"Know Thyself "
Socrates (Philosopher)
"I've always been me, I guess I know myself"
Aubrey Drake Graham ( on his song 'know Yourself' were he astonishingly says the phrase only once. Sigh)
Over the week I put out a pic of my handwritten favorite brands. I'm super extra like that
A list that consisted of personal brands like Kanye West, Virgil Abloh, Ruth Ossai, Chris Do & Ajulu...and 'consumer' brands like Converse and SONY (walkman)...and even organization and event brands like Arsenal (not a fan please, they simply have an undeniably fascinating brand identity) and Coachella.
And a side note of what they all had in common…
"Eccentricity/ Authenticity/ Honesty/ Creativity & Thinking outside the box/ Value and Relevance"
Especially the personal brands on the list. I've recently stressed the statement "YOU ARE THE PRODUCT" and it holds true for every brand because brands are personalities and the relationship between a brand and it's customers or target audience is usually very emotional and psychological
A guest brand expert on Chris Do's 'The Futur' podcast gave a very perception altering explanation of branding
She described it as match making and my God did it make sense!
She describes brands and businesses as people and pointed out how branding involves understanding and knowing them (their temperaments, convictions, values, interests or likes, and dislikes)...
And then trying to set them up on a date with another person without trying to change their personalities in the hopes that they fall in love for life.
By making them appeal to the person of interest, and it is genius!
And that is the issue, matchmaking a supposed person (business, brand, person) without a personality. LMAO, Like why are you called a PERSON but have no PERSONality? Like the word person is the parent word in 'personality' Lol
What in Gods name type of contradiction are you trying to be?
A lot of brands simply don't know they are primarily people.
Don't know what they are in their core or distinguishes them and makes them, themselves…
Or simply don't know how to communicate it to the person (or in this case people of interest) so they fall in love and live happily ever after.
And that's what this post is set to target and solve, keep reading 🙃
Before we talk about what an Identity Crisis is we need to know what an Identity is and what it means to have one
An IDENTITY is a specific perception or reputation people have about a person based on their outward expressions like the words they say and how they behave
A Brand identity is (forget grammar) the outward expressions of your brands personality - it's feel, it's voice, it's character, it's message, it's attributes...everything that comprises having an actual personality.
An Identity Crisis therefore, The syndrome plaguing too many people (and brands) out here, is not knowing what your identity is, how to express it to attract the people you want or your general audience, or not staying true to a specific proposed or self claimed identity
Showing conflicting or super opposite or contradicting personalities.
Which is a pretty good thing considering it makes it super easy for anyone (or brand) secure and knowledgeable enough to know and stay true to theirs stand out in their industry and earn a market share reward
It is common to people as much as it is to brands. Because BRANDS ARE (LIKE)PEOPLE (jot that one down)
A Brand - Customer relationship is the same as a Person - Person relationship, with expectations, bonds and pacts.
A relationship that promotes loyalty, advocacy, Engagement, sales and PROFIT
YOU (YOUR PERSONALITY - TEMPERAMENT, VOICE, VALUES AND VALUE) ARE THE PRODUCT.
Not your deliverable (product or service)
They can buy that tangible or service you offer elsewhere, but they select your "product" because more than that physical tangible or service they in turn want to enjoy the satisfaction of what you're actually selling...your true product..YOURSELF!
So WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU SELLING?
WHO ARE YOU? WHAT IS YOUR BRAND?
KANYE WEST who is perhaps one of my favorite brands of all-time is a great proof of this
“Ye” as he's fondly called, Contrary to popular belief doesn't sell music or shoes. (Close your mouth)
He sells Eccentricity, he sells genius, he sells self confidence he sells creativity…BECAUSE HE IS INERTLY ALL OF THOSE THINGS, AND HE KNOWS IT
HE HAS SEEN THE LACK OF IT IN THE WORLD, OR THE DIRE NEED AND DESIRE FOR IT AND HAS USED MUSIC AND FASHION AS HIS TOOL.
LIKE A LOGO, A PRODUCT IS JUST A TOOL. NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS
He has musically evolved over the years with his sound from heavy sample influenced east coast boom bap rap music to Electronic 808s to Experimental industrial hiphop to designing clothes and shoes…to running for president (lmao love him!)
He has changed the digital and physical product so many times, without a care in the world but has somehow managed to stay relevant to both the music and fashion industries, Why?
BECAUSE HE IS THE PRODUCT.
HIS BRAND IDENTITY IS DEFINITE & CLEAR
YOUR LOGO, PRODUCT OR SERVICE ARE NOT YOUR BRAND (identity)
They are simply your tools.
Know this and you'll be ten times more intentional about every detail, every shade, every color, every statement.
If another brand in your industry, offering a very similar product or service, grows in prominence with a similar logo and color palette, will your business survive? would it be hard to distinguish you?
You have no business stepping into the market (online or offline) without clearly defining what you are first to yourself and how you intend to communicate that to whoever has the slightest encounter with you (your brand or business)
If this is all you get from this first part of the series. Then I communicated something valuable.
YOU ARE THE PRODUCT
How can you tackle an identity crisis?
Watch out for the next release? I couldn't possibly say everything as in-depth as I'd like in this part.
This piece is practically begging for a part two
Not signing out… part two out in a bit
Love, Mezie.