Sometimes you do get caught up in the midst of becoming... a product, a brand, and not having a say in any of that.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Brands are in your face 24/7; I'm sure you've consumed a couple brands today. So it's fun working with them. People recognize brands, and people are starting to recognize my brand.
Often, the disconnect between the marketing hype around a new product and what the product actually does is astounding.
There's definitely an obstacle in developing a brand for yourself that people can rely on when you're so eclectic.
A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.
Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, other times it will be behind. But brand is simply a collective impression some have about a product.
I'm caught up probably just as much in the consumer culture as the next person.
I'd never buy something, even if it's a great brand, that is a competitor to something I already own; that's insane.
We always talk about how you have to build a brand from the inside out, not the outside in. Brands are not wrappers. Brands are based on the values of the founders, and then they spread to the people who work for the company, and then that psychological contract is spread to the customer.
Brand is not a product, that's for sure; it's not one item. It's an idea, it's a theory, it's a meaning, it's how you carry yourself. It's aspirational, it's inspirational.
Your brand is your public identity, what you're trusted for. And for your brand to endure, it has to be tested, redefined, managed, and expanded as markets evolve. Brands either learn or disappear.