Welcome to the inaugural post of Branding Reason, a personal foray into the seemingly chaotic, but largely rationalized world of brand strategy. There is no denying brand, branding, and brand strategy have become the "it" terms in marketing for our generation. For better or worse, these terms are here to stay and will continue to seep into the vernacular and executions of marketers and consultants for years to come, further mutating and straying from their core origins as they grow. That is why it is our responsibility (where "our" possibly represents trained brand strategists everywhere, but may just stand for the royal We) to continue to educate readers about the true relationship between branding, marketing, and communications and to outline a brand's ideal role in all business decisions. Branding Reason sets out to do just that.
This site is called Branding Reason for two reasons. First, for every brand decision that is made there is always a reason. Please don't misconstrue the sentiment here. This is by no means meant to imply that every brand decision is positive or fully fleshed out - quite the contrary actually. What it does mean is whether a decision was based on in-depth audience analysis and a brand's unique position in the market or simply what the designer's favorite color is, there is always a reason to be found. Second, brands bring meaning to our lives. The choices we make and the ways we define ourselves are highly dependent on the brands we choose to identify with. Brands bring reason to our decisions. Hopefully it will make sense then that the goal of this site will be to explore these two concepts: the reasoning behind recent brand-related updates and revamps in the news (anyone want to talk about Aol.?) and the relationship between consumer-based brands and their audiences (we'll be diving into In-N-Out very soon).
Of course, the vast majority of what is published here will be personal opinions based on the knowledge and experiences of the author. Research will be done, articles will be referenced and everything will be cited naturally, but the principle content of each story will be the ideas, interpretations and analyses of the author. It goes without saying then that the research conducted will by no means be exhaustive, that details or facts may be missing or overlooked and that you the reader may have a different opinion. For this, the comment section will always be made available and a hearty discussion is always welcome, so long as it remains mature, constructive and informative for all.
So with that, please sit back, hold on tight to the overhead restraint and enjoy the ride! It may be a bit bumpy, but hopefully we'll all come out of this with a smile on our faces having enjoyed the experience.
