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Do I Really Need a Brand?

Posted by bwellensiekon July 18, 2018July 18, 2018Leave a comment

(I'm just a small non-profit / blogger / business.) Well, maybe. Do you want people to remember you? Do you want people to trust you? Do you want people to think of you first in connection with the product or…

Read More Do I Really Need a Brand?

Can a Person Be a Brand?

Think about Einstein. What comes to mind?

Genius. Quirky, kind, with a sense of humor (remember that photo of him sticking out his tongue). Free-spirited.

What about Mother Teresa?

Compassionate. Servant of the poor. Faith. That familiar white sari trimmed in blue.

Now what comes to mind when you think of Eugene Wigner or John von Neumann? They were contemporaries of Einstein who probably rivaled him in intelligence, but most people have never heard of them. Likewise, the many humanitarians who, like Mother Teresa, have served in some of the most desperate places on earth, but remain virtually unknown.

The difference is that we’ve heard so many quotes by these two famous individuals, and seen so many consistent images of them through the years, that they are more than individuals.

Unintentionally, they have each become a “brand.” Einstein is synonymous with genius, and Mother Teresa stands for compassion.

A picture of Mother Teresa wielding a machine gun would be deeply disturbing because we trust what she was about… and such an image would be “off-brand.”

Creating a brand helps people understand, and trust, what you’re about.