In this episode. We’re going to be taking a journey down the silk road. How your brand can burn into your customer’s minds and make it memorable. How can it define what your product is?

Transcript
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Today.

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We're going to be taking a journey down the silk road.

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I want you to imagine for a second, that you're on a dock.

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You are on a dock and there are ships coming in from all around the world.

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And crate upon crate is stacked on top of each other.

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And you have to figure out where was that coffee from that?

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So good.

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You know, the word to brand means to sear in.

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Like it literally means to burn into, and we want to think about our brands.

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Is, are they something that are burning into our memories?

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Is it something memorable?

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Is it something that defines what our product is?

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And is it something people want to attach themselves to?

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So if we think about the early days of mark-making, we were talking

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about some cave paintings, some face painting and flag making but also

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it was used in marketing cattle.

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Right.

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And so literally burning into literally burning into their flesh and, while

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that's not a nice image, the reasons for that wouldn't just delineate ownership.

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It would also speak to animal husbandry practices.

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So like the lineage cattle, the way that they were fed, the places that

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they were raised, where they came from.

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And so, mark-making also became really important in the early days of trade.

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So when ships were coming across, people would be able to tell which

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products they had purchased before.

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And, they'd be able to tell where things had come from.

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Maybe where they're going in the quality of the product.

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And so that's where mark making became so important.

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And if I even think back to some of the history of my family, I've been

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studying the origins of my matey roots and thinking about Phillip

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Turner, who came in the 1700.

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When he would pick up something in the early colonial history of

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Canada, he would have to, know if it's something that he could trust.

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He'd have to know if it's something he wanted and there's even a letter

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of him requesting, a really high quality watch because he wanted to make

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sure he was as accurate as possible.

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He would have, there'd have to be marks on those shipping crates to know who

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it was going to and what was inside.

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So then that leads me to the question.

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Are we searing anything in, you know, when we work with our

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clients, Amin, I'm wondering what message do they want to sear in?

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And I know you have some key questions that you ask to, to make sure that

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people's message is driving home.

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What are some of those questions that you might ask?

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Yeah, great point, Heather.

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So whenever we're working with a client, we want to make sure that if we're

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helping them with their marketing or their messaging, that we're actually, first of

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all, speaking to the right person, because if you're talking to somebody that let's

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say is a car enthusiast, but they're into carburetors and you know valves.

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Well, they're going to be speaking a different language than somebody is

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into an electric vehicle, like a Tesla.

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And they're talking about rather than horsepower, they're talking about, you

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know, Watts or other forms of power.

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And so I think that's really important is that, you know, as part of the

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searing into information, we want to make sure that we're using the

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words that your clients are using.

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So that's where I start by asking them, well, tell me, you know, what

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your clients are, what your ideal client does or where they hang out.

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And then, then we can take that and convert that into a message that

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actually seers into their brain and not, and doesn't confuse them.

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We really want to make sure that we're not confusing people

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when we're talking to them.

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Yeah.

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So the words we use are a huge part of our branding.

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And from a visual standpoint, some of the things I look at are where are

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those ideal audiences going to connect?

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So if it is a more Satan masculine driven product, I might take

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a look at some of the feeling that's created by sports teams.

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And I might try to integrate that visually into a brand, or if I have something

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that feels a little bit more corporate and maybe even more government focused,

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I might actually implement some colors from the government that they tie into.

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So there are some subtle notes that can happen in the weaving of the

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creating of the visuals of the brand and the storytelling of the brand.

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But what we want to do is send some sub conscious messages to the brain so

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people know us like us and trust us one brand that comes to mind right away.

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When you talk about this, and this is something that, you know, our kids

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are very familiar with is Amazon.

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When we get an Amazon box right away, they know it because it's

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got the words, Amazon, it's got the little arrow that goes there.

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And there's a few things I love about this brand is that.

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I don't know if you know about this, but the Amazon logo to

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me, it looks like a smile.

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First of all, because of the curve, but the arrow actually

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take points from a to Z.

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And that's what initially I think was their intention, was that they sell

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everything on their store from a to Z.

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And that's the arrow, but it also looks like something they shipped,

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it looks like there's so many elements to it, but that's great.

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Branding.

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Do you have any examples of branding where, you know, the company may not have

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done a very, very good job, but it did sear into your mind and you're like, I'm

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going to avoid that brand at all costs.

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Avoid that brand at all costs.

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I'm not sure, but I just want to kind of want to back up to that Amazon logo

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and the simplicity with all the layers that are in there is what is key.

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Like it, it looks so simple, but it, it Sears in because of that simplicity

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with a lot of thought, you know, we just had, somebody approached.

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Us for a logo and they ended up going a different direction and

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they have integrated about 10 different visuals into that logo.

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So really branding should be the distilling down into the essential

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nature so that it hits home.

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So if I think about a brand that I decided that I would want to stay away from, I'm

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trying to think that's a hard question.

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It's hard question for me.

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I think about car brands like car companies often, you know, if

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you're looking to buy something.

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You know, Ford comes to mind from a long time ago.

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I think Fords have come a long way, but you know, F O R D fix or

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repair daily found on road dead.

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And when I see that blue circle with the scripted for you sort of think

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maybe I should stay away from that.

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And then, you know, there's car, like I mentioned, Tesla or Honda or Toyota

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or Mercedes, and, you know, Mercedes is a very simple three pointed star.

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But yet it stands for so much in terms of quality and elite and you

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know, so it's, it's quite interesting.

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It's quite fascinating how a visual really simple visual can convey so

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much information in such a quick way.

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Yeah.

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And it's important because it lets us know if we belong there or not.

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Like, for example, I have so much respect for Harley Davidson and the

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things they do, but I don't fit there.

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That is not my people, but I really think that they're doing an amazing job.

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It's just not my thing.

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You know, so like art supplies, that might be something where I look at, I'm

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always looking for the golden label or I'm looking for the top of the line because

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I got archival quality art supplies.

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And so if I see a name that I don't recognize, I don't buy it because

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I don't know, like, and trust them.

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Right.

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Because it's important to me that my artwork.

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Archival quality.

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So as we take a look at the silk road and we travel back down and we think

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about the reasons why people start to mark their crates, I want you to

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take the time to think about if your brand had a crate, what would be the

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essential information that you would want to steer into somebody's mind?

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And then next episode, we're going to be talking about what it takes

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to be build longevity in your brand.

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It's going to be a great episode.

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Thanks so much, Heather, for your amazing insights and wisdom into this.

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And I'm looking forward to chatting again next time.

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Thanks so much for listening to the remarkable branding podcast.