Kim Gaskill uses a zombie metaphor to argue that brands should be authentic and focused instead of pretending to be something they're not. Fake branding is like wearing a mask: it doesn't work, and people see through it.
It's a new day. I'm Kim Gaskill and this is the Daily Spark. Do you know what zombies are? Are you a Walking Dead fan? I'm not, but I've watched a few shows since I've been here at my brother's house because he is. I find it quite funny that it is such a trending show, but I can see the, the addiction, how easily it would be to get hooked on that show. But I had to laugh, you know, everybody knows what a zombie is. They know what their purpose is. It's kind of like branding. They do one thing and they do one thing well. They walk around looking for humans to kill, to eat. That's all they do. That's their whole purpose. So branding for them would be quite easy. They do one thing. A lot of times we get stuck on our branding because we don't like to limit ourselves to one thing as an entrepreneur. We like to do many different things. So branding becomes one of those things that's very difficult for a lot of us, myself included. But I was watching the show— now there's spoilers here, so if you watch the show and you haven't seen the last couple of episodes, you may not want to listen to this— but the last couple of shows that I watched with him, there's a new group of kids in town, a new group of players, and They are confusing the issue. They are muddling up the zombie brand because they're taking skins— masks, you might say— and wearing them and pretending they're zombies so they can walk around unscathed and unnoticed by the zombie herds. And that's not cool. That's, that is confusing. If you're doing something like that, I got to thinking it's like branding. They're confusing the brand of a zombie because they're, they're faking it. They're not zombies, they're humans. They don't walk around to just kill humans. They're walking around trying to find food and I mean, they do kill humans, but if you watch the show, you'll understand that. But my point is, if you're faking it and you're confusing your customer because you're trying to be something that you're not, stop. Find what your true brand is and just stick to that. I know it might be difficult. You may need to hire a branding coach, but do what you need to so your brand is genuine and unique to you. Don't wear a mask and try to be a zombie. Join me again tomorrow for another daily splat.
