TRANSCRIPT:
Why Clarity Around Brand Is Important
“Hey, it's Brandon Sobotka and you're watching Noble NonConformity TV, welcome and thank you for being here. As always, I appreciate you and as you already know... I'm here to help YOU Position YOUR ambition and build a boundless brand for the modern marketplace.
Today we're going to get very clear on a question I get all the time... "What is a brand?" I get this all the time offline so I thougth why don't I share this online for those who might need it. In many ways, the strategic clarity you have around brand is directly proportional to sustaining a successful and strong brand for a long time. Aka meaning...
*helping you be seen as an expert,
*helping you get paid higher rates,
*helping you stand out from the competition
*helping you expand your reach and become the authority...
...on a higher level. Not just locally, but nationally and even globally.
I mean think about it...how many times have you heard the likes of Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Gary Vee, Apple, Starbucks, you name it. The people who PREACH brand like it's their secret superpower. Is because brand IS their superpower. All the big names, all the big companies, all the best entrepreneurs...If you want to be known, if you want to make a bigger difference, then you need a clear, consistent, & different brand.
Once I learned brand, I went from struggling to streamlined. I went from a business that was getting by and if anything bad would have happened we could've been thrown off, but once I had brand right those things didn't really shake me that much. I got to a point where we had streamlined this business and we're doing so well that I started a second company, called Emerge Brand Consulting, in which I have a team, a small agency. And I also built a business with my wife called Lady Leader Lifestyle in which she provides fitness and nutrition coaching for female leaders.
My point is...when you get that brand that's clear, consistent, and different it helps you both internally and externally stand out. And now my clients are reaping the same rewards...they are finally getting paid what they're worth, they're being seen. Not only are they being seen, but they're being recognized as different, better, THE BEST even on a local level. Some of them are getting national attention and even being recognized globally in some cases. In other words, you get brand right, you win.
Consequences of Not Getting Brand Right
That being said....
There is a "but", there's always a but. If you're in a crowded marketplace like most of us, then I'm sure you're aware this and you're experiencing this...building a stand out, revenue generating brand is very hard.
It's extremely difficult if you're presenting yourself publicly using the misleading or superficial definitions about what a brand is that are all over the internet. AND if you're doing that, you're probably paying the consequences.
Some of the consequences being....
You're not being seen.
Look if you're not clear and consistent on what your brand is it's going to be hard to put yourself out there. And if you are putting yourself out their, you're putting yourself out there in a half effort way. And if you are putting yourself out there in this half effort way, well what happens? The second sequence...
You're being easily ignored.
People don't want to buy from a brand when they're confused, they don't want to buy from a brand if they're not 100% believing it's aligned with them or it's better for them. Right? And if you're easily ignored. What's even worse, because of that you're probably not going to be trusted over time. If you consistently put out a brand that's clear, but lacks confidence you're not going to be trusted.
You're not getting paid.
You're not landing customers, you're sales volume is volatile, you are not getting paid at the rates that you want. Why is that? People who are less than ideal clients are buying from you. The reason they're paying you less is because you're accepting that price and because they talked you down. They talked you down because they don't value the way ideal clients would.
My point of this is...it's not just a few people who are having this problem, I hear this from entrepreneurs, experts and executives and others I speak to on a daily basis.
If you’re having these issues, you’re not going to build enough momentum the achieve the reach, recognition & revenue growth you really want. You're not growing the way you really want.
I know you get it...Let's stop struggling with this and get to a clear definition you can use to confidently to start being recognized, to start standing out, to start getting and landing great clients and building that brand that you truly want. All WITHOUT the confusion and doubt.
Let's talk about the definition of brand. This is my definition of brand, kind of broken down and very streamlined and focused. And don't worry I'll dive into it because brand is so vast and dynamic it will need a little more detail. Here it is...
A Clear Definition and Explanation of Brand
A brand is the complete, authentic expression of a person, product or business designed to create an experience.
Let me break it down. As you can see it's very clean, very clear, but I'm sure you're going to need some explaining so here's what I mean.
Part 1 "the complete"
Complete is the first piece I'd like to breakdown. Complete meaning every touchpoint, every point of contact, every place you interact with the public or your brand is experienced by the public those points of contact matter. The reason they matter is because they create some type of influence. What we want is that they influence people in a good way. However, if were not clear on what our brand is or we're not managing that touchpoint very well then it's probably going to be a negative influence or a bad influence.
And this is true both internally and externally. A lot of times we think brand is just and external message or expression, but it is internal just as much. It helps us create and streamline systems and processes, it helps us with hiring, recruiting, and training you name it. It's not just an external influence, it's internal as well. So very important.
Brand is the complete...meaning every “touchpoint” is important.
Part 2 "authentic expression"
Next is the "authentic expression" piece. What is authentic expression? Means that you are communicating what you truly want to communicate. Usually meaning it's your thoughts, your feelings, beliefs, your expertise, the benefits, the features and all the things you want your audience to know about your products, services, etc. Why is that important? It's what's going to help people identify your brand in a unique and positive way. The other importance behind that is influence. Right? That communication piece is going to create influence.
Their are 4 dimensions of influence that we think about when talking about brand; physical, experiential, psychological, and cultural/social. We want to make sure genuinely communicating the thing that we really truly want people know, feel and understand about us.
Part 3 "designed"
11:20 Designed
What does designed mean...design means that it is strategically organized, planned, aligned, streamlined & cooperating, around a single focused idea. This focused idea usually answers the question who are we as an organization or who are you as a personal brand or who are we as this product? If it's not that, it's the ONE thing that CLEARLY comes to mind when consumers thinks, needs or wants whatever the outcome is that your brand provides. And obviously we have more than one outcome we can create, but we want to get very specific on the one overarching problem. The clearer the association the better. So the designed piece is very important. Designed...Very key word.
Part 4 "to create an experience"
Create an experience is this...the whole key in the grand scheme of things in brand is to create an experience. What I mean by experience is...it is appealing to the consumer. It is appealing either rationally or emotionally or both. And there are different levels of appeal that we're trying to work on. And this is really aligned with the typical buyers journey of a brand or your customer.
Level 1 Appeal
What I mean by that is that the initial level. It is appealing in a way that is influencing consumer behavior. It is helping the consumer naturally self select if they’re “in” or “out”, if they like or don't like, if they need or don't need. It's like the first layer of brand is like a hard filter for the audience. The people who are in are the people who are more closely aligned to our ideal client. And the people who are not are the people less likely to be aligned.
Level 2 Appeal
The second level is building trust. What I mean by building trust is you are connecting with the consumer in a different, better, or deeper way. Than they've experienced previously. And that's why they're choosing you over somebody else. Because they see value in that connection; you've built that trust and therefore they're feeling this is a company I want to buy from or this is a brand I want to experience. That's level 2 of appeal.
Level 3 Appeal
Level 3 of appeal is that you're getting them results in some form or fashion. And when they're getting results, that could be learning, that could be some sort of mindset shift, that could be a recognition that there is a solution for their problem. But when they're getting results then you're going to get more results.
Results for you means you're going to get more leads, you're going to get more conversions, you're going to get more sales, you're going to get more lifetime value hopefully. Long story short, meaning that you're improving the bottomline in acquiring the awesome, aligned customers that you even want to deal with. And even before that, you're getting an awesome, aligned audience, that then becomes the customers that then become the brand advocates. That's what creating an experience is.
The definition one last time...A brand is the complete authentic expression of a person, place or business, designed to create an experience.
Need to get clear on your brand?
As clear and powerful as that definition is and as clear and is as powerful as that is in defining what a brand is, the most important thing you need to understand is that knowing what a brand is- is only entrance into the game. Once you get clear on, "Oh, that's what a brand is." then you have to go develop that brand, then you have to go design that brand, then you have to go launch that brand. Maybe even test it before you launch it. Then you have to go start building it, and growing it, and scaling it. That is the first step and entrance into the game.
What we do is, we have a program. What we like to say is it's brand building simplified. It's called The Noble NonConformity Code. If you're a consultant, coach, speaker, and trainer then the Noble NonConformity Code is our proven framework that helps you simply scale a brand without sacrificing profits or wasting 3-5 years trying to piece it all together or trying to figure it all out.
If you want to get crystal clear on the 20% that's going to produce you 80% of your revenue, clients, and impact. I recommend go check that out...
Lastly, if you want ot know more about anything or if you want to learn in general about brand, go check out and join the noble nonconformity community. I'd love to see you on the inside, love to answer any questions that you have. You can like and share, I'd totally appreciate it and until next time, this is Noble NonConformity TV, I'm Brandon Sobotka...I'm out!
