You can't win if you don't enter
Shorties: A sense of branding #01
đŸ‘‹ Hello Branding Revealers. How are you doing today?
I have been wanting to start writing shorter letters with branding ideas and reflections on the go. So, I followed the hunch, and here is the first one. These are my ‘‘Shorties: A sense of branding’’, where, I share branding insights from my journey and how they illuminate my branding efforts and long-term growth.
✦ Did you miss the last letter?
Enter to win (you are already in) so build and win*
I started thinking about the expression ''You can’t win if you don’t enter'' after discovering Helen Hadsell, also known as the Contest Queen. She is a marvellous example of the power of positive thinking. What does it have to do with branding? Well, it has a lot to do with you revealing that brand. Believing in yourself and giving yourself a chance is the prerequisite for achieving any goal or vision. And we know that branding walks hand in hand with vision.
Enter the game
Branding is a long-term game. I believe we are all branding, but we enter the game at different levels. As a brand builder, I didn’t realize I was one until I started noticing how I was leading projects and collaborating. My body of work so far, has become clues of long-term building.
The Power of Identification
I was talking with a peer a few days ago and she wanted to improve her branding. She understood the principles of branding but had not yet started applying them to grow her business. I reminded her that she was already branding. Even without the perfect logo or typeface, because that's not the point. Branding assets are the packaging and what branding is, resides inside the box. And it will always be more than enough. When you are ready, don't expect the platform or branding space to do more than its job which is to be ''the sign'' anyone can see. Now, dust off that sign but remember every step even if it feels like a mistake or setback, contributes to building your brand.
The game doesn’t really start when all your branding assets and copy are ready for launch. It truly begins the moment you create the first step of branding for your audience. That is a sense of identification. They may not know you yet, but they have identified you. Now, the next round is to add substance to that identification. And it takes all the ins and outs of what your vision entails.
Show up, not for people, but for the vision
People don’t care about your brand they are busy on their own. They care about the results they can detect and decode. It’s not about having a fancy website or a large following. It’s about clearly stating what you believe in and who you are today, then going out and proving it. That’s the most relieving truth about branding. You don’t show up for people—you show up for yourself and the vision. And as a result, you magnetize your tribe. Every project I have led so far is rooted in that playful vision and seeing what is possible. I never considered myself a brand until others started pointing it out. They started seeing a body of work and identified a trait made of many others. The vision gives any brand builder the energy and determination to dare to stand out in spaces and fields, where they were never expected to enter.
Branding is organic and undecodable because it’s uniquely tied to a founder, an idea, and a vision. Yet, the art of branding is a human exercise in becoming and owning your story. Marketing and sales are the result of that. There’s no shortcut to this hierarchy: you begin by embodying your brand, and only then do marketing and everything else follow.
*What is winning?
Winning is a result and long-term exercise which is different for everybody. How does it echo to branding? I connect it to the definition of success by Earl Nightingale. It does ring a bell to what branding stands for. For me, the most satisfying win for a brand, beyond any financial windfall, is bringing that vision to life to such an extent that it blows your mind. Your brand is a mystery—you have no idea what kind of brand you are birthing. So, relax and let it surprise you. The ups and downs all serve the ''vision'' and add character. As a result, winning as a brand is mastering the freedom your brand building provides and seizing those opportunities to reveal your brand.
Success is a progressive realization to a worthy ideal
Earl Nightingale
I leave you with a song for thought.
Sending Friday vibes ✨
Keva.
I hope you enjoyed this first shorty. Thank you for being here!
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