate about.

I look forward to articulating some of my thoughts and ideas on branding! Until next time...