The first stage in the evolution of brands. Our use of logos to represent companies, organizations, or individuals is based on a long history that originates with the very beginning of written communication. The moment we used a drawing, an image, a symbol to represent something else, we’ve been essentially branding things. From cave paintings to hieroglyphics, to the first logo representing a company, we’ve been using graphic representations to give meaning to ideas.

I discuss how I first fell in love with the concept of branding, at a rather young age, and through my appreciation for cars. Auto branding taught me hierarchy, positioning, and many more things.

In order for a brand to be strong, it must remain relevant or find a way to be culturally relevant in the moment.

After decades of struggling to fully understand consumers, they now hold the key to complete enlightenment: customer data. Armed with smartphones, tablets and laptops, many consumers relinquish their personal data so that brands can provide them with unique, personalized experiences. Many brands have already figured out the digital customer experience.

“Our audience is everyone.” If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that sentence after asking a marketer or executive, I’d be a very rich man. Instead, in order for a brand to be successful, it must focus its efforts on defining its ideal audiences, even if it ultimately wants to appeal to a broad set of potential customers. I use Apple as an example of this.

When branding is done well, it differentiates your organization in a way that targets the right audiences and drives the right customers to your brand.

When branding is done well, it differentiates your organization in a way that targets the right audiences and drives the right customers to your brand.

A good brand allows potential customers, employees, and other audiences to understand what they should expect before they make a purchase. When done well, this combination of messaging and visuals helps create a better customer experience by setting the right expectations from the start.

Successful brands can create their own intrinsic value to an organization. In this episode we discuss how the value created by a brand creates many internal and external opportunities beyond marketing benefits.

While it may seem obvious, setting your brand apart from the competition is often easier said than done. Successful brands think beyond purely aesthetic or surface differentiation and find ways to meaningfully occupy an idea in their consumer's minds.

Gone are the days of "set it and forget it" with your brand. Instead, you need to embrace a continually evolving landscape where your customers, employees and competitors are continually in motion.

Successful brands understand that customers have unlimited choices, and a two-way relationship keeps you top of mind with consumers. This is not far-fetched or unrealistic when brands approach it by solving real challenges that their clients have, and positioning themselves in a way to solve those challenges better than their competitors.

As Jeff Bezos famously said, "your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room." While much effort is spent on logos, brand guidelines, and messaging structures, if your brand doesn't resonate with your audiences, they will write their own version for you.

How do you create a vocabulary that people inside and outside your organization will want to adopt and use to talk about you? If you create it well, it will be something that employees are able to easily use, and something that is meaningful to your customers.