Birth of a Brand

Where do brands come from? They come from inside and the good ones remain authentic. Branding is Non-fIction, ok it isn't always true, but the ones you remember and believe in are real. They have stories that have to be true because no one could make them up. Take Teton Gravity Research (TGR for you skiers). Here were a couple of brothers from Cape Cod that worked on commercial fishing boats in Alaska, saved up their money, moved to Jackson Hole, WY and started filming their friends skiing. Now 15 plus years later, they are on top of the outdoor industry with more traffic to their website then many other outdoor brands. They got there by living the brand. They hiked the mountains, they skied the cliffs and sacrificed other things in their life to do it. When they tell you about great places to ski, you should listen because they have skied a lot of places. When they recommend a jacket, listen, they probably wore that jacket for two weeks of outdoor camping last season and they know it works. When you look at your brand, are you passionate, are you the target demo or are you just faking it. If your passion isn't real, if you don't live the brand, people will know. Take the time to sit down and understand who uses your brand and why. Are they your age, are they younger, are they older. What do they say about you on Twitter? Do they tell their friends about you or not? Brands come from inside of all of us. What is your brand and how are you going to live it?