We talk a lot about how the world needs brands as they are at Resound. Meaning - a company should be itself - have its own unique and true identity - and not try to be something it is not.

This comes from our fundamental belief that - just as individual human beings are intrinsically remarkable - so are the organizations that human beings come together and create. And if you want to find out more about this belief and how we see it play out in branding and marketing, you’ll definitely want to grab a copy of our upcoming book, You Are Remarkable: How To Unlock Your Authentic Brand To Attract Loyal Customers.

This is all really important because if you’re not working to understand your organization’s unique identity - get to its real essence - you can quickly find yourself branding the wrong way. This can lead to many unintended issues that will hamper your marketing and communications and ultimately your organization’s growth.

https://youtu.be/HzGmXcK208g
Accidental Branding
We like to call this lack of depth in finding an organization’s identity “Accidental Branding.”

Accidental branding happens when you base your brand on something currently useful or interesting, instead of doing the hard work to deeply understand your company’s unique identity. It might reflect some aspects of the company here and now but it doesn’t really get to the heart - or essence - of the brand and will certainly not stand the test of time.

Accidental branding can happen for a variety of reasons - and some of them may even seem excusable. Maybe there’s a rush to get it done to meet some arbitrary deadline, or because those involved in the process have little stake in the outcome, or maybe because no one wants to think super deeply about the organization’s ultimate purpose. No matter the reason, accidental branding will leave your brand without depth or a lasting purpose.
What happens when a company goes for the “quick and easy” solution to branding?
There are four things they’ll mistake for their true identity:

Goals
Competition
Management Structure
History

Now don’t get me wrong: these things are important to your brand as you craft your brand story. But it is a big mistake to confuse any of these by themselves as the essence of your brand. Why? Because these things are all temporary: they will all change (and quickly!) This will create tension between the new state of the company and your branding. And that means you’re back to rebranding...again. Which leads to confusion with customers, staff, and vendors, and a weakening of your brand’s value.
Two Common Accidental Branding Pitfalls:
Goals
When someone is asked to introduce themselves in front of a group of people, they usually describe themselves based on their current stage of life. They might share where they went to school. They may also share where they currently work, their current role and where they live, whether they have kids (and how many, and what ages), and maybe a few things that they like to do for fun. Introducing themselves in this way allows other people to draw conclusions about their current motives, desires, and goals. We can take an educated guess about how somebody will respond when we know their current situation.
Your current stage of business isn't who you are.
You know your true motivations, what really drives you, how difficult it is to summarize yourself in a few words. And you also know how your current life circumstances don’t really capture the whole of who you are. Maybe you even resent it a little bit when marketers try to sell to you based on your demographics. Just because you make a lot of money doesn’t mean you like luxury watches. Just because you gave birth to a child doesn’t mean you want “mom” products. You know who you really are.
The same is true of businesses.
When you are introducing your business to a potential client or vendor, you may try to communicate the basics of where you are currently.

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