The Brand Prism: 6 Strategies for Brand Resonance

Branding looks easy.

A nice logo. A catchy slogan. Complementing colors. Layer all theses on top of your offer and you have a brand, right?

This is far from the truth and the reason my most people struggle to design a great brand. We’ve all seen branding that just doesn’t feel quite right. Companies (and people) have tried to rebrand, but continuously fail to get it right. Some part of it can just feel off.

Branding is often look at as a nice to have. Yet, it’s far more important than what most people think.

The way a brand resonates with others determines the perception of what you’re producing. Put another way, the person that sweeps the floor is just as important as the chef for a restaurant — it doesn’t matter how good the food is if there’s ants at your feet.

Producing something without a great brand will almost always cause it to self-destruct given a long enough time scale.

Think of a brand like a prism refracting light to create a rainbow. Each of the colors in the spectrum are aspects that people resonate with.

The anatomy of resonant branding

1) Lack Of Contradiction

A brand has to be true to itself.

A brand cannot be true to itself if it copies what other brands are doing or gives into what it is “supposed” to be.

Everything stems from the brand.

A brand is a promise. I just feel like everything that I put out into the world has to be a promise, we have to have promises with ourselves. It’s really the foundation that keeps us going. It really made me think about life in a bigger way.

- Warren Buffet

If the language or image presented in various places opposes each other people will quickly notice. You have to be unified on what you are promising to the world through your brand.

2) Make Your Brand Feel Whole

There’s nothing missing.

Everything feels complete.

A great brand that resonate feels whole.

Look at some of the largest creators across social media (MrBeast, Iman Gadzhi, Sahil Bloom, Dan Koe, Nelk). Does it feel like there is anything missing? What do they not capture with their branding that represents the product they produce?

3) There’s A Sense That It’s Alive

A brand is three-dimensional. It should feel living. Even if it’s not a personal brand personify it. Great brands do.

M&M’s characters

There’s a clear distinction between things that are alive and something that is lifeless. People just value them differently — a computer can be easily replaced; a dog cannot.

Your brand should breathe life into your products. Look at car brands. Some people personify their cars — the brand has lead to a sense of aliveness throughout the product.

A well-made brand is alive.

We know this to be true, yet it’s not as easily systemized like other functions of business. Each piece must carefully and intentionally be thought out.

4) A Great Brand Creates Comfort

People find comfort in great brands. During times of struggle people will always gravitate to them.

A brand creates comfort because there’s no disturbance to the people that buy into it.

Kellogg, Family Dollar, Nickelodeon toys, and hundreds of other great brands saw a spike in their demand during the pandemic. Why?

People wanted to seek out stability through the brands that provided them comfort.

When you’re getting ready to watch a movie you may grab a blanket, stretch out, and readjust pillows to get comfortable. Brands that take the time and pay attention to the little details with this in mind resonate with consumers on this same level.

5) It’s Definite

There’s very little space for misunderstand or misuse — assumptions are removed.

With it lacking contradiction, it’s clear what the brand stand for. It’s defined without a need to explicitly state it.

The content add more value.

The results add more value.

The copy add more value.

Everything you do on top of what you’ve definite through your brand adds value to it.

6) Eternal

As more time passes more people get exposed to the brand you have built. Build it to become eternal.

If it’s carefully designed the idea a brand stands for transcends the founding team.

Some of the best built brands have been around for centuries.

Based on the Lindy Effect, they will continue to live on for many more.