Michelangelo's Sculpting the Brand

Michelangelo's David

It might well be considered sacrilege in the art world to mention the Renaissance icon, Michelangelo, in the same sentence with something like "branding." Uttered with disdain from every connoisseur and art historian one might hear the words, "Excuse me?" But in history are great tips for marketing and the art of branding. In fact the branding process is very much like sculpting if you approach it as Michelangelo did. And his words say it best.

Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. [And the] Carving is easy, you just go down to the skin and stop.

The wisdom is clear. The process flicks away the unnecessary bits to find the natural attributes to a brand. And it is the marketer’s job to identify them, not make them up, but discover them and know when he has what the brand itself needs. From there you polish and smooth out the contours and the edges, giving the brand a form that follows its needed function that will resonate with the audience.