Video Transcript: "Branding"

In this video, we'll be diving into biblical standards for branding, and wrestling  with the question of, is branding even biblical? Is that? Is branding something  that a Christian should do, whether on a corporate or on a personal level? What  is the Bible? What can what can we learn from the Bible, and specifically from  the life and ministry of Jesus, about branding, did Jesus brand himself? And  that's a good place for us to start when we're wrestling with this question of  looking on a personal level, and this idea of personal branding. Is it okay? Is it  even biblical for a Christian to brand his or herself in a certain way, to present  him or herself to the world in a certain way, where they are recognized for  something specific, where you are? You know, the idea of a brand, and branding cattle that this is what this is this this cattle belongs to this particular company.  And you know, that's the idea of branding, which doesn't, isn't a great image, but nonetheless, that's the term that we use in the in the business world that we're  kind of stuck with, but but branding is all about present, taking control of how  you are perceived in the world. And make no mistake about it, you are perceived in a certain way, and it's a question of, in what way are you being perceived, and to what degree of proactivity Are you taking in order to make sure that you are  perceived in the way that you think you're being perceived, or the way that you  want to be perceived, whether on a personal level or for your organization, your  company? So Did Jesus brand himself personally, absolutely. And there are just  four quick examples there that are just packed with theological meaning that  we're not really going to be diving into in the scope of this course, but, but the  bread of life. Jesus said that I am the bread of life. He said that I am the Way,  the Truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So if you  wanted to know, is Jesus the Son of God? Is Jesus God Himself? There is no  access to God into a relationship with God the Father, apart from God the Son,  both God, one in the same, and the Good Shepherd. Jesus said that I am the  good shepherd. My sheep hear my voice. They know no other. So he's branding himself in very specific ways. The bread of life, we know what bread, it's a  familiar. Thing about branding is that it's going to be something that is familiar to  your audience, to your prospects that you're marketing to, or you're selling to.  You have to use language that, again, goes back to what is the outcome of what people are looking for. People are looking for sustenance in their life. And Jesus  is pointing out there is a sustenance that goes beyond just the the physical, the  physical bread for today, and of course, bread, also in the Bible, represents  money, or just your your finances, in order to sustain you in your, in Your in your  life, the way, the truth and the life, there is the response to the question of, how  do we how do we know the way to to the Father? How do we know the way to  heaven? And Jesus says, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, The Good  Shepherd, the true vine. This was certainly a familiar concept. A vineyard was  very familiar to Jesus's hearers again, who, going back to his target group, blue  collar people that are, you know, they're working in the fields, people that have 

very ordinary professions. The true vine is a very familiar image for people to  understand what Jesus was all about. And ultimately, Jesus is branding himself  as if you want to have a relationship with God and discover what life is all about, then that's what I'm all about. That's what I represent. And this is what Jesus is  saying, that that he is, that he is all about and so in in your personal life, I mean,  really, we all need a personal brand, but particularly in the marketplace,  branding differentiates you from somebody else's. Offering something else. And  so it's, it's very important to be to be very clear about what it is that the unique  value proposition that you're bringing to your target audience, in order to get  them to be interested enough to buy from you or to buy into what it is that you're  offering. And with that, it's important to define what industry you're in, and  looking at the transportation industry, when the jet age, decades ago was, you  know, people were starting to travel more and more on commercial jet liners.  And they were, they were not using the railroads as much, which you know, prior to the 1960 1950s the railroad really was kind of the primary way for getting over large distances. And yes, the automobile came in to play where, you know, they  couldn't travel quite as far, but the railroad was really the workhorse for getting  people from long distance, point A to point B. And so they were really in the best  position to take advantage of the new advents in technology in transportation  technology with jet commercial, jet travel and transportation for shipping and so  on. And then, as well, the over the road trucking and in the United States in the  1950s the internet, international highway system was established, and so now it  was became much easier to move people and goods across state lines. And so  just instead of capitalizing on these new opportunities, the railroad industry  decided they would circle the wagons and just kind of just kind of hunker down  and stay focused on moving people and things over the rails. And they didn't  realize what industry they were in. And so what I'm talking about is an article by  Theodore Levitt titled marketing myopia. It's a wonderful article from the Harvard Business Review published many years ago, very popular but, but he was just  pointing out that they forgot, or they just didn't realize that people are not so  interested in again, they're not interested in what it takes to get there. They're  interested in the outcome. So we need to market. We need to price the  outcome. Market the outcome, not just the materials or the method or the how,  but the end result of what people are going to experience. Because in the  transportation industry, people just want to get from point A to point B, generally  speaking. And so they're not necessarily thinking that that has to be a railroad  that's going to get me from point A to point B. It could be a jet, it could be a truck, it could be whatever it is, or a bus, whatever it is that is going to be the most  efficient for whatever it is that I'm trying to transport. So part of defining and  taking control of your brand, you really have to start and be very clear about the  value proposition that you're bringing into the marketplace, and what industry  you're in, and what is that outcome that you are bringing to people? And Jesus 

did this in just such a beautiful way, and all of these descriptive terms are just  ways that are familiar to his and it goes back to who your target audience is.  Who your target group is? The the words that you're using need to be familiar to  that to that audience, and then take taking control of your brand also requires  that you keep your core message simple, because if your branding, if your brand promise or your message or value proposition is not simple, people just won't be able to remember it, and they won't be able to identify you and distinguish you  from other people who might be offering that service or might be offering an  alternative to that particular service. So keep your core message simple. And  going back to Jesus's mission statement, where he said, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he has sent  Me to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to. The blind to set free  those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. And so it's very clear that Jesus has come to set people free, and the people who are  free are the ones, or who need to be free, are the ones that are in bondage, the  ones who don't have it all together, or that think they have it all together. And  specifically those are the lost sheep of the house of Israel that Jesus had come  for. And certainly his vision was much broader than that. It was for all the nations of the earth, and that's why he gave the Great Commission. But he really had  this very clear, simple message that was about proclaiming liberty to people who are in bondage, people who are in hurting, who are hurting, and so you already  have a brand. It's really a matter of taking control of whatever that brand is. And  so people may try to, you know, position you in a certain and that and it really  kind of is different to to people who are in different, different situations. So if I'm  if I'm physically blind, I'm going to resonate with Jesus, with this, this core  message, more than hearing about somebody, you know, proclaiming release of the captives. But if I'm somebody that is in captivity, spiritually, if there's a if  there's just an addiction, or there's some sort of bondage in my life that I just  can't shake, then that's going to resonate with me is even more and so you  really have to consider your target group in order to take control of your brand  and define what that brand promise is, and then I would also say to be  consistent with that brand and, and so if you're going, you know it's, it's really  amazed me with my book publishing company. The name of the company is  high bridge books and and, people want to know what type of publishing  company is high bridge books. And I will often, I will quote CS Lewis saying, We  don't need more Christian books. We need more books written by Christians. So if you are a Christian who has a book that is going to be culture shaping, that  you are aimed at discipling the culture, and not necessarily just speaking to  Christians, but that you are really seeking to be a change agent for Christ, to  disciple your your industry, your the people in your conversation, whatever your  sphere of expertise, your severe your sphere of influence is, those are the types  of authors that that we're really focused on and and so you know, when I when 

people ask me more about what is high bridge books all about I've been just  amazed at how how much people resonate when I give them the picture of what the High Bridge is, because I lived in New York City in a neighborhood called  Washington Heights when I started my company a Couple years ago, and  there's the oldest bridge in New York City is it connects Manhattan to the Bronx,  and it's called the High Bridge, and it was built back in the 1800s as an aqueduct To bring water into this burgeoning city of Manhattan and and so it bring it in  from the Upstate, and it was an aqueduct, and it brings water in. And so what I  would share with people is, just as that bridge brought this life giving water to  the masses, that's what High Bridge books is, we are bringing life giving books  to the masses to make disciples for Jesus, Christ, and it just people, just, you  know, I can share features. I can share all kinds of, you know, great things that  we're doing. But when they hear that simple message about bringing life giving  books to the masses, it just begins to resonate with them in a much more  profound way than virtually anything else. I tell them when we're when we're  recruiting author great these great authors with these amazing books to come  and become part of our author community. So take control of your brand. Be  very clear about your value proposition. What differentiates you from it's really  deliberate differentiation. That's what branding is. Is this is what sets me and my  company apart from this company over here, and so be very clear and be  consistent with that branding, because people will not it's really not a brand  unless it's consistent. See in the next video.