How My High School Reunion Taught Me About Brand Marketing

Shy, skinny, and so nervous around my crushes I'd break out in hives: high school was not a favorite time in my life. I had my group of close friends, but didn't socialize much, spending my nights and most weekends writing.

So I had pause when I had the opportunity to attend my high school reunion this month. Would I be recognized, remembered or worse revert back to that shy (albeit no longer skinny) kid? To my surprise, the evening turned out to be one of the most enjoyable in my life to date. How was it possible four unremarkable years could leave such a lasting positive impression? And then it hit me...I had rebranded myself. Much of how I look and act has changed since then - though the writing still accounts for much if not more of my time. I was essentially the same person - just enhanced. But what I've come to realized was that I wasn't enhanced. Shyness was replaced by genuine humility; nervousness by confidence, and that all translated into perceived enhancement.
 
Often when we relaunch a product, we focus too much on content or not enough. We focus too much on appearance or not enough. When really, it's the perception in the marketplace that should be given the most forethought.

The reunion also gave me a greater appreciation of the importance of demographics. The confines of how we used to distinguish each other (e.g. the jocks, the cool people, the nerds, etc.) were gone. How successful or not that we'd become was irrelevant. We were in a room of 100 people exactly our age, from the same town, who grew up listening to the same music and watching the same shows and movies. But it went deeper, we all had children around the same age, experienced similar relationship issues. The more we talked, the more we became the same.

Think of brands - Nike comes to mind - that have focused on what connects us rather than separates us. This is not to say target marketing should be ignored, but we need to find that central thread that integrates all of our marketing regardless of channel, industry, or demographic.

Finally, there's brand loyalty. Good bad or indifferent, all of those classmates are celebrities, players in the movie that is my life. And I in theirs. Together we comprise a brand. Our brand. In marketing, we strive for brand loyalty but that is earned and not rewarded. It comes from listening, sharing, and an openness to improve regardless of memories.