Branding Comes from the Inside Out

When branding gets intimate

We commonly speak about branding as a series of activities that codify and burnish the image of a person or organization. We talk about brands as representing the external, the surface, the facade. One might say that our culture has reached an obsession with brands -- the personal brands of celebrities, politicians, and the new broad field of “influencers”; as well as brands of businesses and organizations large and small. We often roll our eyes to represent our wariness of products, services and people who we no longer trust.

At its heart, a brand is simply a recognizable representation of a complex system. All products and services are created and offered by intersecting systems of people and materials. Behind every influencer, no matter how much of their life appears to consist of poolside avocado toast, is a multifaceted human existence. In a complex and interconnected world, brands are a big part of how we attempt to understand and interact with the world. 

The human mind loves categories and shortcuts -- ways to predict and navigate the dynamic and interconnected self and environment that are ultimately beyond our complete comprehension. Your brand is one such shortcut. It is the mental image of you, your product or organization, that your community uses to recognize the series of diverse instances, activities and experiences that compose you. 

For your community, this image is visual, narrative and experiential. When it is comprehensible and authentic, your community will feel that they trust and, in a sense, belong to or with your brand. Ultimately, this sense of trust and belonging will endure if your brand image is aligned with your community’s experience of you, your product or service -- when the substance of what you offer is integrated with your image and message.

This is where branding goes below the surface and gets intimate. I have heard the term “intimacy” defined with the phrase, “into me see.” Intimacy is the quality of relating that is created when we let others into our inner world. It requires trust and safety. To be intimate is ultimately to trust that unconditional love is available -- that we will still belong even if we are messy and weird inside. 

If this all sounds entirely too mushy and makes you worried that I will advise you to show customers the inside of your desk drawers, you can take a deep breath and relax. In fact, I would have you do just that -- take a breath as I lead you in a guided meditation. This is a technique I often use with my clients, and one of the most powerful tools I have found to quickly access core motivations and creative inspiration.

For me, branding is intimate because, whether you are an individual entrepreneur or part of a large organization, what happens on the inside and in the imagination (vision) is the source of external expression. Sometimes it’s about giving form to what is completely new and formless, sometimes it is about creating alignment between inner vision and how you are communicating with the world. No matter what your phase, I guarantee that the key to realizing your dream does not lie in polishing your image, but from tapping into the source of your motivation and letting it shine forth directly to your community, your customers, your audience.

Let your brand be like an intravenous line from heart to heart.