This is about Branding, at least on the surface.
Making strategies for clients has always given me imposter syndrome. Here I am, telling business owners how to build a brand — when in reality, all I’m saying is: be the hero among the masses.
Contrary to what management theories suggest, I believe jargons only complicate things. Everything in life, including business, is binary — zeros and ones.
Long before the rise of business schools and the internet, people did business. Some for profit, some for survival. Some had great stories. Some had great marketing. But very few had character. And branding? That happened by consequence, not by plan.
The real differentiator? Who they were when things didn’t go their way.
So, to me, branding isn’t something you do. It’s who you are.
But telling clients they don’t need to do anything extraordinary to build a brand is like asking them to ignore everything they’ve studied religiously. Schools and universities preach that branding is a skill — a rare talent few can master.
If you actually look at history and read between the lines, you’ll find branding is just the result of not getting swayed. It’s about holding your ground while everyone else chases trends. It’s about character.
Businesses throw money at agencies hoping to be made into a premium brand. And agencies? They roll up their sleeves and get to work — telling businesses how to think, speak, act. Like surgeons on a branding gurney.
But here’s the thing — most of these agencies, and the clients they work with, rely on textbook theories. Theories built on case studies. And case studies, while helpful, are just snapshots. They’re stories from a different time, a different world.
Is it possible that the inference itself is flawed? And if so, doesn’t the theory that’s built on it also fall apart?
And more importantly — if everyone is learning the same things and applying the same logic, wouldn’t every business start to look the same?
Then where’s the brand?
We rely too much on knowledge — as if it’s going to rescue us. But knowledge is just insight from a past event. And like Aslan says in The Chronicles of Narnia: “Things never happen the same way twice.”
If that sounds too fictional for your taste, try this:
“You cannot step into the same river twice,” wrote Heraclitus. “What might have been is an abstraction,” said T.S. Eliot.
So if you’re hoping to mimic Steve Jobs, ask yourself: can that make you him?
Even if AI lets you simulate “What would Jobs do?”, it’s still just a simulation. The moment you try to mimic a legend, you stop being a brand and start being a follower.
Branding is not imitation. The core of any brand is authenticity.
I don’t think you become a brand. You either are, or you’re not. Time only decides when the world catches on.
There’s no secret sauce. No amount of CSR, rags-to-riches stories, or public vulnerability will make the world believe in something that’s not real.
Look at Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg. None of them are trying to become Steve Jobs. They’re just doing their thing. But here we are, studying them like gospel.
The hard truth is — you become a brand when you live your own truth. When you go through the grind, own your journey, take the hits, and don’t bend for approval.
We hold onto knowledge like it’s gospel because we’re afraid of not knowing. Uncertainty terrifies us. And so we reach for something — anything — to hold on to. And that’s why “knowledge is power” sells.
But knowledge is like bread. It has a shelf life.
So if you’re in business — care. Genuinely care about the people you serve. Serve them well, no matter the cost.
If you do that, branding will happen. You won’t need to chase it. The world will notice. Eventually.