Trust is at the Heart of Brand

Once, everything was sold direct. Makers sold to buyers. Buyers knew the makers. They knew who made good stuff and who made shoddy.

No longer a village.

Then villages became too big for everyone to know everyone else. But all of us, no matter what culture we lived in had to have some way of assessing quality. Pride of craftmanship drove makers to mark their goods. The Chinese used an ink stamp called a “Chop” on their written documents. Artisans across the world stamped their initials into ceramics, glass and metal items. They burned a mark into wooden items. (Which led to these marks being called brands.)

A new member

Trade between villages and cities led to a need for merchants, the third associate in the sales trinity. Those three roles exist today. Sure, we wrap other jobs and descriptions around makers and merchants but the roles remain the same.

Trust of branded items has been ingrained in us since the first Greek amphorae was stamped with a potter’s mark. We even trust counterfeit items more than unbranded items of higher quality. I agree that to some extent that is because we can’t assess the quality of fake or the real.

We put our faith in a mark.

Those marks, dressed up and illustrated by advertising and promotion, become Brands. They may be legally protected by a registered Trademark or Servicemark but Trust is at the heart of brand. The Buyer esteems the maker for providing a quality product. The maker has confidence in the merchant to deal fairly with the buyer and to represent his or her product truthfully. The Buyer gives the merchant credence for representing quality products.

Brand can confer celebrity

Because of advertising and promotion, many people believe that fame and fortune are a part of brand.

They aren’t. Often this mistaken belief is called Personal Brand. Unfortunately, Brand accrues to the product or service not to an individual. Even though a person’s name is associated with a brand, the person is not the brand. Even famous fashion designers have to produce product to preserve the brand.

Representing a brand can render a maker or a merchant, even a buyer a celebrity status. A few cases in point:

· Colonel Sanders Yes, he is famous but only for his chicken restaurants.

· Mrs. Butterworth Sorry, she is a figment of some ad person’s imagination

· General Mills A company name. When they introduced the fictional Betty Crocker letters showed up wanting to know what Mrs. Mills thought about her.

Personalization of brands is just one way to make them memorable.

Celebrity is not brand.

Personal brand chasers would get further faster by concentrating on finding solutions to common problems in the form of products or services. That is the path to entrepreneurial success. Or failure. It is very seldom that the first product or service idea takes off like a rocket. Check the bios of successful entrepreneurs if you doubt me.

If you are searching for a job, understand what it is the hiring organization is searching for. Don’t lie. Tell it like it is. Those searching for their first job out of college need to understand that your attitude is what will get you hired or fired. Your on-line persona may have garnered a ton of friends but an employer is more interested in what you can bring to the equation for him or her.

If you are a ways on in your career, get clear in your own mind what it is you want to do and can prove you are good at. Then tell everyone you know the description of the job you are looking for. Put what behavioral psychologists call the “weak Links” to work for you. You’ll get more offers faster than If you attempt to build a personal brand. 

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His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development for independent professionals on and off-line.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com 

DIY Training: www.ingomu.com