Kunu, Brand Instructor

Brand is a feeling. Brand is an art not a science. Brand is what people talk about when you leave the room. Brand is how people feel around you. Brand is one of those things that 10 different people can have 10 different definitions of. Sometimes, when talking about brand, it can feel like you are getting a surf lesson from Kunu. If you haven’t seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall, you don’t really need to to understand this scene where Paul Rudd is trying to teach Jason Segal how to surf. It goes a little something like this:

(Jason Segal laying on the board in the sand)

KUNU (Paul Rudd): Don't do anything, don’t try anything.

Pop up, too slow, do less.

Pop up, you're doing too much, do less.

Don’t do anything. Nothing.

Well you gotta do more than that, because now you're just lying there.

Uncovering and living in your brand can sometimes feel like this. It’s an identity. Sometimes the Kunu brand instructor can sound like this.

Be unique

Not that unique, people won’t understand what you do.

Do something different though.

No, not that different, you’ve lost your audience.

Just say what you do. Be simple.

Well, say it in it in a more compelling way than that.

In the scene, Kunu after getting frustrated finally says, something along the lines of, “lets just go out there and we will figure it out.” When it comes to brand, he’s right. Sort of. There is a lot of truth in, let’s just get ourselves out there and try things. Get a feel for what is working and what isn’t. That’s why I love social. Typically, it can be a pretty safe trial ground. The only thing this brand instructor would say you need before doing so is laying the ground rules and understanding the sandbox we are playing in. We call them brand guidelines. It’s an understanding of our values, look, tone and drumbeat statements. So once you have that, get out there. Go surfing now, everybody’s learning how. Get a feel. You’ll be surfing in no time.