THE PIVOT & THE BIG PICTURE

Ah, the Pivot.  As a young entrepreneur, this completely escaped me.  Through the ages of 24-28, I had a thriving fruit-juice sweetened cookie business, and had acquired national distribution. The margarine that was in my cookies, however, was suddenly considered not healthy.  Nor was butter considered healthy, so I was at loss as to how to fix the problem.  At that time, it never occurred to me that I could invent my own butter that was healthy.  That would have been a great pivot.  What other types of pivots could I have made?  I could have invented a new product and kept my following.  But in those day, I didn’t understand the difference between a product and a brand, which brings me to my next point.

BRAND VS. PRODUCT

You’ve created a fabulous product and can’t wait to share it with the world.  Everything is going great, but then, you invent a second product, or maybe even a third.  Or, like we discussed above, your first product ran into a wall, and you need to pivot and switch it for a new and improved version, or an entirely different product.  Where did you go wrong?  First, you didn’t go wrong at all, because it is all a learning process, but, you could have saved yourself a lot of time if you thought of a bigger picture before putting out your first product. 

YOUR BRAND

Your brand is not your product.  Repeat, your brand is not your product...or products.  Your brand is the umbrella from which all your products fall under.  Your brand is your shining light that leads the way and is always there.  Your brand is what people think of when they think of your products.  For example:  Take Nabisco.  When you buy a box of Oreos, for example, the word “Nabisco” pops into your head, because Nabisco is the brand.  You even hear that little jingle in your head…Na..bis..co! J  Oreos are the product.

WHICH WAY TO BRAND?

There are no rules when it comes to branding, so never try to copy what someone else has done.  Forge your own path.  Nabisco and the Oreo cookie are one way to brand – A strong brand name that is on every box, but also a strong product name.  Or, a different way can be shown via the Newman’s Own brand.  Their products all have generic names, but their moniker on all their products is Newman’s Own, because that is their brand.  For example, “Newman’s Own Salad Dressing”, or “Newman’s Own Lemonade”.  Another example of this would the Trader Joes products.  They are all under the brand name of Trader Joes, but the names of the products themselves are basic names.

BRAND LOGO

How does the logo come into play?  A logo helps define your brand, set your brand apart from the others, and can evoke a feeling through a design.  It also can complete your brand name and make it more memorable.  If your brand gets so huge, like Starbucks, the name isn’t even necessary, because as soon as one sees their logo, one knows that is Starbucks. 

CREATING A BRAND VS. BEING A BRAND

Some people get annoyed with all the branding jargon and instead insist a brand exists only after it becomes well known.  Others feel just the opposite, that a brand needs to be well thought out and established from the get go.  I tend to agree with both, because it is true, you need to be smart in setting up your business name and logo and you need to know what your company culture is, and really, what is the soul of your company and how does it affect other people and the world.  That may sound simple, but it is not, and for me, has taken five years just to figure all that out.    On the other hand, if your brand never takes off, then really, there is no brand. 

WHEN A BRAND BECOMES A WORD IN THE DICTIONARY

Xerox.  That pretty much sums it up.  If your brand ends up as a word in the Webster dictionary, you know for sure you’ve made it big time.  Xerox has become such a huge company brand name that now it is a real word in the dictionary.  Ex.’s:  Can you “xerox” this for me?  Or do you have a “Xerox” machine.  Verb, noun, it’s common language. 

COMPANY CULTURE, THE SOUL ESSENCE OF YOUR BRAND

When you are trying to figure out a great name for your company, how do you begin and how do you end?  The first thing you need to think about is what is the culture of your company, what are your core beliefs and what is your company mainly about?  Ultimately what we are talking about here is: what is the soul essence of your brand?  When people think of your brand, how do you want them to feel.  How do you want to feel?  What are your values, and what are you willing to stand up for?  How much does it all mean to you?  These are the important questions.

When I was trying to come up with a name for my brand, it almost did me in.  I went into a rabbit hole for what seemed three months.  I had to go so deep into all of it, that I can see why the charge for branding help is what it is.  But, I was very determined.  I researched and read books on branding.  One great book I read was: “Brand New Name”, by Jeremy Miller.  That book was very helpful. In that book, Mr. Miller says, “-choosing a brand name is one of the most important business decisions you’ll make”, and I believe it.

After you have established your brand name, what is your next step?  To learn more, stay tuned for part three of How to Start a Plant-based Food Business.