What color are your pants?

I think one of the best movies of 2006 was the biopic, "The Pursuit of Happyness". Based on the on the early life of a wall street success, Chris Gardner, it documents the tough patch he had to go through sometime in 1981 before he got his break at Dean Witter, a brokerage firm (by the way, great acting by Will Smith and his son, Jaden).

One of the most dramatic scenes in the movie was when he turned up for the job interview for an internship position at the firm, appearing slovenly with paint stains on his hair and clothes (actually he had just spent a night in prison after being arrested - when painting his apartment - for not paying his paying his parking tickets). At the end of the interview, the most senior executive on the panel asked him what he (i.e. Chris) would say if he learnt that the executive had hired a man who came for an interview without a shirt on.

What followed for me was the most beautiful few seconds of the entire movie. You could tell Chris was a bit taken aback by the question. But I think his response changed everything:

“He must have had some very nice pants on” (or words to that effect).

Needless to say Chris passed the interview.

I guess in life, we may possess these sort of “nice pants”, which differentiate us and more importantly, mitigate our shortcomings. For some it’s the quick wit they have about them, some uncanny ability to think on their feet. For others it’s a rare skill they possess which makes them invaluable to their audience. Yet for others, it is the ability to be known for something specific, to own an idea in the minds of everyone (think of Hernando de Soto and his "Mystery of Capital" or Nassim Nicholas Taleb and his "Black Swan" theory).

Whatever the case, our “nice pants” shine more even when our foibles are evident, the latter acting as foils across which that which is remarkable appears to be more so. They make people forgive us yet admire us.

A friend of mine puts it this way: imagine an architect walks into a meeting with board members of a multi national dressed in a T-shirt and pair of dirty thorn jeans pants (lets throw in a nose ring and tattoos for good measure), yet he makes a presentation of his concept of their proposed building that blows their minds. It those “nice pants”, that inner “genius” that wins them over.

For successful brands (individuals, places or organizations), it could be that thing they are known for. That crucial differentiator. We can see evidence of such in great brands like Apple with their culture which builds loyalty the world over.

So this begs the question, what color are your pants?

Great branding, resumes-style!

Couple of days ago...doing my thing...surfing the blogosphere, I came across an interesting comment on Brand wire by the creator of a rather unique "invention" called The Bioblog. It is a radical idea - present resumes (yeah, those dull documents) in an attention grabbing format.

This is no visual CV but relies heavily on use of graphics and fonts in a bold thematic way. Sometimes, it is designed as a one-page advert, with dramatic declarations of the attributes the resume writer possesses. At other times, its a calling card with a cartoon like portrait of you. The ideas go on and on. By being eye-catching, it distinguishes your resume from the rest of the pack. And when it comes to looking for a job, you need all the "diffrentiation" you can get.

This resume writing method could help clarify your personal brand. At the very least, the recruiting officer would want to meet you. It could get you a foot in (at least up untill the next round).

Hey, you check it out here and let me know what you think.

On Rebranding Nigeria

Was at a forum the other day on the issue of rebranding Nigeria. I have included my comment below:

I think that Nigeria doesn't have to solve all its problems before embarking on a rebranding campaign. The honest truth is we don't have to have good electricity, infrastructure and phone networks for us to build a successful brand (though I would be the first to admit, it does help a great deal).
The aim of a brand campaign is not to be all things to all people (that would make Nigeria a mere commodity). Neither should we try to compete on the same footing of development and its perks with the rest of the world.
I believe, we need a honest and bold approach. One citizens of this country and the rest of the world could buy into.
Through our brand, we should be able to say, YES, we have a reputation for corruption, record of poor governance, fraud and failing infrastructure. But more importantly, pick our brand position by admitting that WE ARE WILLING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. THAT WE ARE WILLING TO CHANGE.
I fear only with a healthy marriage of the negatives of our past and the positives we hold of this change, will we be able to annihilate the former and birth that brand-new Nigeria.

Sound Branding

Try this. Close your eyes. Imagine. It is just after 8 o’clock in the morning. There is the sound of an engine sputtering nearby, above the hum of passing cars, trucks and motorcycles and their clanging horns; the spiel of hawkers parading their wares; shouts announcing various places in sing song voices (destinations?); blaring music from large stereos. The noise is a confluence of voices, music and ambient sounds. You can tell almost with a certainty, you are in a bus park, somewhere in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria…say Ojuelegba?

And then you open your eyes….

For those few seconds, in your imagination, you experienced this entity (in this case, a busy hub in the Lagos metropolis), through the unique interface of your ears. In this way, you have attempted to reconstruct the brand Ojuelegba through the sense of sound.

The mind is wired to interact with the environment with its 5 senses (sight, smell, touch, taste and sound). Through stimuli integrated from these various sources, the mind is fed and develops the dimensional representation we call the brand.

Therefore, to consciously craft a brand while focusing more on the visual experiences (visual logos, identity system, design and architecture etc) while ignoring other senses such as sound identifies a large gap in the branding experience. Although the above example allows us appreciate a place brand through sound, this kind of thinking can be extended to other types of brands as well.

For instance, when a bank consumer is using an ATM, we engage his visual sense as well as his sense of sound through the jingles or music that is played. By exploring other senses, the audience may be better engaged and a better articulated brand image may be created.*

Here are a few examples of how the sound component of a dimensional brand may be explored

• Sound logo: this is the acoustic representation of the brand. It may be used in conjunction with the visual logo (in multimedia for instance) or alone
• Jingles: radio, television or internet adverts for instance
• Corporate songs or anthems
• Ring tones (remember the unique ringtone used in the hit TV series, “24”?)
• Ambient music in the organizations facility
• Switch board music
• Cultural language used by stakeholders of the brand (e.g. employee branding)
• Sound of the brand’s name, products or services

The list goes. The important question to ask is “how does my brand use sounds?”. The idea is to mine each of the brand’s touch point for its potential as a sound portal.

*the word “image” does not imply visual representation. It is from the Latin root word “imitari” which means “to imitate”. Therefore the brand image is more accurately a replica of the brand in the minds of its audience.

Simplifying branding

Most organizations are jostling for some spot in the customer's mind. Brand theorists even have a fancy name for it - Mind share. For most, it is the holy grail of a successful brand strategy which is all of 3 steps really:

1 - Deciding on what you want to represent

2 - Doing it

3 - Show that you are doing it.

Ok, ok, it is not always so cold and calculated. Afterall some of the world's most exciting brands didn't set out with such an obvious agenda - at least not intentionally anyway. For these, "the brand" grew - so to speak - as a by-product of them doing a great job at serving their customers.

"It's all in the name, really"

If you are visiting this blog for the first time, I suppose it does not make much of a difference. The name change, that is. This blog used to be known as "BRANKS!" up untill about a few minutes ago or so.

After a 6 months hiatus, I felt this need to do away with the old name (which was some sort of modification of "bankable brands") and see about a new one. The term "BRAND Nation" represents more accurately what I perceive our conversations should be about - an uncanny interest in brands, branding and their implications.

Here's to another 6 months of (theorizing). Cheers!