Artist Branding 101 – Things That Affect Your Brand

As an artist you are your own brand, whether or not you know it or acknowledge it. It is up to you to make sure your brand stands out from the rest. Branding has everything to do with PRESENTATION – HOW YOU ARE PRESENTED AND PERCEIVED BY THE PUBLIC – whether it be online or offline. It is essentially what you are known for as a whole and believe it or not, your longevity will depend on how strong your brand really is.

This is a type of industry where you must always be ready. Someone new can check you out at any given moment so you have to look your best at all times, all across the board. We live in a digital world, so how you present yourself in person is just as important as how you represent yourself online. A lot of the time, your music isn’t the first thing people are introduced to. You are first seen on social networks, blogs, websites, magazines etc. Think about it, when you hear about something new and want to learn more about it, the first thing you do is look it up! The last thing you want to do is portray a negative image of your brand. You want to make sure that at first glance, the image you put out represents YOU at your best.

Ask yourself:

If someone judges you by your cover, what do they see? What type of image do you put out? Does your image reflect how you want to be perceived by the public? Would you be a fan of YOU?

So what are we getting at here? In order to succeed with a career in music there are things that you really need to be aware of and put your all into in order for your brand to stand strong. To clear things up even more, I made a list with a few examples of things that affect your brand:

Things that affect your brand:

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How To Trademark Your Brand

After a trademark battle with Florida-based cosmetics company Kroma, the Kardashian sisters changed the name of their makeup line from Khroma Beauty to Kardashian Beauty.

Here is advice on how to correctly  trademark and protect your brand legally to avoid the same pit falls as the Kardasians.

While the best defense against copycat competitors is to stay ahead of them with a continuous stream of innovative, highly differentiated, and superior products and services, it is equally important to seek as much legal protection as possible for your brand.

Trademark Law
As a brand steward, you must be aware of the laws under which legal protection is available.  First, trademark law protects a brand’s identity.  That is, it protects names, titles, taglines, slogans, logos, other designs, product shapes, sounds, smells, colors or any other features that distinguish one source of products or services from another. Trademarks that protect services are often called service marks (“SM”).  There are also “collective membership marks” (Boy Scouts of America) and “certification marks” (UL approved).

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Using Colors In Branding

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8 Do’s and 5 Don’ts of Instagram for Building Your Brand

Instagram is a photo-sharing application launched in late 2010 and acquired by Facebook in 2012.

Though some forward-thinking businesses are already using Instagram, chances are you aren’t yet, and neither are your competitors. With its universal appeal, however, Instagram is not a medium marketers should ignore. And you’d better move quickly if you want to make an impact.

How You Shouldn’t Use Instagram

Let’s start out by defining how you should not be using Instagram, because you don’t want to waste your time—or, worse, turn off your potential fans—by committing a social faux pas or by annoying them.

All of the photos on Nike’s Instagram account are colorful, but the pictures end up coming off as the products of photo shoots rather than the more casual style cherished by other brands (and, usually, users). Nike’s myriad fans may still love the pics, but not all of us are Nike and we don’t have armies of loyal followers. So keep it real.

1. Don’t use Instagram solely for advertisements

This is true of any social network, but it is especially true on Instagram, where you have the potential to share all kinds of visual advertising your company has been using. Don’t do it. Resist the urge. And while we’re on the topic: Instagram is for photos—save your infographics and illustrations for Pinterest. They just look strange, and the square format doesn’t suit them.

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Must Read! 8 Keys To Successful Branding

If you follow Don Draper and the rest of the Mad Men on Madison Avenue, you might be forgiven for thinking the inspiration behind a memorable slogan or advertising campaign comes from a bottle of whisky and a packet of cigarettes.

Of course life is never that simple. Take, for example, Apple’s false start with its corporate identity. The company’s first logo, designed in 1976, showed Isaac Newton sitting under a tree with an apple dangling above his head, waiting for gravity to happen. And the strapline that accompanied it was  ”Newton… A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought … Alone.” Would they really have become one of the most successful businesses on the planet if Steve Jobs hadn’t decided on a bit of a creative re-think?

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5 Things Your Band/Group Needs To Consider About Branding

1) The Brand

Don’t be intimidated by the word “brand” or blow it off as corporate marketing-speak; branding is simply storytelling — which is something your band does every time it writes a song, so you already have some experience. Now it’s time to apply your storytelling skills to developing a broader narrative and establishing a unique persona for your band, singing group or rap group, a personality that reflects the band members as musicians and performers.

2) Touchpoints

Touchpoints encompass all of the physical and digital assets your band/group will create and distribute – think anything and everything from album releases, to email blasts, to merch, to social media updates; it all must reflect your band/group’s character. Each touchpoint is an opportunity to expand your reach and engage new fans, so it’s important to develop creative ways to communicate.

3) Be Distinctive

You’re in a band/group? Really? Well so is your neighbor, his cousin, and her boyfriend – music fans have a bewildering array of choices these days so you have to give them a reason to recommend your latest CD and follow you online. What’s different about the design of your album packaging and website? Is there a unique voice to your tweets and eblast copy? Through your story, develop a unique identity that will allow you to interact with fans in an imaginative way. Emulating another band/group’s style to try and ride a trend will not generate longevity.

4) Know Your Competition

As a designer, my job involves a lot of research; it’s the very first phase of the design process. Researching the competition gives you a tremendous advantage as it identifies stories or perspectives that people aren’t exploring, and allows you to create a new voice that appears distinctive and refreshing. Remember that there’s a ton of clutter out there, but always room for someone confident enough to think a little differently.

5) It Takes Time

Understand that it will take time to build an audience and cultivate long-term relationships. Making a big splash with your first album release and tour will establish a good foundation, but it’s going to take dedication, focus and consistency to truly build an audience worthy of sustaining a career. My best advice: engage, engage, engage and then when you’re done engaging, engage some more.

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How have you set your band/group apart from the rest with smart branding? Let us know in the comments section below.

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New Music: The Dream feat. Jay Z ‘High Art’

The Dream’s drops his Jay-Z assisted new single off his upcoming album IV Play which features a hot 16 from Mr. Carter. Jay-Z does not fall short of his 16 bars on the high energy, swagged out summer club banger. He maybe on his way to a #1 album if he continues dropping powerful singles like “High Art”. His album will feature  2 Chainz, Beyonce, Big Sean, Pusha T, Kelly Rowland, Gary Clark Jr and more.

Listen to the hot record below. Look out for The Dream’s highly anticipated IV Play album. The Dream will also be hitting a city near you on the “Lights Out” Tour which pops off on May 23rd.

BRAND POWER! Rihanna’s M.A.C. Lipstick RiRi Woo Sells Out in 3 Hours

The Umbrella singer’s selling power has proved unstoppable in the music world since her 2005 debut, and it seems it translates just as easily across other areas, too.

The popstar’s new lipstick for M.A.C – a remixed version of the brand’s cult classic Ruby Woo shade – sold out online in the US in just three hours.

Created to suit every skin tone – the Grammy-winner reportedly trialled it on all her friends to test this – the revamped shade is slightly deeper and bluer than the original, with a matte finish.

RiRi Woo is the first release of a multi-product collaboration between the singer and the beauty brand, with 31 products including lipsticks, eye shadow palettes, brushes and false eyelashes reported to be in the line-up.

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Entrepreneurs: Crafting Your Personal Brand

Entrepreneurs are well-aware that brand-building is a powerful tool and one of the key aspects to marketing. Without a strong brand, your company may get lost in the noise.

Branding is the process of establishing a voice for your company and standing out from your competition. With a solid branding foundation, even the smallest businesses can have a powerful voice and build a community of loyal customers.

As an entrepreneur you’re wholly invested in a branding strategy for your company, but when was the last time that you built a branding plan for yourself? Yes, your personal brand. How robust is your social media following or blog readership? Is your sphere of influence as vast as you’d like it to be? When you say something, is anyone listening?

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10 Benefits of Brand Licensing

There are ten key benefits to licensing your brand. Brand Licensing enables:

1.   Brand Managers to extend their brands with minimal investment.  Through the licensing arrangement, third party manufacturers are responsible for everything from product development to inventory management to store replenishment.

2.  The brand to obtain supplementary marketing support.  For the right to use the brand in their category, the manufacturer must agree to spend a percentage of their net sales on marketing.  This marketing commitment not only supports the category licensed, but can be significant to the overall brand.

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