Are you a brand?
Do you want to be?
Northern Voice 2009
Brett T. T. Macfarlane

Seriously though, who is this jackass?

4

:30 History of Branding

Back in day
Some guy Brands a Cow

The 60’s
CPG products now brands

The 70’s
Footprints of commercial
globalization

The 80’s
Brand pervasiveness

The 90’s
Brand rejection

The 00’s
Brand indifference

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/07wz2AZ6JTdih/340x.jpg

Brands
Behaving
Badly

16

- / Don’t know their audience
- / Lack conviction
- / See brand as logo
- / Don’t care about you, the human being
- / It’s hard not to suck

Do you even want
to consider yourself
a brand?

You are one,
whether you like it
or not.

BRAND ≠ IDENTITY

A brand is not a “thing”
It is a bundle of meaning
It is whatever is in people’s heads
Good and bad. Right and wrong
23

jordan olympics sweat
victory
shop sport just do it
exploitation slave freedom tiger
labour
woods consumerism bo jackson oregon haywood field
yellow prefontain lance armstrong losing $30
sweat
athlete
running
logo
cool
athletes bad crap
comfortable
25

Principles of Branding

Define your
audience
27

Text
Who are you for?
28

Stand for
something
29

“If you stand for something, you
will always find some people for
you and some against you. If
you stand for nothing, you will
find nobody against, and
nobody for you”
30

What makes
you you?
31

Point of difference
32

Prove it
33

Field of competence
34

Tone of
voice
35

Personality
36

Good blogs
Good brands
37

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40

41

42

43

- / Know your audience
- / Stand for something
- / Authentic
- / Speak and converse with you like a
human being
- / Try, desperately, not to suck

Thank
You
45

Brett T. T. Macfarlane
Account Director
DDB Canada
me@brettmacfarlane.com
brettmacfarlane.typepad.com
twitter.com/macfarbt