This Is Marketing by Seth Godin

partner, a fictional guy named Keith, gave him an email address, and had him initiate and
participate in email threads.
This simple shift exposed a shameful gap in how our society treats women and men.
Emails from “Keith” were quickly responded to. Vendors, developers, and potential
partners were more likely to get back to Keith, addressed him by name, and were more
helpful, they reported to Fast Company.
We’re judging everything, and people are judging us in return. Often, those judgments
are biased, incorrect, and inefficient. But denying them doesn’t make them disappear.
The marketer can use symbols to gain trust and enrollment, or find that those symbols
work in the opposite direction. To change the culture, we have no choice but to
acknowledge the culture we seek to change.
That doesn’t mean giving up, fitting in, or failing to challenge injustice. But it does
require us to focus our stories and symbols with intent. Who’s it for? What’s it for?
We add the flags with intent
The semiotic flags we choose to fly are up to us. Not flying one is as intentional as flying
one.
The people you are seeking to serve are trying to figure out who you are. If you’re going
to show up in their world, make it easy for them to know who you are and where you
stand.
The lazy thing to do is insist that you don’t need a flag (or a badge). That you don’t have
to nod your head to the cultural memes that came before, or even wear a uniform.
The foolish thing to do is pretend your features are so good that nothing else matters.
Something else always matters.
Are brands for cattle?
What’s your brand?
Hint: it’s not your logo.
In a super-crowded world, with too many choices (more than twenty kinds of toner to
choose from for my laser printer, and more than nineteen thousand combinations of
beverages at Starbucks) and with just about everything “good enough,” you’re quite lucky
if you have a brand at all.
A brand is a shorthand for the customer’s expectations. What promise do they think
you’re making? What do they expect when they buy from you or meet with you or hire
you?
That promise is your brand.
Nike doesn’t have a hotel. If it did, you would probably have some good guesses as to
what it would be like. That’s Nike’s brand.
If you have true fans, the only reason you do is because this group has engaged with
you in a way that signals that they expect something worthwhile from you next time. That
expectation isn’t specific; it’s emotional.