What does self-belief have to do with product branding?

Recently, I read an interesting article posted by my friend Zeta Yarwood, entitled « Does not feeling happy make you miserable? » In this article, she makes the point that each one of us defines happiness in life from our own perspective. This was a great inspiration and it led me to write about self-belief in product branding. By self-belief, I mean knowing what is right for you rather that simply following trends and fads.

Since working in the field of branding for exceptional products for over 15 years, I must say that I feel really blessed to have met so many exceptional people in this line of work. But when it comes to the branding of their products (which is the result of their work and creativity), something curious happens.

During the first working sessions with my clients, I’m often asked to create an appearance for their products that has similarities to the mass marketed brands, as if they were the model to follow. This happens quite often while working with wine-growers, for example, but it is not limited to this family of products.

My objective is to empower brands and to develop sustainability of businesses, and consequently to make a positive difference in the world. I always find solutions to creating the right visual expression of the products I work with, so that each one of them can have its own story. However, I find that this phenomenon is very interesting and worth discussing to try to find the root cause of this situation. When trying to understand why this occurs so often, in my opinion and based on my observations, I would say that product branding is very much connected to self-belief.

We are totally surrounded by media, especially social media. Moreover, we are aggressively shown a shortcut to the way that we should be happy and successful, and being happy and successful comes down to being rich, being followed in the media and having many « friends », so many, in fact, that you can’t even remember their names…  When self-belief is low and/or self-awareness is left out of the picture, I believe that the power of this message can easily lead to a misunderstanding, and this invites people to passively follow a social/business model packaged as if it is the only one to be right, instead of creating one’s own vision of success and happiness.

Firstly, the media makes you believe that if you are not IN the media you are OUT of the game. That can easily drive you to a wrong assumption, which is that if you are « famous » and « visible », you are valuable….the less visible you are, the less valuable you are….

Secondly, you are invited to « follow » instead of THINKING independently and bringing your personal uniqueness to the business (and to the world). Wearing Elvis’s haircut, however, won’t make you a great singer. Yet, you do not need to be Elvis to be an amazing singer.

Additionally, the world has become crazy about numbers, and this is now the only valuable factor in developing business. So, what about quality (of the product or service), sustainability of development,  creativity, and satisfaction..?

And what if there is another way of being successful? What if being successful is more about staying connected to your values, discovering who you really are, and enjoying the journey of making a positive difference in the world?

To summarize, I believe that, especially in these times, working on having high self-esteem and self-belief, whether you have been in business for years or you are just starting up your business, is still so important. You need to know who you are and what defines your life and  therefore your business values, independently of social media pressure.

My advice to you would be the following:

1. Discover who you really are and let yourself be you. Don’t let others or trends define who you are.
2. Accept your differences. Be aware of what makes you and your product unique, be proud of this difference, and work it. Remember that renewed brands have been born from a new perspective of seeing things and this has led to innovative ideas.
3. Make your brand your own. Fashion and trends change. Despite the trends and the « ins » of the moment, define the values that reflect your brand and choose those  elements of communication and branding which make you feel good. This will help you make choices that you feel comfortable with.Do you know that the French monk Dom Perigean, despite the trends of his time (that is only mentioning the village where the wine was produced) was, in fact, the first one who started attaching his personal labels mentioning his name and the terroir to his wine?
4. You are the one who defines your own vision of success. Don’t let others define what success should mean for you.
5. Find your angel(s). Surround yourself with professionals who can listen and understand your product and your needs, and who consequently will be able to help you in finding the most suitable way to express your brand. It’s like creating a happy couple; try to find the right person(s), so that the partnership can work.
6. Measure your strengths wisely. Growth in quantity of sales is not the ultimate measure of success of a business. When it comes to products, I always suggest selling quality rather then mere quantity.
7. Enjoy true client relationships. Instead of building numbers in your data base, you can develop a genuine relationship with your clients, which means that while your business is of a moderate size, you can still put a name to your client’s face (something that huge corporations can only dream of doing).
8. Be joyful! Enjoy what you are doing and be passionate about it, and then success and money will follow.

In the end, I would like to share with you this quote by Anthony de Mello that I like very much : “When you get rid of your fear of failure, your tensions about succeeding… you can be yourself. Relaxed. You’ll no longer be driving with your brakes on.” 

I invite you to share your opinions and participate actively in the discussion. Please leave your thoughts and comments below.

If you would like to find out more about branding exceptional products I invite you to email me at ewelina@ewelina-sage.com