Brand

Brand. It’s one of those words that has a lot of baggage and generally means different things to different people. For me, branding is about perception and rank, even. 

Let’s use shoes as an example. For my generation, (damn I sound old) Nike was the pinnacle brand. You were cool if you wore Nikes. Adidas were acceptable, and Reeboks were sort of dorky. Even typing this, it’s sort of remarkable that a 10-year-old in a small town in South Mississippi thought about this. 

Branding is everywhere. Branding is in everything. It’s why we perceive certain schools in our area as better than others, certain streets as nicer than one street, and certain restaurants as superior.

Most artists and bands start thinking about their brand around year three of their careers. You slowly start saying no to the offers to play your cousin’s birthday party. Then, you begin to realize that you’re playing your hometown too often. When you do this, you are consciously or unconsciously thinking about your brand. 

Now, before you start canceling all of your gigs over the next month, just wait a second. The call to action isn’t to cancel every gig that is “beneath you.” Ha! Not at all. You do not want to care about the brand so much that you care yourself out of business.

Here’s the call to action. First, simply be aware that your brand is a thing, that you are the brand. You can’t manage what you aren’t aware of. 

Second, take care of the brand. Let’s go back to the “cousin’s birthday party gig.” Honestly, those were some of the best events I played growing up! Don’t cancel them. Just don’t post about them. Don’t add them to your upcoming events calendar. Let the pictures that you post, the public image that you portray, be big, exciting, and the things that elevate your brand in the minds of your fans.

I know this sounds bad. I get it, I really do. But I’ve been on the other side of this. I've had some bigger artists work with me and not post about it because, while I was delivering, I was, for all intents and purposes, a lesser brand. I’m not mad about it. It’s just part of it. It may mean you have to un-tag yourself from a few pictures your mom posted right when you finished playing before the cake came out. 

Lastly, remember that branding is about the people you associate with. The reason Nike pays LeBron millions of dollars is so people associate his brand with their brand. The best way to grow your brand’s clout is by associating with bigger and better brands. When you play a dive bar, that can sometimes hurt your brand (don’t get me wrong—playing dive bars can be a blast). When you record at a certain place, that can either elevate or deteriorate your brand. When you open for a big act, that can elevate your brand. 

A word of caution here: Don’t be a turd. Being aware and actively building your brand does not mean that you make others feel less or write people off when you’re bigger than them.

Think about your brand. Take care of your brand. It’s the biggest intangible that contributes to your success.