3 things preventing your brand success

If you’ve been working hard to develop your unique brand but still don’t feel like you’ve reached your maximum brand success, there are three common issues to consider before you go nuts and change up your entire strategy. Read on to find out what they are – and honestly, I think they’ll surprise you!

My favorite and most definitive question to ask entrepreneurs who are on a mission to build a successful brand is: “what words would you use to describe your brand?”

I often hear words like:

“Modern, calming, blues and greens…”

“Professional, simple, clean…”

“Nice, bright, welcoming…”

And I’m like, whoa whoa whoa. Hold up. You’re not describing a brand.

You’re describing a couch.

HAHAHA! A GODDAMN COUCH! I die. And I’m not laughing at you – I’m laughing because I’m incredulous. It’s not your fault if you describe your brand in this way – it’s the branding industry’s fault for convincing you a brand is defined by how it looks instead of how it feels.

So this is the official asia dore test for determining how likely you are to find brand success – if the three to five adjectives you use to describe your brand can also be used to describe a fucking couch, that’s a sign it’s time to develop your brand strategy.

Here’s the thing: we humans (specifically in Westernized cultures) are completely engrossed in our identities. We obsess over defining who we are because we want so badly to be individuals, to be special, to stand out. So as entrepreneurs we get stuck on color palettes and logos and design because the branding industry has erroneously taught us that those are the identifiers that make us unique.

I say this as your brand strategist, but also as your newest branding BFF: You can stop trying so hard to be unique.

You already ARE unique because no one else is you! You may think that’s cliché and you may be right, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. So with that being said…

There are three common issues that are likely preventing you from reaching your full potential for brand success:

1. You don’t understand what makes you unique because you haven’t taken the time to figure it out

2. You think you know what makes you unique but you don’t know how to clearly articulate it

3. You know exactly what makes you unique but you’re scared to capitalize on it because it’s weird or feels too big or it goes against the grain

Each one of those issues is solved with brand strategy. Believe me, I know it’s a hell of a lot easier to hide behind logos than it is to do the deep work required for true brand clarity – but effective brands aren’t built on aesthetics – they’re built on values. Stories. Beliefs. Skills. Ambitions. Purpose. Emotions.

Anyone else can claim your color palette, but no one else can claim to be you.

Need a road map for your path to brand success?

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