Brand Cosmology: How to visualise your brand

Visualise your brand as a star. 

There are numerous benefits to visualising your brand as a star. Firstly, it makes it feel tangible and permanent. Brand isn’t something you can switch on and off when it suits, because it is being perceived somewhere by someone all the time, even if that means it’s being perceived, subconsciously, by you or your staff.

Secondly, it de-personalises your brand. What I mean is, it makes your brand everyone’s responsibility, both in good moments and bad. Everyone is accountable and creditable.

A big and common problem in business cultures is the blame-mindset; one group pointing fingers at another group or individual and handing on a problem like a really lousy game of Pass-the-Parcel. We do this because it means we don’t need to assess our own behaviours. We can kid ourselves that if it wasn’t for that person or group of people, mistakes like those wouldn’t happen.

Exists, a problem does. Within us all, the answer lies. Hm?

Put the problem in front of you

Picture the scene towards the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, where they’re all stood around a projection of the Death Star and the ‘Forest Moon Endor’, hearing the briefing from Admiral Ackbar. When you’ve got an issue, I want you to notionally put your brand in the middle, and get everyone gathered around it. Only when a problem lies in front of us, and not within, can everyone see it clearly, objectively, and as solvable. Or in Yoda parlance: “Exists, a problem does. Within us all, the answer lies. Hm?”

Your brand is a singular entity that all of your team can gather around. This is really important because in a team of 50 people you don’t want 50 different interpretations of what your brand is, you just want the right one.

Check-in on that brand every day – does it still inspire you? Is it burning bright with energy, or has it lost its lustre a bit lately? And if it has, what can you do about it?