#WinterABC Day 10, Representing Brands

Over the years representing brands has been about reputable people standing in a positive light for major companies or businesses which increase their sales in the long run.

In my teen years I had my minutes of fame and I thought maybe I could represent these brands. The first one was when I got to take part in a survey for a radio station called XFM. We were categorized according to age and I was the youngest in the room. I saw that as my selling point and assumed I’d automatically make the cut only because people my age were into hip radio stations but to my dismay.

The second minute of fame was after I took part in an essay writing competition with The Straight Talk Foundation. They were looking for representatives in high school and as you can tell, I took part in that too. I thought it was a long shot until I received a branded envelope from The Straight Talk offices. Receiving branded envelopes was such a big deal in school. They made you look important.

Unfortunately I didn’t make the cut and I was utterly disappointed. Before I gave up, I applied for another opportunity to represent a newspaper column that was new at the time. This one hurt the most because I didn’t even get a “we regret to inform you” letter or email.

Looking back, it feels like I was desperate to be somebody. I hated all these companies for not giving me a chance. I wanted to be the face of something and I was denied the opportunity every time I tried.

Writing about today’s topic made me realize branding is about an emotional connection. Yes, I wanted to represent said companies but my sight was not on the bigger picture at the time. I was looking at it from the perspective of fame and all the nice things that come with it.

Why emotional connection? If you love something you’ll go out of your way to do the very best just to deliver outstanding results. Like I mentioned earlier, that was not really my motive.

The brands I appreciate are Pearls For Her, Afrobloggers, 4040 (40 days over smiles) and The Endo Hub.

These brands are well represented and me being part of their community one way or the other is representation enough for me. They’ve rather inspired me to build my own brand which only I can best represent.

What we experience is our own concept of things. That is why no two people see quite the same world, and why, in many cases, different people see such different worlds. To put it another way, we make our own world by the way in which we think; for we really do live in a world of our own thoughts.

Emmet Fox

In conclusion I admire so many brands and yes once in a while I’ll dream of what it would be like representing them. On the other hand, I’m interested in building a personal brand as everyone has two eyes but no one has the same view.