A brand like no other: PRINCE. The Purple One.

With nearly two decades of brand marketing experience across multiple industries, I have and always will have the "brand love" deeply ingrained in my being. Not only about what I do for a living but "brand" has always been something I'm fascinated about. What I've learnt from the amazing teacher, @trini , who I had the pleasure meeting back in my early days as a brand marketer, was that a good brand must be humanised. Its values must reflect human feelings and emotions that lead to the human's highest values allowing people to experience all this as they get to know the brand (Trini, I obviously paraphrased here!). Since then, I have looked at brands using this lens and thought out loud, what is this brand personifying, what is its identity and personality, culture, vision, emotion, and intelligence? How does this brand make me feel? Does the brand deliver its brand promise? Maybe a brand is also like having a constant companion, or maybe a mate, or people you would think of when you are having meaningful (or even sucky) moments for a time.

In the olden days... branding was done by having a distinctive symbol burned onto an animal's skin with a really hot iron. That's what the owners did to differentiate their cattle from others. (Alright, that's what I learned from school when I was little. Let me know if that wasn't the purpose of why they did such a thing to the poor cattle).

A brand is not only a name, it does not only apply for products or services we, marketers, want to sell to people. Brand is an identity but it has to start with a clear vision in mind. A brand is the very essence of what makes a brand... brand. A brand sometimes outlives the actual "product" when it has a distinct identity and delivered its promise. As how Frank Underwood had perfectly put it in Netflix's House of Cards: "The nature of promises is that?they remain immune to changing circumstances." A brand staying true to its promise.

Amidst the sea of brands we encounter in our lives on a daily basis, it is a key priority for any brand to stand out, differentiate itself yet still be relevant. However, and for some reason, when I was younger, I honestly failed to see the distinct branding that artists and other personalities represent. I think it's because I know of them by their names, I get to witness or read about what they do. We recognise them by the music or films they released (or associate it to personal experiences we had when we encountered their product). It did not occur to me then that they, too, are brands. (Pretty much how you and I are brands as well!).

This failure to appreciate, though, did not apply to PRINCE (Prince Rogers Nelson, The Purple One, the Artist Formerly Known as Prince?or?TAFKAP, or simply?the Artist). It's hard to imagine anyone coming into this article - that the reader would not have known who Prince was makes little sense. I am only one of the millions who love PRINCE.

Why did he have all those names? In a nutshell, he dropped his stage name (yes, his real name) when he had contractual problems with Warner Bros in the early 90s - from PRINCE to the unpronounceable symbol. This helped distance himself from the contract troubles. Yet, with people NOT knowing how to pronounce the symbol because he did not offer an explanation how to say it, his "rebranding" further strengthened his identity and people's affinity to him. Prince had a clear brand vision and he delivered it in full, on time.

The symbol was then tastefully and consistently placed on select touchpoints and spots where people can see it. I do not recall seeing any when it was placed or printed on him (maybe it's because it was his person). It was also displayed larger than life when he played for the 2007 Super Bowl half time show - love symbol for his concert stage and his customised purple guitar resembled the shape.

He was interviewed by Oprah and she asked: what do you wish to be known for? His answer: "My music." Prince was a real musician. A mighty guitar player, too! Prince?wrote, produced, arranged, composed, and played all 27?instruments?on the recording. (wikipedia) That's some major talent right there! (Makes me wonder how high his IQ was to be able to do all those).

In an interview done by Arsenio Hall, he was asked: "If you weren't Prince, what would you do for a living?" Prince said: "When I was 16, I was completely broke, and needed to go get a job so I got the Yellow Pages out and I couldn't find one thing that I wanted to do so I decided I was gonna push as hard to be a musician and win at it, you know."

And, he smashed all ceilings and won us over.

Most people I know would argue that his songs were not for daily cuppa. Yet his brand did not limit itself to his musical genius paired with erotically-charged performances (and still over a thousand unreleased songs locked in the Paisley Park vault). Whilst I never liked the choice of wording here but he was often described by fans as "The man who wears five-inch heels who can steal your woman," that's who he was. Fearless and fierce. He was known for his androgynous persona, very unique fashion style, from his very low voice in those rare times he had interviews to the high-pitched screams in his recordings, he was flamboyant, sometimes considered a diva yet also a very charitable man. He was Prince being Prince. The whole package.

Prince was very protective of his brand. In the numerous articles I have read, it's hard to find a lot of content about / of Prince on the internet because his lawyers would constantly send cease and desist orders for unauthorised use. Not because he wanted to sell them but there was a principle such as moments like that of his Coachella performance (when he covered Radiohead's Creep) was only meant for people who were there watching him live. In any of his live performances before, you wouldn't have seen people recording using their phones. He wanted people to enjoy and experience the moment with "real music by real musicians." I appreciate the principle behind it but sometimes wish we could have seen more of those, especially now not that he's gone. I am over the moon when his Super Bowl Halftime Show made it officially on YouTube, though. (To date, his performance remains to be the Top 1 Halftime show ever! Makes great sense when the heavens were his special effects director) Source: NBC Billboard Rolling Stone

My respect and admiration for his brand remained solid even after his death. As an example, at times when there is a shirt with the love symbol on that's being sold, I would stop myself from buying it because that's not something he would have officially endorsed from Paisley Park. The only thing I kept was the unfinished autobiography book and it was lovely. (Yes, proper fan right here!)

He was the brand who embraced his uniqueness and inspired others who feel different that he was different and he lived by it. I never thought he was vulgar. Inspired so many great artists to do better (Freddie Mercury loved him, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, to name a few) How he was in his younger days as an artist to the time he passed away were meaningful versions of the same brand. A constant evolution. Wild yet composed, strange yet real. Ever changing yet consistently Prince.

Prince, was maybe, too advanced for this planet. He was on another level.

He was, after all, Prince being Prince. A brand like no other.

Tell me a brand you know that's as distinct as Prince.

Some of Prince's performances I enjoy watching on YouTube are in the comments section. Do enjoy. Thank me later. :)