If you ask an Accountant to describe 3 attributes they possess, I will bet money that “analytical” will be one of them. It goes with the job; and there is nothing wrong with it. Branding, however, is about refining beyond the obvious, so you can begin to stand out in a crowded field.

Witness the average supermarket shelving for soup. All these soups are ‘analytical!’

Seth Godin recently advised “skip depending on being found on the shelf and go directly to people who care.”

Exactly. And to do so we have to look within ourselves, to convene around what matters the most – your own opinion. So, let’s look a little deeper into how we self-define our brand.

Sometimes, it is helpful to look from a different data perspective – left-field if you will.

We have at our fingertips well-developed cultural descriptors, such as Chinese animal symbols, colour rainbows, and narrative archetypes (there are only 12 types of character in any plot of every story ever told.)

These ideas, whether they are scientifically proven or not, are grounded in the reality of our lives. We relate to them, and therein lies the opportunity – to take ownership of a cultural, common idea and to make it our own; to tell a story about it where you are the central character.

Many, too many people find it difficult to say positive things about themselves. “I am excellent at <inset here>” is a tough ask for many. Taking a more esoteric path to a brand outcome can be liberating process. “I relate to the rabbit – compassionate and creative – because <insert here.>”

Hey, whatever it takes.

Ultimately, we want people to have fun with the process, to not over think it, and to allow the multi-input approach to reveal some unexpected answers.

The inputs we ask an individual to choose from include:

• 5-6 brand descriptors from a list of 50 words
• Choose one of the 12 cultural-narrative archetypes
• Choose a Chinese animal symbol that represents their brand
• Choose from one of 12 colours similarly
• Define their dominant brand element – Head-Heart-Hand.
• Choose their preferred core value (this is the enterprise model where we can create a list of the corporate values.)

We then wash the data by each input’s HHH status, to add an overall brand theme. As you can see from my individual inputs, I am heavily weighted to black / Head input elements. I have a ‘thinker’ brand.

I can begin to develop my story about who I am, how I add value, from this data set. And, I can merge that narrative with what my cohort say about me too. More on that tomorrow.

←This Much We Know.→