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It seems like Church Juice isn’t alone in having branding on the mind recently. I thought we’d wrap up our week long branding conversation with some thoughts from a couple other smart communications people.

Seth Godin, one of the best known marketing folks in the U.S., had this to say:

"Here’s my definition: A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer.

A brand used to be something else. It used to be a logo or a design or a wrapper. Today, that’s a shadow of the brand, something that might mark the brand’s existence. But just as it takes more than a hat to be a cowboy, it takes more than a designer prattling on about texture to make a brand. If you’ve never heard of it, if you wouldn’t choose it, if you don’t recommend it, then there is no brand, at least not for you."

Kem Meyer is a smart church communications person who highlighted "Brands Are People Too" by Joy Panos Stauber on her blog this week. Here’s a small snippet from her post.

"Given the right tools, a brand is like a person with good communication and adaptation skills. A brand is not a veneer you apply to make a business (product, service or idea) appealing to it’s intended audience. Instead, a brand begins to exist when a business has something to offer to the world (values, services or products).

 

Brands are made by people with a shared philosophy. A brand’s personality is shaped by the team of people (the brand’s 'handlers') who get to choose its look, behavior, style, etc. As they shepherd the brand’s development, people act as the brand’s heart, head, eyes, hands, ears and voice."