Branded to be better

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a “Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.” ^[1]

A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, color combination or slogan. For example, Coca Cola is the name of a brand make by a particular company. ^[2]The word branding began simply as a way to tell one person‘s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. The word brand has continued to evolve to encompass identity — it affects the personality of a product, company or service. It is defined by a perception, good or bad, that your customers or prospects have about you.

As the festive season approaches so many devolutions occur. At the end we are left either being better or seeking to make amends of all that did not go well. At the fore front of all the efforts will be a quest to maintain a clean name (is there such a thing??).

As we grew up we associated ourselves with the best perception of things we desired. We read of how Bavaria Motor Works churned out only the best cars and because we believed the perceptions, every one of us desired to own a Bavaria. I have seen the same excited enthrallment in young boys when they talk about their dream cars – all out of perception.

We have grown to associate affluence with certain names to such an extent that no matter the suit might fit the wearer but as long as it does not carry our favourite label we can only round it off as drab.

We have grown to gauge and measure people by the scent of the perfume they are wearing, the badge on their shoes and the maker of their phones. We have become so good at associating symbols with attitude and at most times we miss the value of the people we meet because of the impressions we form about them because of the symbols we see on them or around them.

We have become slaves of artificial branding. We are so scared of delving deeper into each other and we seek to console ourselves by creating perceptions from the trinkets , fabrics , engines , ales and even the food that we see on our friends , family colleagues etc.

We are attracted to brands because of the lure of strength, quality, endurance, immortality etc. in brands we seek to fulfill what our human efforts have failed to achieve. In brands we seek an improvement which our own capacities have failed to avail. Yet again with all those brands we fail!!

The reason is simple. We should engineer a reverse process of branding. Instead of artificial accoutrements, we should thrive to derive inner qualities first.

When we thrive to be better  , more perceptive , more attentive , more understanding , more sensitive etc. we become a different brand , a brand that will outshine all accessories in the market. When we seek to bear the brand of peacemakers no amount of libel, military hardware or malicious intent will put us down.

The inner drive to succeed overpowers the strongest perfume brand and at the end of the day the drive will outlast the musk.

The inner quest to be better beats all the temporary buffets the world might deck in the name of pretences. A person who stands on his feet will outlast the one who rides on the shoulders of others.

The quest for a better brand starts with the inner person and a person who knows who they are and what they want to achieve is on the way to being a great brand.

As the sun rises, will the inner brand of striving to be better be copyrighted to your name and actions??