The redesign of the Diva Marketing Blog has prompted a discussion centered on the question who owns a brand?
So who owns the Diva Marketing brand? Is it Toby, or is it her readers?
And who gets to decide what the brand is?
As an example of how differently Toby’s brand is viewed, some of the comments ask for more “girlie†elements to be added, some ask that they be taken away. Some find the colour palette too fashion-oriented for a Diva, some find it too playful. Some readers have taken the word “Diva†to mean fah-bulous and some have taken it to mean difficult. That’s a pretty significant difference.
One of the things I’ve said in this blog is that I don’t blog to brand myself, to create a brand from my name. At some point branding does happen (either on purpose or by accident… I hope) and the question is: who owns the brand?
Ownership of your brand is vital. You brand exists as a mental model in the minds of your audience (no where else!). As it is, you have only limited control as to what goes into that model. Personally, I think there’s too much time and effort at stake to leave so much of it to chance.
I don’t really have anything insightful to add to this, just thought the conversation was interesting enough to point out.
Thanks for joining in on the conversation.
Yes, it sure is an interesting thread. Like you, I didn’t set out to create a brand. Quite a surprise to learn how people perceived Diva Marketing. Actually that people had strong feels was even more surprising. But nice.
We’ll see what happens when Peter’s design is launched.