1. Refer to the 9 “Brand Identity Ideals” from page 29 of your book, Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler. List at least 6 of Wheeler’s ideals that can be used to help differentiate you as a brand from others. Under each ideal, describe a quality about yourself that helps to define how you are unique. What, in particular, makes “you” as a brand unique from others? How do these ideals relate to Marty Neumeierʼs 17-step process? Provide direct quotes with in-text APA-style research citations to substantiate your statements. (Note: Please make the statements about yourself in the third person).

The 9 “Brand Identity Ideals” from Designing Brand Identity by Alina Wheeler are vision, meaning, authenticity, coherence, differentiation, flexibility, sustainability, commitment, and value. 

Vision – Marcia Coles has a unique ability to take abstract ideas that have been presented, to visualize a completed project incorporating those ideas, and is able take the necessary steps to carry them through to a finished product.

Alina Wheeler says, “Vision requires courage. Big ideas, enterprises, products, and services are sustained by organizations who have the ability to imagine what others cannot see and the tenacity to deliver what they believe is possible.” (Wheeler, 2013). Marty Neumeier’s checkpoint 3 asks, “What is your vision?” According to Marty Neumeier “When you put your vision to paper, you can immediately see its flaws. Then you can reinforce it to withstand the slings and arrows that test the resolve of any organization. (Neumeier 55)

Differentiation – “It is not enough to be different. Brands need to demonstrate their difference and make it easy for customers to understand that difference.” (Wheeler, 2013).  Marty Neumeier expands on the importance of differentiation in his book ZAG. With checkpoint 6: what makes you the “only”? (Neumeier 2013). More on this point is discussed in question 3.

Authenticity – “Authenticity refers to self-knowledge and making decisions that are congruent with that self-knowledge. Organizations who know who they are, and what they stand for, start the identity process from a position of strength. They create brands that are sustainable and genuine.” (Wheeler 2013)

This relates to Neumeier’s “Checkpoint 1: who are you?” “The first step in building a brand is to look inside and see where the raw energy will come from.”

(Neumeier 2013). Marcia gets her energy from love. She understands that her life is built around the relationships that she has with the other people in her life.

Flexibility – “Innovation requires brands to be flexible. No one can say with certainty which new products or services a company might offer in five years. Or for that matter, what devices we will all be using to communicate with one another and how we will be purchasing our worldly goods. Brands that are open to change need to have flexible brand identity systems in place to quickly seize new opportunities in the marketplace.” (Wheeler, 2013). Marcia has been extremely flexible throughout her life, being able to adapt and change to be effective, and relevant. This relates to “checkpoint 4: what wave are you riding?” (Neumeier 2013) “You can certainly build a brand without harnessing a trend, but you won’t get the raw, youthful energy of a zag. When focus and differentiation are powered by a trend, the result is a charismatic brand that customers wouldn’t trade for love nor money. It’s the difference between paddling a surfboard and riding a wave.” (Neumeier 2013)

Commitment – “Organizations need to actively manage their assets, including the brand name, the trademarks, the integrated sales and marketing systems, and the standards.” (Wheeler 2013)

This relates to “checkpoint 15: how do you earn their loyalty?” (Neumeier 2013) “For brand loyalty to grow, it must be earned, and it must be mutual. As adman David Ogilvy famously observed, “Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith, and perseverance to create a brand.” (Neumeier 2013)

“Building, protecting, and enhancing the brand requires desire and a disciplined approach to insure its integrity and relevance.” (Wheeler 2013)

Marcia is committed to her brand. She is continuously developing her skills, increasing her knowledge, and nurturing the relationships in her life.

Value – “Building awareness, increasing recognition, communicating uniqueness and quality, and expressing a competitive difference create measurable results.”

(Wheeler 2013) “Creating value is the indisputable goal of most organizations. The quest for sustainability has expanded the value conversation with consumers. Being socially responsible, environmentally conscious, and profitable is the new business model for all brands. A brand is an intangible asset—brand identity, which includes all tangible expression from packaging to websites, upholds that value.” (Wheeler 2013)

“Checkpoint 11: how do you explain yourself?… All brand communications should emanate from an internal positioning line, or “trueline.” A trueline is the one true thing you can say about your brand, based on your onliness statement. It must be something that your competitors can’t claim (or won’t), and something that your customers find both valuable and credible. Remember, it’s not what you say, but what they say, that counts. In a nutshell, your trueline is your value proposition, the reason your brand matters to customers.” (Neumeier 2013)

When Marcia says she will do something, you can count on it. She always aims not to just get the job done, but to blow the client away with the excellence of her product. This is the value of her brand.

2. Research, select, and post images that illustrate at least 3 of your “Brand Identity Ideals.” Why are each of these images relevant to your personal “brand?” Explain.

Authenticity –This image is a picture of my family. These are some of the most important people in my life. I get my energy from the people that I love.

Commitment –These are pictures of two of my paintings. Part of my brand is my ability to create emotion filled artwork.

Vision – I created this window for my uncle who wanted it to represent his life with my aunt, who recently passed away. I was able to visualize this scene from the abstract ideas that he gave me. He tells me that he gets great joy from this window, which is a wonderful thing for me.

3. Post an “Onliness Statement” for your personal brand (in the third person). Why is the “Onliness Statement” relevant? Provide direct quotes with in-text APA-style research citations to substantiate your statement.

Marty Neumeier expands on the importance of differentiation with checkpoint 6: what makes you the “only”? He invites us to “Complete this sentence: Our brand is the only ________ that ________.“ (Neumeier 2013).

Marcia Coles is the only designer that also paints, creates leaded glass windows, builds and sells houses and has raised 3 kids.

“An onliness statement provides a framework for your zag. Once you’ve defined your point of differentiation, you have a decisional filter for all your company’s future decisions. By checking back against your statement you can quickly see whether any new decision will help or hurt, focus or unfocus, purify or modify your brand.” (Neumeier 2013)

Wheeler, Alina. Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team, 4th Edition. (2013) John Wiley & Sons P&T, 10/22/12. VitalBook file.

Neumeier, Marty. ZAG: The #1 Strategy of High-Performance Brands. (2013) Pearson Learning Solutions. VitalBook file.