Name Calling is A Muscle
I’d like to talk to you about a concept around brand identity. Are you doing enough name calling? You need to build up the muscle about naming what you see, or naming what you feel. I’ll give you a good example. When you see another brand, or you see your competitor, when you see someone whom you envy, I want you to say, “What about that? Describe it. ”Oh, she’s so successful. She’s such a hero. She’s such a leader. She’s so powerful.“
To refine a brand identity, and the ability to develop clearer and clearer messaging, is in the capacity to name what you see and name what you feel, and to identify and put the right adjective on it, to put the right descriptor on it. This is easy to do once you start exercising that muscle. It’s like going to the gym, once or twice or three times a week. 🙂 I want you to start getting back into name calling, getting back describing why you like something, Or don’t.
Projecting Positive and Negative Attributes
I like that…. that’s elegant. Oh, I like her shoes. That’s beautiful. That is strong. That’s tacky. That’s crass. Start naming what you see and feel. Don’t go up to people and tell them, but notice and start articulating what you observe. Then, I want you to notice the positive ones are what you want in your brand. In actuality, you’re describing yourself.
learn how to articulate what you see and feel, in order to develop a clear #brandidentity. Click To Tweet
Remember we talked about projection in one of our blog conversations? When you admire what somebody else has, you’re projecting a positive desire and attribute onto them. Identify it. Wow, I like his shoes. Wow, he’s got great pants. Man, I like that. I like how fat his wallet is. He has a lot of money. He’s wealthy. I desire that. Or the observed negative; That person’s a fraud. That person is … slimy. I don’t like how she handles a sales process. I want you to identify the rub, where there is a negative emotional response in you, and then name it. Do more and more articulation, which is basically name calling, adjective, describe, describe, describe, describe. Then you can convert those descriptors into metaphors and into symbolic language. [That’s a different conversation for another time.]
Clarity is a Competitive Advantage
Observation and awareness is what matters, and your ability to articulate what you see and, more importantly, what you feel. Once you start exercising that muscle, you can then start being clearer with what your brand stands for, what you want emotionally, what you desire for yourself, for your business, for your audience, how you want them to feel. Get clear on how you want them to feel, because when you’re clear of how you want them to feel, you will begin to speak in a way that elicits that feeling. That’s resonance. The reason why businesses succeed, grow and evolve, is because we step more and more into our capacity to being our authentic self.
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Kerri Konik is a seasoned senior branding executive who has committed her focus and expertise to bringing big agency strategies to business owners and entrepreneurs to achieve next level growth. Kerri is the CEO of her 5th venture, Brandscape Atelier, a women-owned boutique agency specializing in strategic branding for small business. They develop brand strategy, identity, messaging and marketing that ignites emotional connection, increases sales, drives growth and profits, resulting in sustainability and achieving a greater impact in the world.