Hi. It’s Kerri Konik from Brandscape Atelier and the founder of the Brandscape Academy. I’m coming to you this week to talk about one of the techniques, the strategies that we use in brand identity in accessing the brand authenticity in times of need. What that is, is actually identifying the theme song for your brand. You may have been at an event or a conference and seen that there might have been a theme song to the event, and what the event was about.
What we actually do is we have entrepreneurs actually get clear on what their brand stands for and get the theme song that really, really captures that essence. Now this is not just something we do with small brands or startup brands. This is something that I used to use with our really large publicly traded brands when we’d go in to do an ideation session. Any time we’re talking about emotion resonance and connection, we always try to turn that into a metaphor and capture that in a symbol.
This is a tip in the technique that various modalities use to anchor the memory into a symbol or a metaphor, so let me share with you. For Brandscape, we actually have three theme songs and it changes as we evolve depending on where we are with our brand development. I would like you to find three songs that really capture the essence of what you stand for in your brand.
The three things that we use, the first is what the why is about and more specifically the pain, the reason your business is in business, what you care about. There are songs that when you hear that you’re like, “Yeah, that breaks my heart. That’s why I do what I do.” For me, there are several songs.
The second one I want you to look at is what access is, your courage. I have several songs with this too, but right now I have one theme song that is the song that I put on that has me step into my full, full capacity and deliver, the full capacity of what I can deliver with where I stand today. If you’ve ever seen a concert and you have the opportunity to be backstage, and you pay attention to what the talent is doing to get ready to go on that stage, you know, backsta- They are doing, they’re getting in their zone, they’re getting in their mindset. They might have other music on.
I was at this great festival and I watched. I had that privilege of being behind the scenes and I watched how the next performer was getting into the zone. The current song is one you’re going to play, one you’re going to put on before, when you’re in the green room, when you’re backstage getting ready whether it’s pitching a new client, closing a piece of business, or speaking on a stage. How are you going to get into that zone? The courage song is really helpful with that.
The third theme song I want you to have is a song that celebrates your brilliance, that champions you that it’s like, “Yes, I am that good.” Okay? There’s three. There is access is the pain. The second is access is your courage, like the why, why you do this. The third is your celebration of what you’re doing. You can play those in a playlist or you can choose which song you need for the thing that you’re going to be doing.
One of the strategies we tell people when they’re about to speak is to access their why. That is my assignment for you, is get really, really clear about what you stand for, what you really bring to the table, what’s your why, and more importantly, what’s the wound that fuels that why. Then that song that just reminds you why, what matters to you, and why you get up in the morning, and why you go do what you do on the weekend or you travel across the world to help somebody.
I want you to have those songs in your back pocket, so when you need them to get into your game to bring your Olympic performance because it is an extreme sport. Have fun. Have a great week. I’ll talk to you soon.
Of all the senses, sound is one of the most powerful ways to trigger memories, and elicit an emotional response in the sensory realm. Add the power of the word, and personal experience to that, and you have one mighty powerful power tool to use in the business building effort.
This week, Kerri Konik, CEO and chief branding officer, will discuss using these elements to strengthen your access to your core brand identity, your values and what you stand for, in a moment’s notice. This capability serves all brand warriors, at every level of their game.