This is the second installation of HypeMonger, a series of articles about building an image for your band or company, making it stronger, and getting it in front of the right pairs of eyes. With an open mind, passion to move on, and a bit of ambition, you can move mountains with your brand.

HypeMonger Episode 02 - Whipping Your Brand Into Shape



Branding is not a new concept. It's as old as commerce itself. As a company, think of it as the way people talk about you when you're not around. The success of your brand could be judged by the gut feeling people get when they come in to contact with it. Consider it your commercial Karma, and neglecting it a Deadly Sin.

In the simplest terms, branding boils down to the public image of an organization, individual, or product. It goes way beyond your logo. A brand encompasses every point of connection between yourself and your potential customers and clients. Much of this connection occurs visually, by means of your brand mark (logo), graphic design, artwork, stage presence, personal appearance, and various other factors. Even if you've mastered the visual side of your brand, your work is not yet finished. It goes far beyond even your voicemail messages, email responses and handshakes to make your public persona complete. Neglect any one of these factors too much and you're bound to be caught running in place instead of moving ahead.

Imagine that a Fortune 500 company hires an ex-executive from Enron to run the show. Will you give them your money? Imagine that you overhear some suits at the local pub roaring on about screwing over a customer. Will you call them or their competition when you need their service? Imagine going to a concert where a band doesn't have a logo, an album, any merchandise or a website. How far would you be willing to go out of your way to support them?

If people don't like what they see initially, you probably won't have time to make a good first impression. If you don't keep up a good impression every step along the way, they'll find somebody more serious about what they are doing to work with or to purchase from. If you do some back-peddling and seriously harm your brand image, expect to put a lot of time and energy into fixing it.

Customers WILL judge your book by its cover. Impress them instantly, or you may never get a chance to grab their attention. Once you've got their attention, keep exceeding their expectations or expect them to turn on you like a rabid dog, or worse, forget that you exist. If you expect their money, loyalty or support you had better be ready to give them what they want and more. Be ready to be more than they expect. And make it show.

If an increased fan-base or customer-base is what you strive for, try this: Imagine that your target market is already familiar with your brand and isn't impressed. You've probably already made some attempts at marketing if you're reading this. Assume that your efforts only fulfilled a pitiful fraction of their full potential. You know you can do better, so you recognize that it's time to regroup and step back up to the plate. What would you do differently if given the chance to start your endeavor over? How would you present yourself differently?

Here's my challenge to you: Take an honest assessment of your brand. Ask people what they think, and don't be afraid of negative answers. Find out if you see eye to eye with the public about what you think you represent. Ask a stranger about yourself. Fess up to your mistakes, make a plan for fixing them, and move on to greater success.

If you think you've already reached a perfect state of harmony between your brand and the people you're trying to reach, you're probably wrong. The business or artist next door is bound to take a cold, hard look at themselves and grow from the chilling experience. If you want to keep up, you need to brave enough to do the same.



Thanks for tuning in,


Andrew Schepers
Creative Director
Brand Nucleus
www.brandnucleus.net