07 Jun 09 Let your brand live!!

If you read David Meerman Scott’s Blog entry HERE about 5 ways GM should re-invent themselves, he says an awful lot about why GM is dying fast.  This is a follow up to that blog post.

Here is my personal, 6th rant on GM->

Let your brands live!

Lets start out with a quick question about what a brand actually is ->

A) A very hot iron that you permanently mark your cattle with

B) An identity that you are trying form in a potential consumers eyes

C) A series of random activities that have a common person or group behind them

With apologies to Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, I will definitely call C wrong.  Yes, he pulled it off, however I suspect that he pulled it off despite, not because of, his company being a record label, a music store chain, an airline and the Ultimate Roller coaster.  (Yes, I DO want to ride)

Answer A is the original purpose, but you are over 100 years too late in its use.

So we’ll settle on B as the most correct answer.

So your brand needs to communicate something.  Some brands, like BMW’s Mini and GM’s Chinese Hummer (I still can’t get over that) let you know right away what you are getting.

But in the case of nearly all the GM brands, how many of them mean anything at all?  They compete with each other directly (with identical models with remarkably small differences).  A good brand tells you a bit about what you are going to get.

So what do I drive when I say I have a Chevy (or Ford, for that matter)?

A) A Cheap junker of a sedan I bought because I couldn’t afford anything else/got a great deal on it that was trashed by Consumer Reports?

B) A fun to drive sports car?

C) A Giant, durable and reliable pick-up truck (Plastic Testicles on the trailer hitch sold separately… I think)

So is that a brand anymore? Not really.

So feel free to be your brand, and for you solopreneurs out there- please do be yourself:  Yes, I honestly think some people are looking for a funny, witty accountant or a lawyer who actually (occasionally) acts like a human being.  If that’s your brand, and who you are- embrace it- run with it, and do not be afraid to hide it!