Identify Yourself

The single most important thing in campaigning, even more important than getting snazzy t-shirts printed, is that people understand immediately what your campaign is all about. It’s not the icing on the cake; it's the bread and butter (pudding). Here's some expert advice on coming across loud and clear.

Dan Ayers

Dan Ayers from Sony BMG’s marketing team has some wise words on identity:

'The best thing someone can think about your campaign is that it's good enough to be worth talking about to their friends.'

And here some articles he recommends on this:

Robbie Laughton

Our mentor Robbie Laughton from Dave, a brand consultancy company, gave us these colourful tips to explain what it means to build a strong identity, something he knows an awful lot about:

All great brands have 3 things in common
Who, What and How?

Michelle Acton-Bond

Here are online consultant Michelle Acton Bond’s pointers :

  • Your identity is a signature of uniqueness. Find your identity and stick to it!
  • Your identity owns a space in people's minds. Understand what you want them to think of when they think of you. Think about Hoover, Post-it notes, Sellotape, Google.
  • Think about what your campaign values are - this will help you define yourself.
  • The human brain is not a tape recorder - it ensures that we process received stimuli and attach emotions to them. What’s the emotion you want them to feel when they think about your campaign? Confidence, fun, hope... 
  • Never under-value emotion!
  • Stand for something or fall for everything!

Brainstorming is a method of generating ideas which can be useful for any aspect of your campaign, be it coming up with slogans, logos, or amazing notions for attention-grabbing stunts.

Here's Robbie Laughton again on how to have a really electric one:

  • The right brains Invite people who represent your target audience. And people who know about campaigning, advertising and media.
  • The right process No longer than two hours. A ten-minute introduction, explaining what you want to achieve. A five-minute conclusion, discussing how you might use the ideas.
  • The right ideas Pick the ones that fit your campaign best