Smoke, Mirrors, and Meaning: Why Branding Isn’t About You
When it comes to branding and marketing, sometimes Don knows best…
Let me tell you something most people in business don't want to hear:
Your brand?
It’s not about you.
It never was.
People walk around thinking if they just show up authentically enough—if they’re honest, loud, clever, or sincere—the world will reward them with attention and loyalty. But branding doesn’t work that way. This isn’t a confessional booth. This is a stage. And if you want applause, you better know your audience.
The Lie That Tells the Truth
Branding is illusion. It’s carefully constructed meaning. It’s not a logo, or a tagline, or a slightly warmer version of Helvetica. It’s the emotional echo that lingers after someone brushes past your business for the first time.
You’re not selling a product. You’re not even selling a service. You’re selling a story someone wants to believe about themselves.
You’re the mirror. They’re looking for themselves in it.
The smartest brands don’t shout who they are—they whisper who you could be if you said yes.
Want Loyalty? Give Them a Reason to Feel Something
You want innovation? Try this: stop talking.
Listen.
Listen to the story your customers are already telling themselves. Tap into their desire, their pain, their ambition. Understand the feeling they want to feel when they hand over their credit card. And then—only then—build your brand to match it.
Here’s what that looks like in the real world:
A tech brand doesn’t sell apps—it sells control in a chaotic world.
A skincare company doesn’t sell serums—it sells hope in a jar.
A boutique gym doesn’t sell workouts—it sells a shot at redemption, one rep at a time.
It’s never the thing. It’s what the thing represents.
Make Them Feel Seen, or Be Forgotten
You think people remember ads because of clever copy? They remember how it made them feel in the half-second before they could explain why.
They don’t want a brand that begs for attention. They want a brand that gives them identity. Meaning. A feeling they’ve been chasing since they were kids.
You want a cutting-edge brand? Build it like a good novel. Not just a promise, but a place. A world where they get to be the hero—or better yet, the person they secretly hope to be when no one’s watching.
What Comes Next
Forget disruption. Forget “content.” Forget trying to go viral.
Do you know what people really want?
To be understood. To feel something.
And if your brand can give them that, they’ll follow you anywhere.
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Because branding isn’t just business. It’s seduction. And most of you are still asking for a handshake when you should be making them fall in love.
