- November 19, 2017
- Posted by: Enrichment Catalyst
- Category: Career Enablers
“I didn’t know I was a brand, I only knew McDonald’s was a brand.” This is not the thought of one child in some corner of the world but it is a global “self-fulfilling prophecy” that has been indirectly injected into the minds right from the childhood. And it all starts with the comparison. When parents start comparing their children with someone else, we start thinking that we should always try to be like someone else and forget that we exist to be and become original. When the originality is shaken, the uniqueness is shaken and we are no more “us”.
A brand is not “just a name”. It is a “name remembered for its features”. So, when you are called by your name every time, think what it represents. This doesn’t mean the literal representation of your name but the deeper and inner meaning with no lingual interpretation. There might not be an appropriate reason for why you have been named your “name”. But you can give a new meaning for your “name”, a new vocabulary with your actions and features.
The McDonald brothers would never have been named because they had established a famous chicken restaurant chain when born. But now, when it comes to chicken restaurant chains, one of the most popular brand is McDonald. They have given a new meaning to that name with their achievements which has made the “name”, a “brand”. Likewise, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg were just names when they were named. The literal meaning would have been “work” for “Jobs” and “scores” for “Mark”. But, their brands have changed the meaning to “Apple” for “Jobs” and “Facebook” for “Mark”. Of course, Apple was just a fruit before Jobs branded it to a company.
A brand is not registered on a paper in a day. It is something which becomes invincible and unique through the course of time and with lot of changes and challenges that cater to the development and diligence. The name of the nearest supermarket is not a brand unless it is “Walmart’s”. And “Walmart’s” is not a brand unless it has been stable, consistent and customer-centric and successful for years from its establishment. This is what is disturbed at the first shoot before its development. Even when you have plenty of time from your childhood till your time into the real world from the gates of college and school, the reason you are not able to brand yourself is because you have not been told and made to believe that you are a unique person and if you prove it you will be a brand.
When something is not identified and believed, there is no reason to hold on to it and work on it. Why would anyone want to do something they don’t trust? And why would they succeed in it when there is no trust at all. A scrubber is required to swipe away the fuss and bring a clear picture. In the name of motivation, people often end up in killing the originality and the innocence and blank young minds etch the given picture. It’s time repaint the canvas and etch the picture on one’s mind and frame that and that alone on the wall of honour. So, ready to brand your “name”?