Your brand, either commercially is the some of all your parts. The way you look, the way you sound, what you do and how people perceive you. The fact that Brand is not just about a "logo" is hard for many people to understand, here I attempt to use the fire service as an example of how brands develop and live or die beyond just there name.

It's hard to describe the Fire Service brand ... it's not constrained to one country, one organization or even one uniform. Each fire service feeds off the stories and identity of the next, but each retains its own approach to the emergency events they service. I guess that's why it's sometimes called a brotherhood. Like many boys, I always wanted to be a fireman. Why? I guess partly because of the big red trucks and the thought of excitement. Some woman love firemen, probably for the same reason: the thought of excitement. I remember once we had the truck on the forecourt washing it ... A lady pulls up in her car ... She smiles and asks,

... LOL We look at the little boy, no more than 10-12 months ... not talking yet ...OMG how obvious. Sorry I digress, but the reason for saying this is that the fire service brand is partly defined in emblems, uniforms and how the trucks look, but it is even more strongly defined through history, romantic perceptions, values and how we behave in public. That's why when we get back from a call, even at 1am on a freezing cold night, we wash and dry the truck,and your boots are polished and your uniform cleaned. Discipline is not just about how well you fight a fire but how you carry yourself on and off the fire ground. Perception carries across all activities, even down to how we use the radio. I can remember, when I first joined, I had to do radio checks. This was the first time I had used the radio, and now my voice was going to be carried into every fire station in our region. I had to represent our station well. I swear I read and re-read the test message over and over again before I found the courage.

 Your brand is not defined by what you say in your marketing message, but by how you carry yourself the rest of the time. My questions to you are...

• what is your brand?
• how is it defined?
• what do you stand for?
• are you consistent?
• do you have history and do you have romantic stories that help define you?
• do you care about the small stuff?
• is there alignment between what you say and what you do?

To read the stories in this series so far

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