flux branding

5 Steps to Brand Brilliance

When your brand identity is authentic, it shines bright.

Brilliance is fascinating.
Brilliance is breathtaking.
Brilliance is charming.

From Prada to Bentley, people like bright, shiny things. They attract us like spinning lures. Like the facets of a diamond. The sparkle of a smile. Brilliance draws us in, holds our attention and makes everything else secondary.

Unlike beauty, brilliance is not an accident of birth. It is not the random intersection of dumb luck and timing. In business, being brilliant is the product of truth, transparency and clearing out the clutter that separates your brand from your audience.

 

Effective branding doesn’t create brilliance, it reveals it. Trying to be brilliant is an exercise into itself.

Choosing to explore who you really are is a decision that every brand has to make in order to climb to the top of the mountain and leave competitors down at base camp. Whether you would describe your brand as the “Mercedes Benz” of software or the “Rolex” of apartment buildings, make sure it’s authentic to you.

Here are the things you need to consider to make sure your brand is truly brilliant and not just fool’s gold:

  1. Make brilliance your priority. Consensus, especially at top company levels, is crucial. Sometimes brilliance is just a decision or two away. Getting everyone on the same page with an agreed upon goal and direction makes all the difference.
  2. Know your funds. Polishing your brand so customers can see the light takes resources. Brilliance doesn’t happen in your spare time. Carve out a realistic amount of time and funds. The ROI when you pursue brilliance will be a point of light on your balance sheet.
  3. Chart a course. There are a lot of good ideas and good people out there. Find one you like, from someone with a track record in brilliance and a methodology you can count on. Look for brilliance in their strategic approach, and make sure the chemistry feels right.
  4. Never quit. Brand brilliance can mean instituting new programs, implementing new ideas and adopting new attitudes. People will try to knock you off course with negativity and fear. Brilliance can cause temporary blindness. Understand, acknowledge and move forward.
  5. Get excited. There are nothing like the aha! moments that happen during a branding workshop. When everyone is excited about what’s happening, the process works better, moves faster and is a lot more fun. Open up. Get excited. Brilliance is on the way.

 

How do you craft a brilliant brand? 

  • Start by taking time to mine for the gems that make you unique. They might seem insignificant to you at first — like a pebble. But inside those uncut stones there’s opportunity. That’s why having an expert at your side is so important— they’ll have the ability to recognize what’s most valuable.
  • Next, mark the facets to maximize your assets. It’s critical to clearly define the strategy that must be executed to reveal a brilliant brand. That’s the roadmap to success.
  • Use master craftsmen to do the work. Your raw materials are precious, and it’s wise to only trust a specialist to make the right cuts for your brand. Details are important in revealing brilliance, and even small flaws can reduce your brand’s lustre.
  • Finally, the talents of an artist will determine the best setting to showcase the splendor of your brand’s brilliance, making everything market-ready.

Great sculptors consider each work of art a unique effort because each piece of stone has its own character. They simply free the sculpture from the rock that surrounds it. Branding follows the same mentality— brands are revealed from the unnecessary material that surround them.

Is your brand brilliant? The answer is yes, but it might be hiding underneath layers of sediment that are covering its beauty. Find your brilliance, and your beauty will shine brightly.