--- title: Branding Is Crap! description: A great brand is a result of being relevant, important and delighting people. It’s not a logo, an icon or an exercise. As I’ve said hundreds of times – your brand is what others say you are, not what you say. image: https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/file-363413170-jpg/blog-files/sh_cowboy_branding_2_e.jpg --- ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner # Branding Is Crap! [ Doug Davidoff ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/author/doug-davidoff) Apr 25, 2011 9:01:00 AM ![](https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/file-363413170-jpg/blog-files/sh_cowboy_branding_2_e.jpg?width=228&height=152&name=sh_cowboy_branding_2_e.jpg "Branding")There, I finally said it.  Branding is crap!  Sure, it might be fine, even important, if you're Coca-Cola, Starbucks, Proctor and Gamble, etc.  While I’m at it, the whole idea of Top of Mind Awareness (TOPA) is crap too!  Maybe if your competing for the 2 second purchase decision of what laundry detergent you’re going to use then all that stuff matters.  But – and this is a big but – if you're a small or mid-market company selling products or services to other businesses (large or small) stop worrying about your (Capital B) Brand or top of mind – trust me, your customers and prospects have far, far more important things on their minds than thinking about your company. A great brand is a result of being relevant, important and delighting people.  It’s not a logo, an icon or an exercise.  As I’ve said hundreds of times – your brand is what others say you are, not what you say. I’m writing this post because it’s making me sick seeing how much money small and mid-market B2B/B2G companies are spending on useless “branding” exercises. I’m working with a potential client who currently has 20 clients that his company works with.  Success for him is adding 2 – 4 solid clients/year.  He just spent more than $20,000 to “assess the market and his brand.”  Here’s the problem – HE DOESN’T HAVE A “BRAND”!  And that’s okay. He’d be far better off taking the $20,000 and investing it in [building an effective marketing asset](https://blog.imaginellc.com/build-it-they-will-come); and so would every other B2B company. The problem I have with branding is that it puts the focus in the wrong place - twice. It's your job to figure out what they want - and then to focus maniacally on making that happen.  If you do that, you won't have to worry about your brand - you'll have too many people wanting to work with you to have the time.   [Inbound Marketing](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/topic/inbound-marketing), [B2B Sales Strategy](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/topic/b2b-sales-strategy) ## Read On ### [No Laughing Matter](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/no-laughing-matter) I was watching the premier episode of Studio 60,, a television show that takes place in the... [![](https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/hubfs/images/Negative-online.jpg?width=352&name=Negative-online.jpg) ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-a-negative-online-presence) ### [How To Deal With A Negative Online Presence](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/how-to-deal-with-a-negative-online-presence) I had an interesting experience today. I was presenting to a group of CEOs about how to take a... [![branding](https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/file-358798434-jpg/blog-files/branding-300x200.jpg?width=352&name=branding-300x200.jpg) ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/uncovering-the-real-power-of-brand) ### [Uncovering The Real Power of Brand](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/uncovering-the-real-power-of-brand) As I’ve written before, “Brand” and “Branding” are words tossed around in a variety of ways. For...