You can check out the full article here: Being YOU

Eloise  runs Soul Sessions, a brand and business that aims to make a difference to the lives of others. Visit her site and discover what Soul Sessions can do for you and your life.

The shift FROM: branding = marketing + making ads TO: branding = leadership + business is critical and essential, and yet very few companies and agencies/consultants are working in this way at all.

Why is that? When I explain what I do to other people they always say “of course; that totally makes sense; so obvious”. And yet …

“Let’s make a dent in the universe.” This was always Steve Jobs’ mantra.

I’ve always loved that phrase. Whatever you manufacturer, somebody else can make it better, faster, and cheaper than you. It is your soul, and the purpose and beliefs that it embodies and represents, that people will buy into.

Why is your brand great? Why does your brand matter? Seriously. Because if you don’t know, then nobody else will know either – and nobody else will care.

It’s not about merit, professionalism, or quality. It is about faith, belief, conviction and courage. It’s about why you are on this planet = to make a dent in the universe.

I don’t want to know why your brand is good, or even great. I want to know why your brand is totally awesome and remarkable. Once you tell me, I can tell the world.

Is there really a better way to spend your working hours? I think not …

speak up.  vb (intr, adverb)

Sometimes we talk, but we don’t speak. To talk = to articulate words using your tongue. To speak = to express your self + to convey your ideas and opinions.

Speak up sits at the heart of great brands, and branding. It’s about standing for something, having a purpose and a point of view, and expressing that purpose and point of view — through both words and actions.

It’s not about asking a random selection of people [who are paid $80 to sit in your focus group] who you should be and what you should say.

It’s not about making strategic decisions by committee, which result in a 7/10 outcome that everyone feels comfortable with.

It is about leadership, having a vision, and being clear on why you exist [beyond making a dollar].

And so I have chosen “speak up” as my theme, my rallying cry and way of being in 2013.

Watch out!

Using Brand to make the Workplace Work talk I gave 3 weeks back at SHIFT breakfast.

A brand called Warren

Warren Buffet is not only successful, he is unique; because he is his own person. For a guy who’s worth $44 billion he behaves like a guy worth $44,000. Consider:

• He still lives in the same small 3 bedroom house in mid-town Omaha that he bought after he got married 50 years ago.

• He drives his own car everywhere, and does not have a driver or any security people around him.

• He never travels by private jet, even though he owns the world’s largest private jet company [NetJets].

• He doesn’t socialise with the high society crowd. His idea of a great evening is watching TV at home, eating ice-cream.

• His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them their goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis.

Now that’s what I call “a regular guy” brand archetype.

Sure, much has changes since my first job in 1986. At the same time much hasn’t changed too.

Like the fundamentals of branding — building a community of like-minded people around a common ideal, a common idea, and a common set of values and tenets. 

So I got to express my view at the STW Data Day at the end of last year = The Role of Direct Marketing and Data in Positioning Your Brand.

It was an in-house talk, so I didn’t exactly hold back when it came to making my point, or the way in which I made my point [so if passionate language offends you, please don't listen].

I was subsequently asked by Google to make a similar talk to their clients — marketing people who think of the role of digital and online as predominantly tactical, with little or no larger strategic vision or intent.

I think my views were well received. I also think that nothing’s changed, which frustrates me. Perhaps you’d like to make a comment or an observation of your own …