Brand Therapy for the Soul
With a nod to the great motivational speaker and authors, Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup for the Soul), I offer up a serving of brand therapy for the marketing lover's soul today! We start with an amuse bouche -- a question immediately followed by an amendment to it.What would you start tomorrow if you knew you couldn't fail? If you've read my posts, you know I love this question as it gets to the heart of everything. Do you love what you do? If not, why are you doing it? Could you make a change so you are doing what you love? What are the steps that need to happen?
Let's talk about "failure"
But failure is an emotionally charged word. So, because this is a time of reinvention for me, I am reinventing that question, taking failure out of the equation.The amended question is now "What would I start tomorrow knowing it will be successful?" Am I willing to do anything to make it happen. Am I fearless?To be honest, sometimes I am. Sometimes less so. Truly, the answer falls into the category of what I can do now with what I have available to me (and yes, that means looking at reality i.e. money and time). To come true, we need to chase dreams in the cold light of day!The dream I chase is my personal passion for bringing people together, creative collaborations that add that tingle of excitement to every day. That help us all achieve what we want, and do so together. With that goal, I held the first Brand Therapy workshop last month. From the moment a friend and I coined that phrase, it took me only a couple months to create a workshop. Everything about it came easily so I knew it had to be right. And now I am beginning to plan the next one for late September.
I would love to have you at the next Brand Therapy workshops in September, Los Angeles. Make sure you "Sign up for more Fuel" at the top right hand corner of this page so I can send you information on that!!
Takeaways from Brand Therapy Workshop
Here is a look back at the workshop held at Warner Bros. A huge thanks to Natalie Hagee and the team at Warner Bros. Special Events for making this a flawless day. Thanks to the Warner Bros. Fine Dining Room to a delicious lunch, to Sarah Z at XO Bloom for the vibrant flowers, to Wanda Wen from Soolip for the journals and to Town and Country Event Rentals for the chairs and base plates -- those little details that completed the room.
Issue: We are now in the "attention economy." Our assets are eyeballs -- how many people see us, and more important, understand and engage with our message. Because of this, the biggest conversation around the table at the workshop was about social media. It's so important, and so difficult, to get the message right when you only have a moment to capture someone's attention. Plus, everyone is dancing to keep up with social media's shifting beat.Brand Therapy: At the workshop we talked about how to find the right combination of consistency, authenticity, humility and promotion. The most important thing we can all do is be clear on who we are and what we are selling. I know that sometimes you are producing an event, or in the middle of a big project and your social media posts document that. We are all our own editors. But in between those times, offer help, empathy, and insights into what you do. Open the door so you invite in those people who want to work with you and will bring creativity and passion to what you create together.
Issue: Constant reinvention. It sounds exhausting. It sounds like it might take you off message. It sounds like a good thing if done right! Rebranding is a byproduct of growth, a blessing and a curse. But in many cases it leaves us with too many divisions as we add new services. Do we really need to name each division? Think carefully of what all those competing facets could mean in the big picture. But if we don't name and market them separately, how do we communicate all that we can do to our clients, our team and ourselves?Brand Therapy: The remedy lies in constantly taking a hard look at every aspect of our business and finding ways to see it anew. What can we do better? What can we do differently? What new skills do we need to learn? What can we lose? How fast can we get rid of it or change it so we keep up with how our clients get their information, what they want, when they want it? To me, this is the biggest issue for every business and I'm working on a series of workshops around each phase and aspect of reinvention. More coming on this in the fall!Issue: Authenticity. This goes back to the first issue and getting positive attention and engagement. Infusing our brands with our personal passions is the key here.Brand Therapy: Our discussion moved to passion and how to keep it alive. We all begin our businesses with passion but as years go by, that initial passion can be tampered by the day-to-day necessities of running a business. Or, perhaps we lost our way following another thread of business that doesn't feed our purpose and that can feel uncomfortable, and unnatural. The key is to find a way to keep that passion alive. One way we discussed is to let our voices return to the surface. There are so many ways passion can authentically bubble up and out through our marketing and branding efforts. Weaving in charitable work, mentoring, creative collaborations and pop-up projects being a few ideas. When we talk about then, write about and share them, they can help us find the ideal clients, and, just as important, find purpose and contentment in our lives.
Stay tuned for more on September's Brand Therapy workshop in Los Angeles and a series of Passion Workshops coming soon!
