Avocado Toast or Supersized Fries?

Branding is both the DNA and the lifeblood of any consumer facing business. It’s the confluence of embryonic cells that form the ‘brand’ new entity, the quick firing neurons and command center of the brain, the beating heart of passion and purpose, and the daily whir of grind and grit continuously coursing through its veins.

And yet there are those who believe that branding is branding is branding. But is it? After all, it’s entirely true that anyone with solid copy skills and a penchant for design can conjure up a name, logo, tagline, color palette and mission statement – and voila! a brand is born. 

Those of us who’ve been around though, can tell the difference between hard hitting clarity and puffed up fluff. It’s like the all too real difference between junk food and whole food. That grease laden meal of a sizzling burger, loaded fries and 900 calorie mcflurry milkshake looks irresistibly enticing, and both that and a toasted sourdough topped with creamy avocado, kalamata olives, and roasted peppers will get the job done of getting calories in while keeping hunger at bay. But one will give you short term immediate gratification, while the other one will be nourishing, soul satisfying, and immediately recognized by your body as the good stuff in the short term – and will also be body-building and performance enhancing and a solid investment in your physical development over the long term. 

That fast food fix looks great and even tastes great – and here’s a dirty little secret, when enjoyed on occasion, not only won’t it kill you, it might be just the ticket to tide you over on a pit stop – but it’s a precarious bridge to gradual disease and destruction, if that’s what your body is relying on for the long haul. 

So how are you fueling your growth?