My dear boy,
I write to you to share with you an insight I got while preparing for a lecture at KCMP. I am currently designing a few growth schemes, chief among which is the CSR-Scheme. You will come to full knowledge about it in due time. Nonetheless, to ensure the success of the scheme, we’re currently reviewing the curriculum for the boys.
Taking priority is personal branding, as this is one of my first lectures. I hope that in time, these letters will not only guide you but provide you a better explanation for how our family is run.
While I practised delivering my lecture in my study as is my custom (remember that a man ought to always practice in private and perform only in public), I heard myself say “culture is what we do, whereas branding is how others perceive what we do.” Invariably, culture and branding are two sides of a coin. We must, nonetheless, ask ourselves how true this is. Because in the bid to be clear, many a teacher oversimplifies, thereby ignoring the nuance surrounding the said idea.
Hence, we can agree that culture as internal behavior is true, in that culture is often seen as the set of values, behaviors, and practices that shape how an organisation or group operates internally. It’s lived by members, often unconsciously. We see this in the food we eat, how we eat it; what we wear and the language spoken. Michael Mogill in “Culture Is How Things Get Done” emphasized that “Culture is how you bring it all together…. What value set do we all share? What standards do we all align upon?” Shep Hyken in “Culture Is The Who And How We Work; Strategy Is What We Do” corroborates the foregoing thus, “For a culture to be successful, leadership must live it and be the role model for others to emulate.”
Branding, on the other hand, we can agree, is the external perception of what we do. It is therefore, especially in modern marketing, largely about how an external audience perceives the total of your communications, actions, visuals, and experiences. Kristopher Jones points to this in “The Importance Of Branding in Business”. He says “With the right branding, you have the chance to get some control over how people perceive your business.” Frontify.com highlights that “Brand perception is how people – whether they’re your customers or not – view your brand. It’s the opinion they have about your quality, your integrity, and your value system.”
Furthermore, in his masterpiece, This Is Marketing, Seth Godin says, “Branding and price are two of the tools you can use to align your story with your audience’s self-perception.”
But if branding is how people perceive our actions and inactions, why bother with it at all? After all, people will say whatever they want. If you had this question in mind, my boy, you would not be wrong to ask. I think that Kristopher has answered that in part.
Look, culture drives branding but perception (branding) is shaped not only by what we do but also by how effectively we communicate what we do. I am tempted to say that branding gurus simply labor to effectively tell the world what you do but I won’t fall for that.
See, assuming a direct 1:1 relationship between what we do (culture) and how we’re perceived (branding) is not always true. Thus, this creates a loophole in my assertion. Let’s see why.
Appearance can be very deceiving. You can brand yourself as something you’re not yet. That’s the problem with fake it till you make it. Most LinkedIn users do this excellently well. Yes, I have a grudge. It follows that branding can be misleading or aspirational.
Moreover, perception is shaped not only by actions but also by storytelling. It means that what you do only becomes meaningful to others when it’s understood, contextualized, and communicated. In other words, branding is not just a passive reflection of culture; it’s also shaped by narrative. For example, brands now trust your father to come up with strategies for growth and expansion because of his successful “Start Stupid” narrative.
Now, culture is sometimes influenced by branding. I will provide more details on this in a subsequent letter. But in the meantime, I need you to understand that branding can have a retroactive influence on internal culture, especially in public-facing companies or movements. You find that people begin to live up to the brand.
In a nutshell, culture (what we do) is driven by internal values or norms, controlled by the organization or team, is harder to fake, and generally has a deep and lasting long-term impact. On the other hand, branding (how we’re perceived) is driven by external storytelling, design, and feedback; controlled by the public, customers, and or media; is easier to fake, and the long-term impact can be volatile or superficial.
Having considered the complex interplay between internal reality and external perception, we can agree that an explanation that can suffice is that culture is the lived reality of what we do and believe internally; branding is the perception of that reality by others- shaped not only by our actions but by the stories we tell (or fail to tell) about those actions. Note that both elements are interconnected, with culture influencing branding and vice versa.
I look forward to all that you will build, my dear boy.
Love,
Dad.
