Understanding a Brand!

I have always known exactly what a brand is, however recently I have been so enlightened to know the "science" behind it. Marketing is a vast world of magic and smoke, that's for sure. There is so much more to a brand then just the logo, the website, the color, the experience, there is substance beyond belief there! It's like the foundation for a building. If the concrete is not square, or if there are pivots caused by nature, then there is a chance that the building will one day fail because of it. Same goes for a brand! I look at the world of marketing in a whole new light, I see it fuller and richer, and almost as if I were a detective of sorts. Now it is a puzzle for me to solve, what is that company's core values, what does their logo represent, who is their audience?

I find this process rather exciting and had to share it with the rest of the world. There are tons of examples I could give, but the best for me, is Wal-Mart. Everyone has been to a wal-mart, or at least seen a commercial for them on TV. Their motto is We sell for Less, period! Wal-mart, has been beaten to death by some people who don't believe that their bulling is fair to the little guy, but most of those people who have beaten, are almost guaranteed to have bought something from Wal-mart because it's cheaper then the competition? But let's get back to their brand here, Wal-mart has been very effective in achieving their brand that has recognition. When we all think of Wal-mart we think of cheap, hence their "We sell for Less," motto. This is their brand, it's not just that they color their stores blue, or the fact that their stores are almost all identical, or that they offer decent insurance to their workers, it's that you know just by thinking of Wal-mart, they sell for less. You know when you go there, that the store will most likely look like any other Wal-mart you have been in, and that they will offer a multitude of items for less, without even seeing their store, you KNOW this. That, my friends, is brand recognition!

I am engulfing in this process myself and I hope that all of you get from brand, that my core values are: integrity, intuition, and creativity.

My core value statement is: A vibrant brand is similar to a picture being worth a 1000 words.

Misty