Next month’s issue of the Harvard Business Review features a great case study on branding.  It’s about a motorcycle brand called Hunsk and it’s struggle to maintain a coherent brand image.  I find it interesting that this is the second brand-related HBR case study in a row, but I am even more interested in the increasingly furious discussion I hear about branding.  People are finally catching on to its importance, as reflected by this case study and the four analytical pieces following it.

I encourage everyone to buy March’s issue of the HBR and read this wonderful article.  We can discuss its specifics after that.

I do, however, want to talk about brand authenticity – the idea of not just agreeing with your brand but living your brand.  When I talk to people about brand training, they ask if I’m trying to make them eat their own b.s.  The reality of branding, and the main point of the HBR case, is that you need to be your own b.s.

Here’s a great example.  Walk into any tattoo parlor and try to find an artist without a tattoo.  You won’t.  No one would give a parlor a second chance if it’s artists weren’t also customers.  It’s part of the culture and brand that tattoo parlors represent as a whole.  Imagine instead you walk into a tattoo parlor and are greeted by a clean-cut man in a business suit.  How willing would you be to sit in his chair?

This is a really basic example, but it runs far deeper than outside appearance.  Take some time to read the HBR article I mention above – they explain authenticity in a way I could never dream of bettering.