Secret #1 is to Be yourself. Secret #2 is to Be different than your competitors. Secret #3 is Be yourself, both inside and out. Here’s Secret #4 in our ongoing series on Secrets of Strong Brands:

Know who you are.

And articulate it. Many of my clients think they know what their brand promise is, but when they try to articulate it, it turns out they have 15 different, vague ones. When you actually codify your brand promise, in a way that your employees can use as a compass for making decisions, then you have the raw material for a strong brand. We worked with one non-profit organization that helps people remove the barriers to finding work, be it child care, English skills, job training, or even bus fare. They described themselves (I’m not making this up) as “a workforce intermediary with wrap around services.” We helped them frame it as “Opening doors to living wage careers.” Which organization would you rather donate to?

-Lynn Parker