Has Your Brand Picked a Lane Yet?

September 29, 2010 6:34 PM

A brand without focus is destined to be forgotten.

Try to make everybody happy, and you lose.
Try to make everybody like you, and you lose.
Try to make everybody want you, and you lose.

Success, therefore, is a process of elimination.

It’s learning what your brand can live without.

MY SUGGESTION: Stop your driving your brand all over the interstate.

You’ll either get pulled over, cause an accident or piss off the other drivers. Plus, it’ll take forever to get to your destination. And if you’ve got three screaming kids in backseat, you’ll want to get there as soon as possible.INSTEAD: Remember what you learned on day one of geometry class.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

This is a mathematical truth.

AND SO: If the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, doesn’t it make sense – that when you’re cruising down the branding expressway – to just pick a lane and stay there?

Well, if you want your brand to arrive first it does.

THE CHALLENGE IS: How do you know which lane to pick?

That’s easy. Just fire up the only true GPS in the world – your heart. And consider asking yourself, your company and your brand these questions to figure out which lane to pick:

1. Will this choice add to my life force or rob me of my energy?

2. Does this choice add wood to my internal fire or sprinkle water on it?

3. Will this choice propel me toward an inspiring future or will it keep me stuck in the past?

4. Will this choice bring me long-term fulfillment or will it bring me short-term gratification?

5. If I make this choice, what will I be saying no to?

FINAL CAVEAT: While picking a lane leads to branding freedom, staying in that lane forever leads to branding failure.

Look. People change lanes all the time. And there’s nothing wrong with that. The secret is to stay in your lane for as long as your brand can handle it. Then, when the time comes, move into another one.

Who knows? Maybe for you, it’s time to flip on your turn signal.

Or, perhaps it’s time to set the cruise control to eighty, crank up some Van Halen and drive your brand into the sunset.

Just pick a lane.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Is your brand focused or forgotten?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “25 Questions to Uncover Your Best,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.
Always about approachability.