Brand Identity: “Be Like the Cool Kids”

Brand Identity: Be Like the Cool Kids

Yeah, they’re invincible, and she’s just in the background.
And she says,
“I wish that I could be like the cool kids,
‘Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids, like the cool kids.

Cool Kids by Echosmith

If you’ve listened to a pop radio station in the last year you’ve heard Cool Kids by Echosmith. The simple and repetitive lyrics express the familiar teenage feelings of not fitting in to the cool crowd.

It’s also illustrative of dynamics in the marketing world. The marketing cool kids are doing something right, and thousands of marketers are wandering around the internet trying to nail down what it is.

Brand identity. It’s how who you are affects how you do what you do. Got it?

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Tips for a Simple Business Plan

simple business plan feature

In most things, we like to follow Henry David Thoreau’s advice to simplify, simplify, simplify. His advice is perfect for creating a simple business plan.

We like simple.  You don’t have to have your MBA to write a compelling yet simple business plan. You need a vision, and you might need to do a little market research. But if you are starting or running a business, you likely already do these things. Get it down on paper, and your whole company will benefit.

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How to Build a Brand & Why It Matters

how to build a brand concept

The first step in learning how to build a brand is to acknowledge that a true brand is more than a logo, more than a name. A brand is a dynamic, breathing thing that evolves and grows. It lives, it connects, it touches, it evokes, and it produces. Figuring out how to build a brand means putting the magical uniqueness of your business out there in a connectable way.

The concept of what a brand truly is is often misunderstood. In his book The Brand Gap, Marty Newmeier affirms that a brand is actually “a person’s gut feeling about a product or organization.” So, how do you ignite a “gut feeling?” Decide what you want consumers to feel about you, think about you, and associate with you and your business. Products have life cycles. A live brand, though, extends beyond products or service to continue the conversation (and conversions) for your business.

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