Your Brand 'Identity'

In the science world DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid - or in layman's terms - the building blocks of all living organisms. So for individuals/people/humanity our DNA, in essence, is the cornerstone to who we are - our identity.

In business people often equate a brand identity with a logo - a travesty. Your brand identity is far more than that.  It is your business DNA or the Distinguishing Nature About you.

Just like from the science point-of-view it is the stripped down, nuts and bolts of who or what your business is. No taglines. No mottos. No jingles. No business jargon. No mission statements. A basic, clear, and fundamental idea of who you are or what you are about.

Doing this tells people you have a unique identity, a purpose, a reason for being beyond selling goods and/or services or making money. It makes a passionate declaration about you apart from the day to day transactions. It speaks to, and seeks to highlight, the personal ambitions of your business.

This is powerful in helping to get to the essence of why you are getting up everyday in the morning and doing what you do. It gives you direction, focus and a deep-rooted reason for the work you are engaged in.

My good friend Michelle James, who her company's work is about helping businesses and organizations get to the creativity and the core in what drives people's work, helped me to craft our brand identity.  It states that our purpose is to help people see and engage the world differently; facilitating growth and expanding the possibilities. It's the distinguishing nature about us and what we uniquely bring to the table.

There isn't a day that goes by that this statement doesn't ring true and contribute to how we see ourselves, the work we do and how we move about the world. It's a constant reminder of WHY we do the work we do.

As you blaze your own trail in this world what is your 'brand identity'?

Ok. . .1 minute and. . . .go!

    The Infamous...

ELEVATOR PITCH

Today I had a meeting with my good friend Jeremy Epstein (the marketing guru behind Dan Pink's new book The Adventures of Johnny Bunko). For our meeting today I had my ideas all lined up, the topics I wanted to cover and the conversation topics that I thought would be worth his time. But just prior to our meeting Jeremy had with him a colleague that he wanted to me to talk to. 

He said "ok you two can share your elevator pitches with each other and I'll be right back" (and he took off down the hallway to get some coffee).

Now I hadn't planned on giving my elevator pitch for Vosica but regardless if I was ready or not I was put on the spot and had to let her rip. . .I think I did ok.

Now the question is - how good was it?  Not sure that I have the answer to that question but it was decent  enough that the gentlemen sent me a follow-up email that afternoon saying it was good to have made my acquaintance and invited me to an event for the next day. 

Additionally the lesson for the day. . .(like the Boy Scouts say) BE PREPARED!

In my time of developing my own elevator pitch and helping some of our clients do the same there are couple of key elements I think will be valuable to remember (and help you in staying prepared).

• make sure you say what you do - we are a marketing company, an herbal tea company, product designers etc.

• be able to mention what makes your company unique - we are the only company that __________.

• after the first two statements wrap up your pitch by framing it within an interesting context - for example - Imagine you are at an exotic location in Morocco dining on one of the most delicious meals you have ever tasted and you want that right beverage to match the meal, the mood and the incredible atmosphere. . . our product/beverage is what you would want. 

Put together these ideas (or your own version of them) and you can begin building your own bullet proof elevator pitch.

The Leading Edge

In politics Obama ran a 21st century presidential campaign.  If you study his campaign in depth you'll see how he used tactics that were both 20th century (i.e. television ads, traditional fundraising dinners and good ol' grassroots organizing) and new school (user generated content, social media and an internet marketing campaign).  He understood (as he now continues to tout) the value of "reaching across the aisles".  Now that could be across party lines or across generational lines. In either instance Barack understands the value in both the old and new school. His approach to politics is on the leading edge.

Over the past couple of weeks I  stumbled across a couple of groups online whose focus and demographic audience is the 35 and under crowd (their language made it undeniably clear that they are about movers and shakers under the age of 35 and 30) - which is fine. In reading their verbiage it's not a far stretch if you came to your own conclusions that they definitely consider themselves as leading edge thinkers. 

In today's business environment (the workforce and the market) you see innovators and leaders consisting of Baby Boomers, Gen X'ers and Millenials intermingling, and you do yourself a disservice by thinking that you (and your age group) can exhist in a vacuum. 

Innovative ideas and companies (being run by all three generations) that all age levels are benefiting from are impacting the market; from Al Gore's Current TV to Mark Zuckerburg and Facebook. There is an enormous amount of value in being aware and wanting to engage those people who are "across the aisle" (culturally, generationally, etc).  

The leading edge thinkers of the 21st century will be those who can bridge the divide between the old school and the new school and in the process create something of value that every generation wants - the ability to grow in their own personal understanding of the world, learn new ideas they can share with others, pursue happiness that leads to a better life and give something back to the world that positively impacts those who will follow in their footsteps. 

Now this is what leading edge thinkers will do.

Let's shine some light on a few things. . .

Ok, let's say you have talent (of course you do. . .everyone does!). Let's put this scenario on the table.

A friend of yours (think of a very good friend right now that you know would only have your best interest at heart and you know would always look out for you - I'll give you 15 seconds. . .)

. . . knows that you are looking to make some moves in life. They are aware of many things about you. They know what you like, your hobbies, the kind of person you are, etc.  So they have a pretty good idea of the kind of things that excite and energize you.

Now this friend of yours knows you are looking to use your talents for work/a career that you really, really, can sink your teeth into.  So he/she sets up a meeting with you and a close colleague of theirs who has started a company and is looking for some talented people to bring on board.

You and her are sitting at a table at a restaurant eating appetizers, having lunch and small talk has begun. She turns to you and says "I am really looking for people who know what their top talents are. What are yours?

What is your response?

Knowing what you are good at and knowing how to put it into words is absolutely vital to your success when pursuing your endeavors. Now this is only half the battle. 

Ok now you know what your talents are. . .so what?  Like I said in the the first sentence - everybody is talented.  The next issue becomes how do you position you and your talent in a way that makes you an asset? Let's say you know how to find information and research things exceptionally well. Now why is this something of value right here and right now?

Do you want people to hire you? Do you want to be seen as indispensible to the company? Have you started a new business and you want people to buy your products or pay for your services? Knowing what your talent is, is absolutely necessary. Knowing how to communicate it is even better.  But knowing why your talent is important is what helps to separate you from the crowd.

• Know your talents.

• Know how to communicate your talents.

• Know why your talents are important - right now.

Having a solid grasp on these three things will help significantly in opening doors for yourself to places you want to go.

Are You. . . .

?

Tiger Woods has an insatiable appetite for winning: An unprecedented drive to innovate and redefine the game of golf on his terms. He's the world's greatest golfer (and one of the world's best athletes) because he's ravenous - that step beyond being hungry.

Michael Jordan wasn't a five-time NBA Most Valuable Player, a member of six NBA championship teams, a ten-time All-NBA First Team and a six-time NBA Finals Most Valuable Player because he was hungry.  Its because he was ravenous. Determined to be the best.

Obama, a two year senator with relatively little experience in national politics and a novice by all conventional standards, didn't ascend to the highest office of the United States because he was hungry. He along with the people of this country, ravenous for change, made a decision to want something more and something better, and something different for their future.

Hunger is great.

But being ravenous takes you to the edges. It takes you to the fringes. The place where excellence dwells; the place where real change, creativity and innovation happens.