Brand Revealer #05: "The difference is, whether you're the one in control of those identifiable marks" with Boris Vicanovic
New Q&A with branding strategist, Boris Vicanovic + thoughts on blooming as a brand
👋 Hello brand enthusiast, how are you doing today?
Let’s discover our new Brand Revealer of the month. I also share an observation of the decision to bloom as a brand + cool inspiration from bright brands I discovered.
💡Every month we have a guest for our short and sweet Q&A. Longer interviews will stay on the blog.
My goal is to demystify the word Branding so that anyone can understand its paradoxes and implement their version of Branding. By collecting an eclectic panel of definitions and visions of what Branding is and implies. Showcasing those who do, use, and expand Branding: Brand revealers.
Short Q&A - Brand Revealer #05
I asked a few questions to Boris Vicanovic, a fellow creative and branding geek. I discovered him through the Contra community and saw his straightforward eye for branding. He shared spot-on insights on the branding process.
Who are you?
My name is Boris Vicanovic. I am a Brand Strategist and Brand Designer.
Your agency/studio
Where are you located?
🇧🇦 Located in Bosnia. Based on the internet.
What is your definition of Branding?
Branding is hard to define in a single sentence that makes sense to everyone. Marty Neumeier tried - "A brand is a person's gut feeling about a product, service or organization." I like to explain branding through personalized examples and analogies so people can truly understand what branding is from their POV. With that said, Marty's definition is the closest I have seen.
Boris
Branding is made of trial and error. The positioning takes effort, time and dedication. How can entrepreneurs recover from a branding that doesn't resonate yet with their audience?
I feel like branding is the safety net of your business in the first place. If you go into the process of branding with the customers in the center of your focus, and they remain the center of your focus during the entire brand strategy, brand identity and brand launch process, there is virtually no chance of creating something that doesn't resonate whatsoever.
After that, it's a matter of balancing adaptation and innovation.
If, instead, you do just what you want to do, you ignore the users you're serving and communicating with, you don't spend the time to ideate, iterate and execute properly, then you launch, and it fails, that's another matter entirely. But, even the biggest companies in the world sometimes fall into this trap, for example the KIA rebrand, or the recent NOKIA rebrand. At that point, I think it's still about the people, adapting to feedback. This is why I consider brands just like people, because people can grow, change, and adapt. There is a certain element of ‘‘vision’’ that comes into play here, and it's not all about serving exactly what the market wants, otherwise we wouldn't have the Iphone. It's a fine balancing act.→ "When Coca-Cola introduces a new and unproven beverage, the market is willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. How much monetary value should you assign to that privilege?" - Kyu Lee.
Boris
What are the repeated words you hear about your Brand and Branding from your audience, teams, and people who discover you? (3 to 5 keywords)
Bold • Young • People-focused • Smart
Hopefully throughout the next 5 years I get to work on some projects that allow the word "innovative" to be added to that mix and for it to really mean something.
Boris
What is your best branding story from clients, yourself or an iconic brand you look up to?
Here is a little intro I like to write to people who don't know what branding is whatsoever: every business has a brand, even if they don't have a logo or any identity system.
As soon as a customer has bought from you, engaged with your business, subconciously formed an identifiable mark for your business, and told someone about your business, you are a brand. The difference is, whether you're the one in control of those identifiable marks, opinions, and values, and whether you can leverage them to attract new customers, form a tribe and increase customer retention in the long run.
Boris
You make a connection between branding and being human, which I completely agree with. Would you consider your brand as a friend today?
I would say my personal brand is definitely modeled after someone I would be friends with (me). One of the most distinct elements of my personal brand is the messaging, which feels very much like me and my style of conducting work - distinct, bold, straightforward, and most importantly - inquisitive.
From the moment you stumble upon my website, I created an experience that encourages reflection on your business needs. My focus is not solely on what I can offer, but rather on what I can do for you. Additionally, my brand is also very personified through a few simple yet harmonious elements that work in harmony in any use case. The brand can grow, morph and adapt like a person, in tune with me as I grow and adapt as a professional.
Boris
Based on the clients you have worked with, from what you have witnessed months after working with them, how has this shift in their psychology transformed their speech and branding voice?
I believe one of the most satisfying things is observing organizations taking the principles they were introduced to during strategy and applying them to other areas of their business to achieve clarity and vision. With a stronger vision and defined mission, they become more confident in pursuing bigger goals. It is really cool to witness their evolution a year or more after the branding process; although they may have altered slightly some parts after the process, they now feel like their own fully-formed, grown up-person. It's nice to see them owning it.
Boris
You can discover his work and mindset @Boris Vicanovic
🔦 The power of an ecosystem
Is there any way to make your way through the crowd, competition, noise and beyond for your service, products and ideas? These are questions I ask myself, and then I remember a valuable lesson I observed from my stepping into entrepreneurship.
In order to bloom as a brand, business, etc you will have to come to this observation and decision:
+ The creative fire (drive, vision, worthy ideal)
+ The environment (the location that supports your growth)
+ Your people (your tribe, people who get you)
= Conditions to see progress and why not success (and have fun on the way)
I have always had that first component: the drive or the ‘‘feu sacré’’ and sometimes found the environment or some people, but never the three elements at once intentionally. If I could advise my younger self - at the moment she dared to pave the path of entrepreneurship and started investigating branding, I would tell her to charge towards having these 3 components as balanced as possible to witness progress sooner.
Branding is close to this formula in many ways
✅ Your brand needs some soul to become alive (it takes time to allow that soul).
✅ Then your branding needs aligned spaces to resonate with.
✅ Finally, you need people to buy your brand and echo the message and impact.
Branding is deeper than we think. No matter the strategies and external tools we use, nailing down the voice and foundation can propel you years ahead to be exactly where you have to be, and ‘‘do your thing’’.
🤩 Bright, they are!
🔥Make something wonderful (Current deep dive into the mind of Steve Jobs)
🇫🇷 LaKube (How to make reading a surprise box routine? curated by independent booksellers)
📢 Canva is really pushing the needle (By becoming the go-to platform for brands and a one-stop place for early business owners. The wave cannot be stopped. Let's see what they come up with in the next few months…)
✏️ Josh Spector’s fill-the-gap exercise (A playful exercise to clarify your ideal customer)
🎈 Fun brand(ING) prompt / 009
Following the formula I talked about earlier, do you have a balanced set of ingredients to empower your blooming?
Video, words, illustration, animation… you choose. Short and sweet.
Some brands seem to appear from nowhere…. really?
They were working beind the scenes and actually not in your radar.
I hope you enjoyed the read of the week. If yes, share it with peers, friends and family. Sharing is loving.
Yours creatively,
Keva