Is Branding the Greatest Energy-Saver Humans Have Ever Created?

First published on April 30, 2021

Steve Jobs, the legend goes, wore basically the same clothes every day. Barack Obama, I've heard, only had three different ties. At first I thought these were just eccentric men. But then I heard that Einstein reportedly bought several versions of the same suit, not (just) because he was eccentric, but so that he didn't have to use up any of his brain power deciding what to wear. Instead, he could get on with doing the really important thinking.

When I heard that story, it got me thinking: those three men have done some influential, big thinking between them. I wonder which bits wouldn't have happened if they'd spent their energy deciding what to wear.

The value of removing from our lives everyday pieces of thinking is not to be sniffed at. Saving our creative thinking and decision-making willpower just a little bit every day will compound into significant amounts over our lifetime. And so, it's worth thinking, as Tim Ferriss sometimes asks: where can I make one decision so that I don't have to make 100?

I suspect that one of the most overlooked and significant energy and decision-making tools humanity has created is branding. This becomes really apparent when you go into a supermarket in a foreign country. It swiftly becomes obvious how much of our decision-making is made by the instinctive part of our brain based on the colour and design of the packaging. Confronted by shelves of New Zealand or Costa Rican or Thai brands, it suddenly becomes an entirely different task to get our weekly shop. We wish we could see the familiar Kellog's, Walkers, Sainsbury's own brand. Even those brands of chopped tomatoes that we can't name, but have seen thousands of times and - when we see them - we know exactly what is inside without looking, without thinking and certainly without needing to read the label.

And each day, billions of people are saved time and decision-making energy by branding, which allows each of us to focus our thinking elsewhere.

Some people say that the washing machine is one of the most significant inventions in history, particularly for women, because of the amount of time and energy it released. But I believe a good case can be made for branding being just as significant, perhaps even more so.

For the entrepreneur or leader, the question then arises: what is my brand? What do people think when they see me, when they engage with my work? What am I a shortcut for? And am I happy with that?

We all have a brand. It is the combined experience that people have of us, of how we show up when we show up, of what we say and how we say it. As Jeff Bezos said, our brand is the story people tell about us when we're not in the room. And there's always a story people can tell. Or at least, we hope there is. Because if there isn't, we don't stand for anything.

The best time to think about what we stand for was 20 years ago, but the second best time is now.

How can you stand for something, so that when people want what you do, they know to go to you, with the ease of choosing from three of the same ties?

How can you stand for something, so that when people need what you stand for, they come to you with the relief of seeing that brand of chopped tomatoes?