Branding is Creating a sense of belonging

We have a natural need as human beings to “belong” somewhere.

From the time we are born, we feel the need to connect with people that “get us”, and we do certain things to attract these people to our lives (subconsciously or consciously).

We shape our whole identity as belonging to certain groups or “tribes”

The “jocks”, the “nerds”, the “Oh, I’m a Porsche guy”, or a “city gyal”

Our need for belonging is one of the reasons why we have been able to survive as a species through the beginning of time.

Hunters belonged to the group responsible for “hunting” and bringing food to the village. 

Farmers  belonged to the “farmers group” with their specific set of qualities, areas of expertise, and personality traits. 

Philosophers also belonged to their own group (Socrates, Aristotle, Marcus Aurelious, etc). When we think of a philosopher, we instantly associate them with different character traits, skillset, and personality than the farmer and the hunters. 

• Perhaps we associate classic philosophers with someone that is often in isolation, deep in thought, meditating. This person is often very still. Whereas the hunter (for example) is associated with someone that is athletic, in constant movement, competitive and and craving adventures with other hunters.

Same goes with inventors and scientists (the likes of Einstein, Niklas Tesla and Oppenheimer)

The list goes on all the way down to our own friends, relatives, and people that we know. 

The truth is, we are always signalling to each other what kind of groups we belong to. 

I initially went to university to pursue a business degree, and the “business people” were the kind of people I identified with at the time. I started reading the typical business books (the “Rich Dad Poor Dad” type), benched watched founders interviews on Youtube and subscribed to Newsletters like “The morning brew”. I had my first taste at pursuing entrepreneurship as a career during this stage of my life. 

To be fair, the only reason why I pursued a business degree in the first place was because I wanted to be an entrepreneur. It turns out they were only teaching me how to become an employee of an entrepreneur. 

So I lost interest with pursuing business as a degree, I no longer wanted to associate myself or belong to the “business types”. 

After a solid year and a half of degeneracy and denial I dropped out and went the opposite spectrum. I went to art school to pursue design, associating myself to the “cool artsy kids”, the rebels and free thinkers of the world

Fast forward to now, I love merging business with art and design. This s why I dedicate myself to creating brands, in my head It’s the perfect blend to satisfy both the entrepreneur and the artist in me. 

So, you can say I belong to the creative community as well as the business community. I dibble and dabble between the 2 and that’s where I “belong”. I also love fitness and football. So I’d say I belong to a quite a few communities

My point is, from big corporations to a 10 year old kid, us humans find the most success, happiness and fulfillment when we feel like we “belong” somewhere. Whether it is our job, our group of friends, romantic relationships, etc. 

This also applies to the things we buy. 

The clothes we wear, the home we live in, the car we drive.. Whether we admit it or not, we own the things we own because they say something about us, and connect us to a “certain group of people”. These are signals we send to each other on a constant basis. 

Look at your wild raver friend and see who they hang out with, what they spend their money on, and the kind of things they buy. Chances are there are plenty of things they spend their money on to signal to others they are ravers. 

On the other hand, look at your serial entrepreneur friend and see who they associate themselves with, what do they spend their money on? 

You will notice that these people often belong to different tribes, with different characteristics, set of values, and needs. 

Businesses that understand this idea of “the need for belonging” become the Nikes and Apples of the world. These companies understand that just “selling” their products through marketing and Advertising spam is not enough. Listing their product features and bragging about how their new tech is “so much better” is not enough. 

These companies understand they have to build their brands around an idea and a solid message that connects with people and represent  a set of  beliefs, values, and create this feeling of “I belong here” to their audience. 

That’s the catch. 

“Apple people” are really proud to announce to the world they rep Apple through and through and that they belong to that tribe. 

Steve Jobs and company made it very clear to us who Apple  products are for, creating this sense of belonging. If I want to challenge the status quo, if I care about premium aesthetics and want to be seen as the innovative type, I will go with Apple.

 If you want to really offend an “Apple guy” just tell them your Samsung Galaxy is better, you will never hear the end of that convo.

And vise versa, the weirdos that prefer the Galaxy phone over the iPhone also rave about it. 

You already know which tribe I rep, shots fired (respectfully)

Jokes aside, the feeling of “belonging” is a powerful human need. Big corporations know this, and small business owners become leaders of their industry only once they know this principle. 

So, you may say, ok Jesus I understand but this sounds too “woo woo” for me,  how do I apply this in a practical way for my brand and/or my business?

To that I say, you have to be cohesive with the signals you are sending to attract your audience

• You have to be cohesive with your message, what you believe in, and how you present yourself, your product, or your service to your target audience

The same way it’s really hard to attract a high class date wearing raggedy clothes, you can’t expect to attract a premium audience by looking cheap, it just doesn’t work.

Another concrete example: If you are a fitness brand, you can’t attract your ideal customer if you are overweight and eating junk for breakfast, lunch and dinner,  you’d be sending the wrong signals. 

You have to look the part in order to attract the right people to your world

With that said, developing a cohesive and appropriate visual identity is exactly how you attract more of your ideal audience, and create more of the results you are looking for with your brand.

This is specially true if you are trying to build a brand that withstands the test of time, creates a legacy, and an empire like Nike, Apple, and Ralph Lauren have done (just to name a few.

How do you determine if your visual identity needs work?

Simple, it comes down to answering these 3 questions with a solid Yes or a No:

1. Are you attracting more and more of the kind of customers you would like to attract?

2. Can anyone easily differentiate you from your competitors and feel like you “get them”? 

3. Are the signals you are sending out to your audience cohesive to the kind of message you need to deliver across all customer touch points? 

Think of your social media content, marketing efforts, website, packaging, ad campaigns, logos, etc. 

If your answer is a solid yes to every single one of the above questions, then congrats, your visual identity is solid and your brand should be growing at a healthy pace. Carry on with what you are doing. 

However, if your answer is a solid NO, or a “Meh, I have no Idea”, then your brand needs some work. 

It all begins with this:

1. Establishing a solid message: “this is who we are and this is what we stand for”

2. Catering to one specific group of people (your audience). Who are they and how can you serve them?

3. Build your brand around the traits that connect your message with your audience (create a sense of belonging by sending the right signals)

There’s the big picture, I appreciate y’all and I hope this helps.

More to come.

Cheers.