The document discusses the evolution of branding, emphasizing that today's brand identity relies more on community and consumer perceptions than on traditional marketing tactics. It dispels common myths about branding, asserting that brands are not just logos or corporate identities, but rather communities built around shared values and experiences. Ultimately, the document highlights the importance of fan communities in shaping successful brands in the modern landscape.

1. LET’S KILL SOME
COMMON MYTHS
ABOUT BRANDING
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

2. “Branding” has existed for thousands of years. In the beginning,
it was an identifying mark to help buyers recognize they were
buying a pot that wouldn’t break in the cooking fire. Or to help
identify livestock. As production lines and technologies evolved
over the last 200 years, consumerist societies developed; today,
quality and quantity have become assured.
In the beginning.
LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

3. Today, “Brand” is not about what you companies have to say
about their product and services, but what people have to say
about those companies. “Brand” even refers to the people who
surround (and buy) those products and services.
LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
The notion of “Brand” has evolved, too.
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

4. Your fans.
LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

5. Today, it’s not only the quality of the product you build that
dictates success, but the quality of the community you build
around that product.
LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
What’s changed.
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

6. The new mission is to create a community that becomes so
passionate about your success, they create it themselves.
The new mission.
LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

7. Today, your brand is your fan community.
A thought. From this evolved perspective, your “Brand” is the
community of fans who talk about you, advocate you, endorse you,
and “thumbs up”. These fans are not idle—whether they feel they
like Apple, Nike, Brooklyn, Burning Man or the New York
Yankees, entry into these communities require repeat involvement
and intense consideration.
LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

8. Your brand community is users, advocates, people who buy into you.
In other words, your “brand community” is not some flimsy feel-
good concept. Instead, these zealots are your users, consumers,
customers: they are the core of your business.
LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

9. We’re all part of the same tribe.
Your brand means something to them. When that meaning aligns
with the values and beliefs of others, your brand grows. We enjoy
the like-minded community of others who have also bought and
bought into the Brand. It doesn’t take much to realize that many
of us have an affinity for others drinking Starbucks, using an
iPhone 6, listening on Beats headphones, or bingeing on Netflix.
We’re all part of the same clan or tribe.
LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

10. Here are some common misperceptions regarding what a
“Brand” is. If you agree with any of the statements in boldface,
you might want to pivot and readjust your thinking. Do so
quickly, or in today’s fast-moving world you might become a
dodo.
LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

11. Brands are trying to sell me something. Brands are no longer
evil empires trying to trick you into buying something. The
“Mad Men” of yesteryear are so yesterday. Today, “Brands”
belong to the fan communities that create them: clusters of
people connected together by the same beliefs, same values and
common trust. They talk alike, walk alike, act alike, and use a
system of identifiers to signify who they are. They are members
of the same tribe, cult, enthusiasts, advocates, citizens and
crowd. And if you want to be a part of them, you must
understand the system of words, rituals, icons, and narrative
they celebrate.
LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
MYTH:
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

12. We just redesigned our logo and website. So, our brand is done.
No. Many people misunderstand their corporate identity program
as their “Branding”. This is so wrong. Your Brand is the way you
act and the way people feel about you. Your brand is also your
packaging, product design, your HQ office and store experiences.
Your brand is also the language that describes you (iced grande
skinny decaf latte); what you look like, smell like, sound like; your
brand is not only who you are, but also what you’re not and never
want to become; and the strategic narrative that strings it all
together. Your logo and website are a part of your brand only in
that they help people find you.
LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
MYTH:
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

13. LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
MYTH:
Brands are logos. No. Logos are identifying marks that signal
your Brand tribe or clan. People know instantly whether they
should approach or avoid, whether you are just like me, or not for
me. Logos are icons (packaging, product design, and other senses
including taste, touch, sound and smell are also iconic), just one
part of your brand belief system that also includes rituals, creation
story, creed, a special lexicon, nonbelievers and leader.
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

14. LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
MYTH:
Only big companies can brand themselves. While it is true that,
historically, big companies had an edge over smaller companies
(it took somewhere between seven to twenty million dollars to
“launch” a new product over traditional national
television), today the new schoolyard reality is that digital media
and technology have flattened the playing field. Today,
individuals like PewDiePie, NigaHiga and Jenna Marbles have
become popular brands surrounded by millions of followers just
like Samsung, Coke and Nike.
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

15. LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
MYTH:
Only products and services can be Brands. Not so. If you think of
Brands as communities, you know that communities surround
people, places and things. Those as Brands, too. Kanye West is a
Brand, as are Madonna, Oprah, Nelson Mandela, and
Obama. You are also a brand--surrounded by your community of
family, friends, co-workers, and others.
Civic communities are also Brands: Not just cities like New York
City, Paris, London, Melbourne, Mumbai or Beijing. These
places embody values, environments and experiences that attract
others who share (and prefer) those same lifestyle choices.
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

16. LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
Combining each of these pieces into a holistic brand narrative—
and then distributing those pieces through content in traditional
and social media—is the challenge (or opportunity) for everyone
who wants to create a Brand community.
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

17. LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
Treated appropriately, people with the same likes and dislikes
become your fans. They become your advocates and your Brand
community. They like you.
They not only buy you, they buy into you.
And that’s one of the best things about being a Brand.
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

18. LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
If you liked this, you might like the books “Primal
Branding” (which has been required reading at YouTube) and
“The Social Code”.
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

19. LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
The writer is currently featured as ‘brand expert’ in the 10-part documentary series “The Kennedy Files. Acknowledged as one of
the top brand transformation practitioners in the world, Patrick Hanlon’s book Primal Branding: Create Zealots for Your Brand, Your Company And
Your Future is mandatory reading at YouTube Next Labs, the largest social engagement platform on the planet. In addition to working with
Fortune 100 clients, he has been a guest speaker at IDEO, New York University, Urban Land Institute, HP Brand Innovation Series, TEDx and
more. His latest book The Social Code is a build on Primal Branding and takes us deep into the digital age where communities are created online.
Hanlon is also a writer for Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., and has appeared CNBC, FOX, as well as popular podcasts and radio.
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.

20. LET’S KILL SOME COMMON MYTHS ABOUT BRANDING
Our construct has been ratified and is actively
endorsed by the largest social engagement
community on the planet as their recommended
method for creating Brand narrative and growing
your community online.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEj2iqsQLqw
PRIMAL BRANDING®
PRIMAL BRANDING®
@hanlonpatrick
®
Primal Branding® is a registed trademark.