By any meaning necessary
A lot of people smarter than me say brands are built on meaningful relationships.
It just seems like such a weird thing to say because it implies you can't build a brand on meaningless relationships. I ain’t down with that.
You can totally build a brand, as in a business reputation, on meaningless relationships.
Consider this: I was not a popular kid in school (not surprising is it?). So I did not have relationships with the cool crowd in any way. But they sure as hell all had reputations with me.
That reputation is brand. And in my cool kids example, the brand is built on attention, not meaning.
So it’s true a brand can be built on meaningful relationships. It's just not a requirement. I like this quote from Alex Smith's No BS Strategy:
When a category is interesting, consumers are prepared to devote a lot of time and energy into thinking about it, whilst when a category is boring they will tend to get "in and out" as quickly as possible, and not allow it to take up too much of their consciousness.
So, a meaningless, transactional brand is fine if that’s the type of product or service you sell.
I have personal relationships that are meaningful. I have personal relationships that are mutually transactional.
Same can be true for a brand.
I don’t need a meaningful relationship with Charmin. I need reliable toilet paper.
✌️Rvw
P.S. Yall have no idea how hard it was to fight the urge to write a stupid joke playing off of toilet paper and "relationshi..."
Like this post? Sign up below to get stuff like this sent to you inbox. I write weekly-ish about the do’s and don’ts of branding to help badass businesses stand out with style.
