Why You Already Have a Brand (And How It Helps You Sell)

Hello and welcome. My name is Tavishima Ayede. I solve sales and marketing challenges and I'm making today's broadcast recording outside church, so expect to hear some interruptions in the background. My children are here for Cat kiss and classes, so I figured let me just make a podcast recording while I'm waiting for them. Now, the goal of this podcast is not to talk about my kids and church, but we're here to talk about business education.

So please spread the word so that your friends and family members in Nigeria and abroad can benefit from the questions that we tackle. They can do that by subscribing on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, or any player of their choice. And if you'd love to connect with me, you can call, you can SMS, you can WhatsApp me on 08064662140. Now today on the podcast, I would like to talk about branding. It's not something I talk about much of the time because tons of people already talk about branding.

Everywhere you look, there's a podcast about branding, there's what else, blog posts about branding, all kinds of things about branding. So that's the reason why I don't talk about it. However, branding is important and I'm going to bring it up again because I think from yesterday's podcast episode and the others that we did before, you know, we've been talking about familiarity, emotional connection, you know, all those kinds of things.

And so I guess I'll just have to bring up branding again because these kinds of things like branding that facilitate an emotional connection makes it easier to have a sales conversation later on. So for those of you who have established strong brands or who are in the process of establishing strong brands, you'll be able to appreciate what it is that I'm talking about. Like back in the wedding photography space, you know,

when I started off, you know, after a while, somebody would run into me. I'm like, oh, you are idiot, you're that guy. And like, yeah, that's me. So that kind of thing, you know, when you start having a brand, start having a reputation, it makes things easier. You get into some places and people like, oh, so that was you. You're that guy or you're that babe. And you know, it helps. So it's not a bad idea of it's not a bad idea to discuss branding, to talk, to bring up a few ideas about branding since yesterday and the episodes before, we're looking at how to create emotional resonance with potential clients, potential customers.

Now instead of trying to educate you guys about branding, I just want to restate or rather repeat some things that I've been saying about branding time and time again. Because whenever people hear branding, their mind goes straight to packaging. You know, now as in I don't have to explain it, You know, like in Lagos, back when I was in Lagos existing, you know, people used to say packaging, packaging. And you know, even in Abuja,

some people still talk about packaging. So when you hear Brandon, everybody's thinking about how you package the whole enterprise before you begin. So I just want to bring up some thoughts just to let you guys know that, you know, you packaging, packaging people, sometimes you guys are thinking too hard or thinking too fast, you know, just you need to slow down and pay attention to the most important things first. So some things to remember about branding or rather some things to consider about branding,

especially those of you in the packaging school, you know, you want to package everything well, get the logo to look on point, get the cutters, get everything, the website, the embossed brochures, everything you want to package yourself die. Now, it's not a bad idea. It's a good idea, especially if you can afford it. You know, it helps, but one thing to remember is that branding is not just logos and colors and images and brochures and glossy pamphlets.

And you know, all of that is cool. And if you can afford it, by all means, please go ahead and package on point as in package to the death before you start if you can afford it. It's just that lots of people are not in the situation where they're going to be able to pay, you know, 300K for websites and then another 304100K maybe for logo design and then give the lawyer another like 300400K to register business. You know, the average person is knowing that in that space or in that Peace of Mind that, you know, they just drop one M and they haven't even started anything yet.

That one M is just packaging, just laying the land. So branding is not just logos. Branding is not just colors, branding is not just images. Branding is the subtotal. Everything all joined, all the promises that you make to customers, the customer experience, the user experience, the things that people go through. You know, when they do business with you, when they interact with your business, interact with your employees, interact with you, everything all joined together.

That is what is called branding. So in a sense that is the reason why I can say confidently that I have a brand even though I have not done any packaging. If you look for websites for me, you won't see gang. I don't have websites. If you look for fancy office address with you know, Italian leather couches and you know, on it wooden floor something something something like you will see sushi. You will see none of that for me.

But I can confidently say that I have a brand because even though I have no logo, even though I have no company colors, I mean, of course, I've registered the, the, the company name. And to be honest, the people that do business with me, they don't even ask me about company name. It's only when it comes to transferring money, they now say that, oh, OK, company name is different from my own name. That's at the stage that people even realize that I have a company.

But so far nobody has said what's your company name? So, oh, by the way, but if you want to do business on a like a national level, like you want to deal with state government, federal government, stuff like that, then yeah, all these things are very, very important. Make sure you have your company name, your tax identification number, your every, every, all of those things will be necessary. And then if you're going to do work with international NGOs,

you also need all of that to be on point. But what I'm just trying to say is that even people like me that have not done the requisite packaging, we can still see we have a brand and people can still say I have a brand. In fact, there's some people who say, oh boy, that your brand is on point, even though, as in that's what they tell me, even though I don't have any of these other things. It's because I'm paying attention to the subtotal,

disarm the everything all together. When I'm on the phone, what's the interaction like? How do people feel me? When we're on the Zoom session, how do people feel me? If it's one-on-one meeting in the public space or I'm going to somebody's office, how do they feel me? Everything all joined together, how do they feel me? That's the beginning of my brand. That's the beginning of my reputation. That's the beginning of my whatever it is that you want to call it.

So the same thing too for you getting ready to go into business. Just realize that because you don't have one M to drop first for logo, for color, for brochure, for websites, for everything. Don't worry, you still have a brand and if you're paying attention to doing you know the fundamentals of good business, you are the beginning of crafting a very powerful brand. But don't worry, everything is step by step. So branding is more than just logos.

Branding is more than just colors. Branding is more than just glossy brochures. Those are the first things a lot of us think about. But that's, that's because a lot of us have grown up with multinational corporations who have huge marketing budgets. And you know, I'm a seven, sorry, not 70s. I'm an 80s baby, early 80s baby. So for us, I almost said whenever people said brand, what they meant was like Coca-Cola later on, like Dell, what else?

Then maybe like Shell, Shell, Petroleum, BP, you know, all those big, big, big, big multinational, multinational corporations. So during my set, you know, that's what people meant when they were saying brand, brand, brand. So in primary school back in those days, excuse me, whenever you hear sorry. So back in primary school in those days, whenever you hear brand, those are the kind of things that we were talking about.

So because of that, you know, my own set, people of a certain age, when we hear brand, that's what we think. Brand, Nike, Coca-Cola, Apple Shell, BP, Total Energies, Christian Dior, you know, big, big, big, big, big. But don't worry, even though you're not at that level yet, you still have a brand. Sorry. Then let's see what else? OK, Business name. Also something else that people talk about, people agonize over when it comes to this whole thing about brand.

And especially now that I've been doing consulting for a while, it will surprise you how you talk to somebody in January. They they they're working on the brand. They're coming up with a name, coming up with logo. You jammed the person again in March, In April. So boy, how far now? Yeah, I'm still on it. We're still working on the brand as in you in January, you said you're on it. In April you say you're still working on the brand.

Like what the hell are you doing? You're wasting time. Business. Business compounds upon itself. Business progress compounds upon itself. If you manage to make one customer in January, maybe February, you didn't get another customer. There may be in March or April you, you got 33 customers. Like you're beginning to compound upon progress rather than saying 2025, my best year, something I will blow. Whatever, whatever, whatever.

Working on the brand, strategizing coming soon and they see you again in April. Still strategizing, still coming soon. Still in the cooler, still in the works, still brainstorming. So when it comes to brand name or business name, honestly, don't let this thing hold you down. Don't waste too much time at this stage. Pick any name you like or pick a name that is descriptive of what you do like. Take for instance my podcast.

It is sales for the Nigerian business person that is the most unsexiest podcast name ever. But The thing is, it is very descriptive. And those of you who are looking for something in that light, when you found me on Spotify or you found me on YouTube, you were glad because the name was very prescriptive. Prescriptive die. You understood straight exactly what I was trying to do. Now, even though that name is not sexy, The thing is, at least I'm gaining traction now validating the idea now that people are looking for this kind of content and they want this kind of guidance in the future.

I can always change and maybe call my show, you know, you know, tantalizing Tavi Shima or chilling with Tavi or conversations with Tavi or whatever. I can always change the name, but for now just pick any name and get started any you can change it in the future. So the focus now just to validate the business idea. Validating the business idea just means you're trying to do one or two things to figure out if there's a demand for this product or for this service.

Do people even want this thing When they want it and you're gaining some traction, then you know, you can always change your name. And for those of you who like reading autobiographies and stuff like that, you'd be surprised that all these, you know, your favorite corporation, pick your favorite brand. You'd be surprised that that was not always their name. They started as one name and they changed later on. In fact, the one that is coming to my mind right now is Nokia,

because I was watching. I was listening to a program where they were interviewing the orgas at Nokia and they were talking about how their company has gone through several iterations. So Nokia, they started off in woodworks, you know, carpentry, then later on, what was it? Construction and then, you know, on and on into mobile telephony. And then now what do they do now? Now Nokia owns the mobile infrastructure that is behind GSM.

So yes, Nokia don't make phones anymore, but a lot of the technology and a lot of the companies that make it possible for us to use mobile phones, you know, Nokia still owns them. So that's an example about how companies change names and how they change focus and how they iterate and they grow underwater over time. So those of you who are thinking this thing, you are overthinking it. A name is important, but it's not as important as you think.

By the way, use common sense. So if you're a Baker and you named your company after poop, then of course you know that you are shooting yourself in the foot because it's something somebody will eat. So make sure you use some common sense. So the bottom line, what I'm saying is don't waste time at this stage. Pick something, if you can't think of anything, pick any name that is descriptive and then just go try and validate this idea.

Then another thing that people waste time on when it comes to branding. They worry about whether you name the company over about yourself. Sorry, name the company with your name or not and you're wasting too much damn time over this. I tell people all the time, it doesn't matter whether you name the company after you or something else, what matters is your aspirations. Because some people, some Nigerians think if you name your company Chukudi, Ogadenbe and Sons, that means that your company will never blow.

It doesn't mean if you name your company Chukudi Ogadenbe and Sons, but you have international aspirations and you do fundamentally good business. Excuse me, your business will blow even with that name. So don't worry too much If I used to get flag for this, because for my photography company, my brother and I, because of course, we're family now. So we named it Ayede Film and Photography, also something we used to get flag for.

Now how you name your company, that kind of name that isn't all local. It's not about the name, it's about your business aspirations. So I say it a lot and I'm going to say it again. We have international businesses that are built on the names of specific people, but they had very huge international aspirations and right now people don't care that it's named after them. One example, Walt Disney, me and my kids, we enjoy Disney movies.

The company is named after one person, one man. Dangote. The business is not named after his family. It's named after him. One man international business. For those of you who are movie buffs, Warner Brothers, they did the same thing that my brother and I did, do I In business. What should we name this company? Our surname is Warner. Oh, yeah, we are Warner Brothers. It was that simple. But they are in the international movie production and distribution business, even though those companies were named after specific individuals.

In fact, in these cases, Brothers, then plenty. Lehman Brothers. If you want to enter the fashion scene again, there's plenty. Tommy Hilfiger isn't that one man Christian duo. He's not one person. So it's not about whether he named. So look, if you want to start your business, I want to call it Chukudi Oga Digby and Sons or Chukudi Oga Digby and Daughters. It's fine. Is your aspirations are important. Don't worry too much about that.

Sony is in our family name. And then let me go and confirm that ourself. Let me not give you guys, I'm going to give you guys an incomplete gist, so don't worry too much. Conversely, there are some people who now name their business with the big sounding international name thinking that that's what will help you blow. But unfortunately that's not the case and this is one example. In Lagos, there is Laura and Laurel International School.

In Lagos, meanwhile, there is only one campus of that school, somewhere close to Auba, even though the name is on point, Laura and Laurel International School, but the school, no international, nothing. So don't worry too much if you want to name after yourself, if you want to name it after your mother, you want to name it after your father, you want to name it after your children. Like don't just go ahead, pick a name, start.

It's all about your aspirations. Validate the business idea, make sure that you build, do good foundational business around it and you'll be fine. Then logo and identity. This is also something that you used to waste people's time. So logo and visual identity, yes, logo, color palette, typography, which kind of fonts are we going to use? Imagery, visual style, you know, everything. Let's have a consistent look, you know, let the website blend with the Instagram, blend with the everything.

So yes, oh, my children are trying to scare me. Sorry, 1 moment. OK, sorry about that. My children just finished their classes. So they were trying to scare me. I don't know why they're always, they're always trying to scare me, you know, run up and jump and shout and things like that. And I keep telling them that look, you can't, you can't scare me. I mean, you're not creative enough, you're not imaginative enough. And to be honest, the children scare me when they keep quiet,

when I'm in the house and I don't hear them. And I wonder like, like what the hell is going on? Why are they quiet? Normally this whole house should be shaking, but this one that they're quiet. That is what scares me now when they run around, I make noise. Anyway, I was there, so I'll be logo, right? I have visual identity. Yeah. So lots of people who waste time on this stage, but this is my own opinion at the beginning of the business, except if you're a style stylista fashionista from the beginning, you know, because some people are just sophisticated like that, like they come out of the womb and they understand packaging and how everything should be arranged.

You know, if you're not one of those types, don't waste your time at this stage because you don't know enough yet about your customer base, about the other stakeholders in the market, about how your marketing, what your marketing positioning is going to be and all these sorts of things. Because sorry, 1 moment. OK, sorry about that. What's my kids again? I guess I should be wrapping up these things so that we just, we just move.

So I was saying that basically this whole thing of visual identity and making sure everything is cohesive and all that. Don't worry about it too much in the beginning because you don't know enough yet about your customers because there are lots of things you will meet in front that will now determine what your brand will be, that will, you know, determine the evolution of your brand. And quite frankly, you don't know enough about that yet.

For those of you who like, you know, reading business history books and everything, just want to pick any book on the evolution of Coca Cola's brand, you will see how the thing has changed. Or over time, as you're going front, breaking new markets, breaking new borders, meeting new customers, things change. So you don't know enough about these sorts of things yet? Because there are some of you who are getting into business and you want to project something, really something how I put it, imposing and professional.

Like you want your brand to be very BAM, you know, like IBM, you know, very corporate sounding kind of brand. But meanwhile you are very, very playful kind of somebody. And the company cultures are all of you are very cool, all of you are very relaxed. You're creating some sort of incongruence between what you're trying to project and what you people really are. So that's why I say in the beginning, just like relax, first, start this business based on what your customers are telling you, based on what other people are telling you, based on the vibe that all of you are feeling as you are working together, you will now know, OK,

you know, what our brand is this our brand is that. It's not a good idea in my own opinion. Or like I said, if you want those people who understand these things intuitively, then yes, from they won't design everything. But for everybody else, just start first based on how you're interacting with people. That's how you will now know, OK, what is visual? What's our visual identity? What's everything going to look like? It's the same thing with brand messaging and brand voice.

People worry too much about brand messes and brand voice. Like relax first, relax, relax. You don't know whether you're going to be extremely formal or you don't know whether you're going to be playful and witty. You don't know whether you're going to be authoritative. You don't know whether you're going to be friendly. Like you don't know yet going to the business 1st and then you'll know because there's some people who are very playful in real life, but then when it's time for business, they're like, OK,

this is business now. This is as in business is business. It's not until you finish doing business with them and you see them after hours, you now realize that oh OK, this guy's pretty chill or this baby's pretty chill. So do the business first. Just be going be interacting with people. Continue to try and sell, continue to try and move your market. You will now get feeds fields, You now get feeders from people out there in the marketplace they're interacting with and you will now know that oh, OK, you know what?

As a brand or as a company, as a business, we are high touch or we are low key, or we're low maintenance, or we're playful or we're serious or professional. Well, authoritative. Don't worry about all these things yet. It's how you interact with the customers, the customer experience, the user experience. These are the things that will tell you authentically what your brand messaging and what your brand voice is. But why is branding important?

Let me wrap up on that because, OK, I don't think I went to do that. OK, let me just wrap up on that. Look, branding is important. Yes, because the challenge now, since the challenge now is that business is commodified. If you're a painter, you're not the only painter in your local government. If you're a musician, you're not the only musician in in your area. Even if you're a hired killer, you're not the only hired killer in that place.

If you're a business consultant, you're not the only business consultant on your street. If you're a wedding photographer, you're not the only wedding photographer in the local government. So 1 moment. OK, let me just wrap up. It's like the kids want us to leave. So branding is important just because you know, there's commodification going on. There's competition all over the place. You have to differentiate yourself.

People have to see that, OK, this guy is different from this guy. This baby is different from this baby. And that's the reason why, so I am not the only sales trainer, I'm not the only business development consultant that you know, but you clearly can see that there's a difference between me and the next guy and the next guy and the next babe. All of us are different. And this is the reason why branding is important. It helps to differentiate all of us in the market.

Then it also helps with recognition and recall. They say, oh, now you be this. OK, you're that guy. It makes it easier. You're right, babe. It makes it easier. Oh, my cousin Shinaya, she was speaking about so, so, so, so and so, so that is your company. These things make it easy. Oh, I've seen those guys before. I've seen these girls before. Recognition and recall makes it easier to do business. Then also trust and credibility.

That comes from recognition and recall, by the way. So those of you who recognize me, you recall me. After a while, you'll be like that guy. He's the very guy. He's legit. That guy is the GOAT. You say that because recognition and recall over time, over time, over time, then for those of us who eventually were going to want to hire people, it will help with attracting talent. So by the time I set up a proper consulting agency and, you know,

maybe I've been doing this in maybe like 20 years and I now understand, you know, build proper structure, you know, I don't know, make things nice and legit, nice and fancy. There are people who want to work for me precisely because of the kind of brand that I have built. So same thing with you 2. But most importantly, building a brand is important because it reduces sales resistance. Once you can have that kind of brand, like, oh, I've seen this guy before, OK, and you be this OK, You don't want to handle this.

You don't want to handle that. Oh, OK, no problem. Sounds like you're legit. It makes the conversation very, very easy. And it's something I picked up from like year two of the podcast. I just realized that after a while, I was not in too many, you know, begging conversations. I was being together level where people assumed that, OK, this guy, you already know what you're talking about. And it doesn't matter of getting down and trying to figure out,

OK, how can we use your skill sets to move my whatever forward? But I wasn't having to prove myself anymore. So branding is important, but my warning to you guys, I beg, is don't be one of those people who spent three months trying to think out everything before you begin your business journey. That's not the right way to go about it. So that's all for today, folks. Let me carry my children back to the house. Remember, if you'd love to connect with me, you can call,

you can SMS, you can WhatsApp me on 08064662140. Thank you very much for your time and attention. I'll catch you next time. Same place in your headphones or in your speakers.