Branding for better and for worse

It’s been a long time since we had a proper conversation about marketing, AI, or my early morning thoughts.

Talking about thoughts, here’s a new one! It’s crazy how the place you live in impacts your creativity and productivity. I’m not talking about the house, but something bigger, the city, the neighborhood…

Here’s my personal experience: I moved to Dubai for 4 months, and I had zero inspiration to write. I tried 2 or 3 times, but I couldn’t. At the same time, I had a hell of a drive for business and work.

When you see a yacht every 10 seconds from your balcony, of course the first thing you think about is making money. And the thing is, I’m not even a big fan of this lifestyle, I prefer to stay on the ground. If I were an animal, for sure I wouldn’t be an aquatic one.

By the way, it would be interesting if we, sapiens, had different types, some of us living in the ocean, others in the air, and the rest on land.

The first question that comes to my mind is: would the humans living in the ocean still need to take showers?

Some haters will say it’s better for me to go back to Dubai… I see you coming.

You know, one of the questions that fascinates me, and I never get a proper answer to it, is what people think about me.

What is the message, the ideas, and the feelings they get when they interact with me, or even just see me, in real life or on social media?

And I believe I’m not the only one who asks these questions.

The beauty of the world lies in uncertainty and questioning.

I know I’m going too philosophical, but you’ll get my point.

But first, let me ask you a few questions:

What’s more important to you, what people think about you, or what you think about yourself?

Take 45 seconds to really think about it; we’re not in a rush.

Here’s another one: what’s more important to you, what your circles and people around you think about you, or what you think about yourself?

What’s your priority?

Last one: do you prefer that people think about you the same way you think about yourself? Or do you want them to have a different perception?

Hold on, it’s not a personality test, I’m just trying to make this an interactive blog post. I don’t even know if it makes sense.

Let me tell you first that there’s no correct answer to these questions. But I assume there’s a higher chance that you prioritize what you think about yourself rather than what people think about you. Which makes sense.

However, I’d argue that in some situations, people’s thoughts matter more.

Let me correct what I said before: on a personal level, there’s no correct answer.

But when we talk about a product, a service, or a brand… What's more important? What do you say about it, or what the market says about it?

Of course, the market. Unless you’re planning to sell your products to yourself.

Let’s use different words to illustrate the situation:

What you say about your brand is your MARKETING, and what people (aka the market) say about your brand is your BRANDING.

Having a big ego and being self-centered may not end your life, but doing the same with your business will definitely end it.

Branding

I know the beginning was heavy, but let’s slow it down.

What’s branding?

In simple words, branding is the process of building a positive perception of your company, product, or service, and that’s what makes it recognizable.

I highlighted the word positive on purpose, because we need to understand what it really means in our case.

A positive perception doesn’t mean being loved by everyone. It means being consistent, authentic, and clear enough for people to remember you, whether they like you or not.

You can’t control how people feel about you, but you can control what you make them feel about.

Branding is not about decoration, it’s about direction. It’s the emotional GPS that guides your audience to understand who you are, what you stand for, and why they should care.

A strong brand doesn’t speak louder. It speaks clearer.

It’s the reason you choose one coffee shop over another, even if the taste is almost the same. It’s not the product, it’s the perception.

So, if marketing is what you say about yourself, branding is what people believe about you.

And the truth is, people always believe the story they tell themselves, not the one you tell them.

That’s why the goal of branding is not to be perfect… it’s to be perceived in the right way.

Leverage brand positioning

Every great brand starts with clarity.

Not clarity of visuals or slogans, but of positioning, knowing where you stand, why you stand there, and for whom.

Brand positioning is the compass of your entire communication.

It tells you what to say, what not to say, who to talk to, and who to ignore.

The stronger the positioning, the easier every marketing decision becomes.

Without it, your brand is just noise, jumping from one trend to another, hoping something sticks.

A five-year study by System1 and the IPA Effectiveness Databank analyzed 136 UK & US brands, covering over 5,000 ads and $5 billion in media spend. The results are crystal clear: brands with consistent positioning and creative foundations perform significantly better than those that don’t.

• Brands with high consistency in their creative foundations, including consistent positioning, tone of voice, and brand assets, generated up to 7x more awareness, 2.5x stronger brand image, and 5.4x higher trust compared to inconsistent brands.

• The most consistent brands created 4.8x more very large brand effects (awareness, differentiation, trust, etc.) than the least consistent ones.

• On the business side, they achieved 2.2x more very large business outcomes, such as profit gains, market share growth, and customer loyalty.

The real question isn’t “How can I build a brand?” It's “Who can build a brand?”

Anyone can design a logo, launch an ad, or build a website.

But not everyone can embody a brand.

Because a brand is not a project. It’s a reflection.

It’s a mirror of the people behind it, their discipline, their taste, their consistency, their chaos.

That’s why before you ask how to build a brand, you need to ask who is doing the building.

Are they someone who understands emotion as much as data?

Who knows when to speak and when to stay silent?

Who sees branding not as decoration, but as direction?

A brand doesn’t come to life through logos or campaigns.

It comes to life through conviction.

The people who build brands are the ones who can repeat the same idea a hundred times without making it boring.

The ones who protect the essence when everyone else wants to change it.

Final Thoughts 

We often look at legacy brands and think, “They made it because they’ve been here forever.”

But it’s actually the opposite.

They’ve been here forever because they’ve never stopped marketing themselves, adapting, evolving, and staying visible.

They didn’t just build a name once; they rebuilt it, over and over, every decade.That’s what kept them relevant.

Time doesn’t create trust, consistency does.

And that’s the difference between brands that last and brands that fade.

Old brands aren’t great because they’re old. They’re old because they’re great at marketing. - Rory Sutherland

Think about your brand like the main character of a movie or an anime, always aiming for the same objective, staying aligned with its principles, and at the same time constantly evolving, improving, and adapting to market conditions. 

Playing the game smartly, but without ever sacrificing its essence or soul.

Branding is not an option.

Because if you don’t define it, the market will do it for you.

And there’s nothing worse than people having a perception of you that’s the opposite of who you truly are, especially when you think you’re being clever.

So keep questioning, keep refining,  and keep branding.