Why you need to define your brand right now
It’s a common misconception that a brand is simply a company or product’s logo. A brand is much more than that, and it’s not even entirely in your control!
It’s more accurate to think of a brand as a thing’s personality. This thing could be a company, a product or even a person or group of people. Celebrities are strong brands, which is part of why they can command such huge fees to appear on TV shows and adverts. Tiger Woods’ brand communicated hard work, success and family values. When it was revealed he hadn’t exactly adhered to the last of those values, his sponsors left him because they did not want to be associated with that message.
People often buy products for reasons more than the obvious ones (cheaper, faster, easier), and this is especially true for fashion and entertainment products. They often become repeat customers because they share some beliefs with that company’s brand and maybe want to be associated with it (even if on a subliminal level). One of Steve Jobs’ greatest achievements was to get people to think of a technology company on an emotional level, rather than just makers of computers. The ‘Think Different’ ads didn’t say, “We make better computers than the other guys”. They said, “We support the crazy minority that think they can change the world”.
You may not have even got to the alpha stages of your first game yet, but it’s worth spending a bit of time thinking about what you and your studio stands for. One of the most important things for a business to be is consistent, both in product quality, service and personality. Writing down some thoughts about who you are and what you stand for is important, and can make you stand out from the crowd.
On a more practical level, this is vital to have clear before you directly communicate with anyone about your studio and games. Having a clear notion of your brand will make it much easier to talk to your customers, social media audience, press guys and even other games makers in a clear, consistent tone of voice.
This seem like a large task, but it can be made more simple. Just imagine two people talking about your studio and games. How would you like them to finish this sentence?
“[Your studio] is awesome because they…”
Note – it doesn’t have to be based on what you are already doing. It is equally valid to dream up the perfect answer, and then set it as your goal to achieve.
Love the choice of picture. It’s a good point about brands not being entirely in your control. A brand is how other people perceive you. Sure you can influence it in how you act, but you can’t control how people think (yet) so you need to plan anything to do with your brand very carefully.