Branding

This article was written by

Scott James

To compliment my previous post about confidence, I’d like to get into the concept of branding, which is a key element to help build confidence on a large scale.

As the amount of noise and stimulus in the world increases, branding becomes more and more important. Branding brings meaning out of chaos in the minds of consumers. Branding is something that people can hang their hat on in a world of noise, confusion and uncertainty.

Branding is the reason why you can open up a McDonnalds virtually anywhere in the modern world and have instant success. Everyone knows what to expect at McDonnalds. The work has already been done. The brand has been established.

So how does this relate to music? If you have to ask, then you might want to consider giving this some thought. How well defined is your brand? Are you consistent enough to establish a strong brand? Are your flyers, artwork, words, actions and other communications in line with your brand?

If people don’t know what your name means then you will be lost in the noise of all the other unfocused acts that are trying to compete for the leftovers of those who understand this concept.

To make this concept work for you, you need to decide what your brand represents, and communicate it every chance you get. You should be able to boil it down to a couple of simple lines or phrases. Remember, it’s feelings that you’re after. People are always chasing feelings. It’s not the words, it’s not the imagery, it’s how you make people feel. Choose to focus your brand based on the feelings that you want people to experience. Choose words that are associated with feelings.

What does your B(r)and represent???

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Write it down. Seriously. This is important.

To take it a step further, you can create a symbol to represent your brand. Take the Rolling Stones for example. Everyone knows the tongue symbol. I have this sticker on my Jeep. Thousands and thousands of people have this tattooed on their skin. Is this because they like their melodies or because they play their instruments proficiently? Maybe that’s a small part of it. The main reason is that it represents something to them. It represents the feeling that they get from their collective experience of the Rolling Stones “brand.” That symbol is the lowest denomination that the Rolling Stones experience can be boiled down to. All the crazy stories, the sexuality, the extravagance, the concert experiences, the memories, the meaning of the lyrics – all of those things are packed into that symbol. It’s like a magnifying glass in the sun. When the light is spread out over a surface then nothing happens, but when you adjust it so that all the light shines on one small point then it can and will start a fire.

Know your brand. If you don’t know what you represent, in it’s simplest form, then you won’t be able to communicate it to other people. You won’t get heard. If you know what you represent and you can communicate it to other people in a way that they can hear you, then you’ve got one of the key elements in place to starting a fire.