What is “Brand”? Part One

Jennifer Apodaca at Murder She Writes is talking about the confusing world of branding, and how branding defines the writer.

When you say you’re branding yourself as an author, or a blogger, or even a real estate agent, what do you mean? What are the elements that go into brand? For instance, the brand for the Royal Canadian Police could be: “They always get their man”.

Or the brand for the meat industry could be: “Beef: it’s what’s for dinner”.

Is that all brand is, though? A slogan? I think brand is a hybrid between the name we give ourselves, and the way others see us. When they meet, that’s brand! (I think.)

Okay, I’ll be honest. I have no idea what my brand is. I keep going around and around the barn, but never seem to be able to get inside.

So I thought I’d put up some names up and see what you think of—the first thing—when you see them. These are a lot of names, words, disciplines, and events. I’m just asking you to pick out anywhere from one of them to a few that give you a strong reaction, and write a word or phrase or even paragraph that you think defines them. The first thing that comes to mind.

I’ll start:

Babe Ruth: Chubby, porcine-faced but phenomenal baseball player and home-run hitter who dominated the game in the golden, olden days.

Janet Evanovich
Stephen King
Simon Cowell
Donald Trump
Cal Ripken
Nora Roberts
Michael Connelly
Patricia Cornwell
Don Imus
America’s Cup
Love Canal
Ariana Huffington
Rush Limbaugh
Paris Hilton
TomKat
Oprah
The Super Bowl
James Patterson
Nancy Drew
The Rolling Stones
The Stanley Cup
Mary Higgins Clark
Michael Jackson
Randy Wayne White
Carl Hiaasen
Fenway Park
Jackie Collins
Earnest Hemmingway
Howard Stern
NASCAR
The Kentucky Derby
Saddam Hussein
Terry Bradshaw
Tami Hoag
Jennifer Crusie
Dan Brown
Secretariat
JFK
The Dixie Chicks