Bob Gager

Just over a year ago, I took my first step through BIG’s door. I knew in an instant that I was in the right place. The owner and founder greeted me while sipping from a Star Wars mug and led me to an office he shares with the life-size stormtrooper costume his son made for him. In fact, Star Wars action figures and desktop wallpapers were scattered throughout the office. Like Luke Skywalker, I felt like I could take on the whole Empire.

As a Star Wars fan, I’m here to tell you that Brand is like the Force. Don’t believe me? That is why you fail. You must unlearn what you have learned. Let your training begin.

You may feel like your business is sunk in the swamp of Dagobah, unable to raise it from the murky depths of stale strategy. Or you may be a new leader of a rebellion faced with inheriting a legacy that got your ship stuck in the first place. You need only look to Yoda’s sage wisdom for the way up.

Yoda: “For my ally is the Force (Brand), and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us…You must feel the Force (Brand) around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere…”

When you feel like your business could be headed for trouble or isn’t reaching its full potential, search your feelings. You may be sensing a tremor in the Brand. Like the Force, the Brand is a deep sense of connectedness and understanding between your employees, customers, verbal and visual identities, business strategy and competitive landscape. Brand is more than the sum of its parts, yet it is fed by each of the parts working in harmony. When Brand flows through everything you do, only then do you truly connect. A complete brand is the unseen Force that surrounds your tribe and binds them to your company’s purpose. Let Brand be your ally.

Yoda: “But beware of the Dark Side…Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight.”

By Dark Side, we mean agencies that would sell you a logo, tagline or website and call it Brand, leading you to believe it will solve the strategic business challenges you face. For us, brand strategy is business strategy. To the untrained eye, underlying business strategy issues can appear deceptively simple, in need of a little sprucing up—and there’s no shortage of agencies ready to pass their solutions off as Brand. Beware of those selling these component pieces as Brand, for they are “quicker, easier, more seductive.” Devoid of research, strategy and proper discovery, they are poor substitutes for the true power of Brand. They become simple mind tricks rather than a penetrating, all-pervasive presence guiding your most strategic decisions and enveloping your target audience.

Just like Luke learned the ways of the Force from Yoda, we can show you the ways of the Brand. Our strategic, data-driven approach reveals the authentic attributes and voice of your brand. Through a highly collaborative process, we guide you to a complete brand built around your existing business vision and goals.

Our “hi-res branding” method tracks how your customers experience your brand, how they move through their decision-making journey—even what they’re hearing from your competition. With this knowledge, we develop strategic, verbal and visual identities that will move your customers to know, “This is the brand we’re looking for.”

Discovering and developing attunement with the Brand takes training. Seek out Jedi Masters who will complete your training in the ways of the Brand.

May the Brand be with you. Always.