es•sence [es-uhns] noun
1. the basic, real, and invariable nature of a thing or its significant individual feature or features: Freedom is the very essence of our democracy.
5. Philosophy. the inward nature, true substance, or constitution of anything, as opposed to what is accidental, phenomenal, illusory, etc.

Okay, so you’ve run the Perception Balancing process described in the previous post and you think you have a pretty good handle on your brand essence. Depending on who you’re talking to and what process you use to arrive at it, your brand essence may encompass your brand character, your brand personality, and/or your brand values — the related, sometimes overlapping subsets of the essence of your brand. You can divide the phrases that describe your brand into these subsets to better understand how they interrelate and form the basis for your brand communication, but that’s a subject for another day. For now, let’s just look at the five or six descriptive phrases that resulted from the Perception Balancing process, and run them through a few tests to make sure they really work for you as a good, solid brand essence.

The Tombstone Test
You’ve heard this one before. Think about your organization being gone — what would you want written on the organization’s tombstone? Can you imagine each of your descriptions being something you’d want engraved on the tombstone? Are the descriptions memorable enough that you’d want your brand to be known for them after it’s gone?

The “I’ll really miss their ______________” Test
This is a variation of the Tombstone Test. Think about your organization going out of business — what would your clients say they’d miss about you? Would they miss the five or six descriptive phrases you came up with, or would they miss something else? Would they really miss your professionalism, or would they miss how easy you are to work with more? If new phrases come to mind when doing this test that are more important than the original phrases, consider substituting.

The Banker Test
This test helps weed out descriptions that you may like because they’re trendy or edgy (and they may indeed be you), but are just not that important when push comes to shove, and they won’t stand the test of time. Imagine you’re sitting in front of your banker asking for a huge loan because your organization is on the verge of collapse. You’ve got to convince him that your company is worth the money you’re asking for — your survival depends on it — and you must speak and act in ways that represent your brand essence. Your descriptions should hold up to this kind of scrutiny — as he locks his steely gaze on you, and demands to know why he should trust you, is it really so important to be “irreverent?” Depending on your organization and your customers, perhaps it is, and now’s the time to make sure.

The Senate Subcommittee Test
If the Banker Test isn’t enough to make you sweat, try this one instead: imagine your organization is brought up to testify before a government subcommittee, and, as with the banker, you must speak and act in ways that represent your brand essence. This time, you’re under oath — can you still pull it off? Is this the way you want your brand to be represented on CNN for the entire world to see?

If you can come out of all four of these tests with your descriptive phrases intact, you’ve got a great basis for your brand essence. And if you learned some new insights, that’s great too. The bottom line is that an essence is, according to dictionary.com, “basic, real, and invariable,” it’s “the inward nature, true substance.” Getting to the core of your organization’s brand essence will bring you closer to your authentic brand, a brand that will stand the test of time, and help you to truly connect with your audiences.

[tags]brand essence, brand values, brand personality, brand character, branding, brand communication[/tags]