Make Your Mark

You may have already used this expression to describe someone. If not, take a few minutes to think of someone who, in your opinion, has made a mark in their field or on the world around them.

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Why did that name come to mind? Because of the quality of his work? His determination? His generosity? His eclectic personality? It doesn’t matter. They’re all good answers.

What’s interesting is what you probably didn’t mention: his writing style, the consistency of his social media posts, his personality type—in short, the details.

Strangely enough, when we say “leave your mark,” we picture the word “mark” in a certain way. That’s what makes us remember someone and want to talk about them—their uniqueness. But when we talk about “building a brand” for a company, an organization, or even a personal brand, we start obsessing over an endless list of details that often miss the point. We see the word “brand” as a set of rules to follow.

The same thing can trigger two opposing reactions.

A brand is the sum of our actions. It’s our work. Our day-to-day behaviour. Our reputation. The way we answer the phone. How we respond to a dissatisfied customer or an employee in trouble. It’s what we’re willing to pay for and what we refuse to give. It’s the conventional wisdom of our industry that we choose to reject.

It’s what we do that makes it worth talking about—for better or for worse.

« Successful brands are built by people talking about you. Not you talking about you. » – Seth Godin

You can’t force a brand onto anyone’s mind. You can send signals. Give clues. Suggest. Repeat. But ultimately, you don’t decide anything. The final result lies in the audience’s mind. So a brand isn’t a document. Nor is it a system. It’s an opinion.

And that’s where it all comes down to. While we don’t have the final say, our only real leverage to influence public opinion is the way we get people talking. We can’t control what people take away from it. But we can control what we offer them to take away.

Don’t start with the details

I’ve always loved this image. If you start by filling a jar with golf balls, there’s still room for marbles. And once you’ve added the marbles, there’s still room for sand. Then for water. But if you start with water, there’s no room left for anything else.

The moral of the story: You can get so caught up in the details that you lose sight of the big picture. And that’s exactly what many people do when they “build” a brand. They start with the water.

So instead of starting with typographic hierarchy, start by identifying what might spark conversation.

What do we say or do that might pique the curiosity of ordinary people? Not within our team. Out on the street. With strangers. Sometimes it’s our product. The way we communicate. Our company culture. Our prices. You might be naturally interesting. Or you might have to create interest from scratch. It doesn’t matter. If you’re introducing the company to a random passerby, that’s what makes them sit up and take notice. That’s what leaves a lasting impression.

The rest as support

Take Tony’s Chocolonely. Their mission: to eliminate slavery in the chocolate industry. That, of course, is interesting. But it’s a complex issue. An issue that calls for a striking metaphor—a simplified version. That’s why their chocolate bar isn’t divided into equal squares like all the others. Their pieces are lopsided and uneven. Why? To represent the inequality in the cocoa supply chain.

At the heart of it all, they have something that gets people talking. And then, a powerful symbol to back it up. After that, the colours, the tone, and the name—that’s the system that surrounds it. A system that serves the central idea. It latches onto what’s getting people talking to make the idea impossible to ignore. Without the mission, it would just be a strange chocolate bar. But conversely, without the packaging, the mission probably would never have made its way into your hands.

That’s exactly what our work is all about. Building an identity that highlights what deserves attention. And no, this work isn’t just a minor detail. Far from it. But let’s not think, either, that attention to detail alone will be enough to create a brand that stands out from the crowd. The supporting actor deserves an Oscar just like the others. But the movie is never really about him.

Go back to the person you thought of at the beginning—the one who left their mark. You didn’t choose them for their colour palette. You chose them for something interesting they did or said.

So let’s start by figuring out what really gets people talking when you’re not in the room.

After that, we’ll add some water.