Who is in control of your brand?

Started by channel101.com this 5 minute episode TV series is hilarious, well acted, directed & written, I wish I’d discovered it sooner. Good work Channel101!

Who are Channel 101?

The Unavoidable Future of Entertainment

Channel 101 is a monthly screening of 5-minute TV shows. It is a living, autonomous, un-televised TV network, that has been running since 2003. Here, you’ll find exclusive content including behind-the-scenes footage, outtakes, and original 101-based features. For good measure, we’ll put the Prime Time shows up here too.

BRAND(ing) is often a word used when it shouldn’t be for all kinds of reasons.

It gets me miffed when people say ‘we need to refresh our brand, so lets change our logo, or flyer or website’ when the brand is so much more than that.

And so Mark Earls has put out the challenge for people to go through Jan without using the ‘b-word’.

Sure it’s useful and sure it makes you feel (and seem to others) like a proper marketing bod, doesn’t it? Not least because everyone else likes to use it because…well,…everyone else likes to use it because etc etc etc.

But the word itself is a sloppy metaphor for a whole bunch of stuff (much of which isn’t entirely true) with the power to distract you from precise thinking, expression and action, (why ‘build the brand’ when you could be doing something really amazing with the service/product etc…?) so let it go…

In this instance, Wikipedia has pulled through with the goods on its definition of brand

A brand is a collection of symbols, experiences and associations connected with a product, a service, a person or any other artefact or entity.

Brands have become increasingly important components of culture and the economy, now being described as “cultural accessories and personal philosophies”.

I’ve made my pledge to not use the ‘b-word’ and now its your turn, jump over to his blog and put your name down!

Mark has released some tips to make it even easier:

1.take a deep breath whenever you feel the need to b****: count to 5 and only then speak/write
2. substitute another bword – ideally something silly like BNARD (silly encourages you to avoid)
or, of course you could try…

3. Saying more precisely what you mean…

UPDATE (12/01/2009)

Halfway though the test. So I’ve been travelling pretty well, only a couple of mentions, one in a post, BIG STUFF UP! And a couple of times in conversation, but each time I’ve corrected myself, sometimes its easy sometimes its hard. I’ve gone to write it in comments, but then changed it to things like organisation, logo, message, perception etc.

Mark Earls is avoiding it like this.

Fun times, see how we go for the next half of the month.