👋 Hello Branding Revealers. How are you doing today?
As for me, I took some time off to rest, as it was really beautiful in Paris last weekend. Now, I am back into client work, rounding up projects, pitching and growing my newsletters. Branding for me can feel like a wide umbrella sometimes; there may be a lot going on all around, but within my space, I am safe and covered. And sometimes I let go of the umbrella and play!
How do you play with your brand?
Well, I am looking into that this month. So, if you are a podcast host, blogger or even media person, feel free to reach out if what I do resonates with you. There are really cool guests coming next, and I am in awe of the branding and marketing voices challenging what branding means!
The mission of Your Branding Letter is to demystify the big word Branding. I wish for everybody to understand its paradoxes and truths. But also, implement them within their version of branding. Here, you will find ideas, investigations and a collection of an eclectic panel of definitions alongside visions of what branding is and implies—showcasing those who do, use, and expand branding: Brand Revealers (They are each one of us, that is, everybody).
🎯 Wise words from Brand Revealer: Armando Allen Alexander
I discovered Armando thanks to his post on the WATBD community, where he shared his experience and body of work within Mastodon brands, of which we are all users and consumers. I was impressed by his dedication and care for entertainment, so I invited him to join the conversation. I knew he would bring great insights on branding at scale.
☕ Grab some tea or coffee and let’s go!
Who are you?
My name is Armando Allen Alexander, I am a UI/UX and visual designer
🇺🇸 Currently in Los Angeles, but I go back and forth to visit family in Peru.
What is your definition of Branding?
My definition of branding is, of course, giving a business, service, brand, etc. a look that is readily seen at a glance. But for brands I work with, I try to take it a step further.
Branding, to me, is imbuing an idea with a sense of humanity, particularly the ones we intend to connect with. For me, selling is secondary to having a connection. I believe that connection and empathy are the start of any action on their side.
Armando
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?
This is where I dip into the UI/UX side of my brain. Indeed, while, branding is trial-and-error, there are ways to minimize the amount of work we put in. By better understanding our consumers through market research, user personas, testing and data, we can understand what elements need to simply pivot. It also gives clues to which elements to be scrapped. Time is money, after all!
Armando
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)
✦ Dynamic ✦ Cinematic ✦ High contrast ✦ Modern As a fan of cinema, it makes sense.
Armando
What is your best branding story from clients, yourself or an iconic brand you look up to?
Despite Disney being one of the toughest companies I have worked for, I respect their commitment to knowing their real product - nostalgia. The brands they've brought in also keep in line with these core values: Marvel, Lucasfilm, etc. all have a similar thread. They share an emotional core that harkens from the past. And by far, they have the STRICTEST guidelines for nearly any element.
I also have respect for what Amazon is doing, rebuilding their entertainment platform from scratch day by day. It's a monumental effort.
Armando
Do you have any recommendations for mastering branding, such as books, podcasts, conferences, etc.?
I have learned much of what I know by being open to contracts. Growing up in Louisiana, I knew I needed to learn what the titans of industry did before just pushing myself into the business. This is why I decided to take them over full-time opportunities. By picking up and moving to Los Angeles, I have been able to see the communication systems, design systems and more for so many Fortune 500 brands and have taken the pieces that I feel are important into my skill set.
Armando
🎙️ You can listen to the audio version just below. Enjoy!
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How do you build a personal brand alongside a mastodon brand like Disney, Netflix, and Amazon?
What I found pretty funny was that it wasn't me building a personal brand. I have always had a huge love of cinema. I have always been drawn to very dynamic scenes and very huge kinds of feelings.
It was more like it just so happened that my kind of brand was very similar to what I liked, especially in cinema. Of course, that attracted me to brands like Disney, Netflix, and Amazon. As you know, the goal of the brand is to maximize impact for the consumer to be shocked and awed by everything. I would say that's where I fit in.
Armando
Did you notice a common branding pattern for magnetism from these mastodon brands—one that is not obvious to observe?
I would say, ultimately, to create amazing art has never been more important because emotive imagery ultimately creates action. And I think that is especially true with brands like Netflix. The key art has to be amazing because that's kind of their bread and butter. And I think brands like Amazon since that wasn't their main focus, you can see the shifts even within their UI to make things look more like movie posters rather than just rectangular boxes. It's been interesting! I was also on the tail end of the endorsements and sponsorship side, where I would see agents and their viewpoints. So, I have had some good advantages points in the industry.
Armando
As a creative and educator of the craft, how do you prepare for AI disruption in the creative industry? Do you think the creative process within big brands will accelerate within a few years and impose AI aesthetics?
I would say the answer is absolutely. I would pose it like this: You know, when cars first came out, people rallied against cars. There were a lot of pro-horse campaigns saying that cars would destroy the industry.
Ultimately, I think fundamentally, only humans can be creative. We are creative in the way that we do things and in the way that we think, and AI is just simply another tool to utilize. But, I also think that it will have some disruptive motions in terms of the groundwork. A lot of the groundwork that we see interns do, is going to be eliminated pretty fast.
That's going to provide a lot of growth because there is so much you can learn by yourself without having to need all that groundwork. So for individuals to elevate themselves by themselves to a level where they could utilize AI and not be so afraid of it, I think that's going to be the real deal.
Armando
What keeps you going as a creative? What is your strongest WHY?
That's actually been a very intriguing question. You know, I worked at a lot of different companies. I think the variety itself has kept me going. But also, as I said, I worked on both the art side and the technical UI/UX side, so it's about using tools. Let's say Figma. Prior to Figma, we had Adobe, and we needed Adobe Photoshop. We needed Illustrator. We needed all these different tools to create one thing. Hell, we needed PowerPoint. But, you know, Figma allows us to create PowerPoint, have plugins and create amazing presentation decks. So, we are not limited to the capabilities of a single tool.
And I think that's what keeps me going: coming up with new ways to utilize technology in ways that we didn't necessarily intend them to be used. But also, to create better products by thinking about the fundamental thing we are trying to make.
Armando
You can connect and discover more of his work and mindset @ArmandoAlexander
on his podcast. It was fun to revisit Marmite. I realize how innovative they are in many areas (politics, human behavior, philosophy, advertisement etc.)
🎈 Fun Brand(ING) prompt / 024
If you could collaborate with a mastodon brand you look up to, which one would it be and why? Have you ever thought of pitching to them directly?
Write their name and list three interesting ideas for your pitch, plus one action to land a call. Short and sweet.
Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.
Frank Outlaw
I hope you enjoyed this new issue. To support proactive and engaging insights on brand building and get access to exclusive interviews consider upgrading. You can also find other ways to share the love here. Thanks for being here!
