I met Mike Wagner today who is a great story teller and blogger, who is also an expert on branding, a topic I love.

Read on….

Father Knows Best

June 18th, 2006 My father was a mystery to me. He didn’t intend to be. But that’s how it was.

As an insurance agent everyone in my small town knew him. Knowing him wasn’t as easy for me, the oldest of his three sons.

In 1943, at the age of 17, he left his German immigrant home and joined the Marine Corps. He fought at several places, including Okinawa. Then he came home to Nebraska and started a family.

Mom said he lost his first best friends on that island. He never said a word. Maybe that’s why he had a tough time being close to those closest to him.

He liked to say, “You can tell a lot about a person by how they take care of what they’ve got.” I heard it often and dismissed it. He was too judgmental, I thought – but it stuck in my head.

In a very real way he was the first to teach me about brand ownership and our driveway, where he washed his car, was his lecture hall.

My dad took care of his cars and taught his boys how to do the same. Since his car was his office on the road and his first impression to those he sold life insurance to, it was much more than a vehicle from which to get from point “A” to point “B”.

On this Father’s Day my mind drifts back to that old driveway, Dad’s Pontiac and some lessons he taught me about brand ownership while scrubbing whitewalls and polishing chrome.

First: A neglected brand is obvious. A car doesn’t wash itself. “Look at the way they take care of that car!” That was all he had to say.

You can tell if the owner of a car cares just by looking. Brands are the same. Walk into any business, hold any product, engage any professional and you know if it is a brand that is owned or if it has been neglected and is on automatic pilot.

Second: It feels great to pour yourself into making your brand “shine”. Washing a car “Dad’s way” took time. Washing, scrubbing, getting the road tar and bugs off, drying with a chamois, waxing and polishing took all day. When we were done, Dad would have a beer; us boys might get a soda, and he would lead us in praise. “Doesn’t it shine up nice?” “Look at those wheels!” “Don’t you just love a clean car?” The answer was “Yes”. It felt great to see what we had done.

Pouring yourself into the work, the service, the design – IS brand ownership. It’s what I call “putting your fingerprints” on the brand. Something happens and it becomes more than just work, a job or a way to “put beans on the table.” It feels great.

Third: Brand ownership is in the details. Dad was a stickler on details: Bugs off the license plates, door frames cleaned, and all dirt, gravel and salt (in the winter) removed from the wheel wells. We complained that no one could see the wheel wells. He replied, “That’s where rust starts.” And he was right.

I am convinced that great brands are inside jobs. What happens behind closed doors, when no one is looking, is what makes or breaks your brand. Details, both human and technical, are always on the minds of great brand owners. They know if you don’t take care of things on the inside it won’t be long before everyone can see your “rusty” brand.

Nothing is more important than how you care for your business, organization or career. Your brand is reflection of the kind of owner you are. Humans always mark the things they own. It just works that way. Take care of what you got.

Postscript: My father passed away 12 years ago from a brain tumor. We were able to bring him home and care for him in his last days. It was a tough three weeks. When the Wagner boys didn’t know what to do with ourselves, we washed Dad’s car.

From www.ownyourbrand.com

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