You don’t really create brands. You just kinda uncover them.
“In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.” ~ Michelangelo Buonarroti, well-known artist
As marketing folk, we like to tell clients, prospects, friends and family that we create brands. After all, we’re creative people – we like to dream things up and bring them to life.
Naturally, the creative process is a zesty one which gratifies something deep within us, so that’s a big reason we do what we do.
We digress. The point is — while we absolutely love creating and identify ourselves strongly as creative people and are worried Someone will outlaw what we do and make us actually work for a living — when we help a client brand themselves, really what we’re doing is helping them discover the brand within.
The branding process is very similar to the journey of self-discovery in psychotherapy — you have to look inward without flinching, you have to be brutally honest with yourselves, it’ll be painful sometimes, but at the end of the branding journey, you’ll have a much more complete and focused idea of who you are, thus leading to a more prosperous, contented organization. And there are tissues, just in case.
So maybe we’re not the Michelangelos of Branding. Perhaps we’re really branding therapists.
“Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar.”
~ Sigmund Freud, well-known shrink
We’re sorry, but our time is up.
Who knows why people in history did good things? For all we know Jesus was trying to get the loaves and fishes account.
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| — | Roger Sterling, Mad Men |
Why Engine?
Basically – whether you call it branding, messaging, community or whatever the fancy term du jour is hot right now – we believe a great brand is the heart of every successful business.
From corporate culture to operations to marketing, a brand that’s focused and true should drive everything an organization does and how it does it. With all these dizzying changes in the digital and social landscape, we’ve found that more than ever, good branding is absolutely essential to good business for our clients.
Plus, it’s a cool name.
Strategic Connections, a communication and power infrastructure company based in Raleigh, has tapped Rella:Cowan to develop marketing materials for the company’s sales team. Rella:Cowan is a brand development agency celebrating its 10-year anniversary.
Rella:Cowan will be developing marketing pieces that showcase Strategic Connections’ complete capabilities, which include structured cabling, audio visual systems, large venue sound and lighting, commercial security systems, fire alarm, paging, electrical and telephone systems. The different divisions of Strategic Connections each have their own signature projects over the company’s 14-year history, ranging from a new sound system for Church on the Move in Tulsa, Okla. to structured cabling for the PNC Plaza high-rise in downtown Raleigh.
