BRAND, BRAND IDENTITY, and BRANDING

I was awakened by an excited voice of a little girl singing with full energy at the top of her voice. In a few seconds, I felt a pair of little hands pulling my blanket away. Then she said: wake up Lola (Grandmother in my case it is grand-aunt)…. then she continued singing over and over again. Instantly I was made to understand better what brand, branding, and brand identity mean.

Allow me to let you hear a part of her song before I continue to explain. Click on the picture below and you will be led to the last part of her singing that I managed to record.

Now you may be asking what it’s got to do with the brand?

Let me now write the lyrics: Lola finger, Lola finger what do you do? Then she answered that question singing: playing bubbles, playing bubbles (that is what you do). Although the last five words were not captured in that video, many parents are familiar with that nursery song. Going back to the brand, I learned from social media marketing that it is the experience you get from the products or services of the company. Having said that, what my niece is singing is the experience she is getting every time she comes to my house: playing bubbles. For her, Lola is the brand name or logo, playing bubbles is my brand. Branding is the collective number of days that she experience playing bubbles with Lola.

BRAND, BRAND IDENTITY, AND BRANDING

Taking from the story above it is now easy for me to understand Brand. From what I learned what best defines a brand is an overall experience that your customer gets from your product or services. I remember in the 1970s and 80s parents buy a particular brand of shoes that is reliably durable that can withstand the high-impact activity of running, jumping, dragging, and kicking which school children do during breaktime and playtime. In fact, whenever a new parent asks fellow parents why they buy that shoes, they will answer: it is reliably durable that it can last until the next school year… so durable it is that some kids who would like to have new shoes tend to scrub the sole to the concrete in order to hasten the wearing and tearing. That overall impact is the brand. It is not much of what businesses tell their customer but what the customers tell each other.

On the other hand, whenever a new parent asks: what shoes they can recommend that’s proven to last until the end of a school year or even beyond many parents will answer: (da, da, da, dum…drum rolls) “Greg Shoes.” That is the brand identity of that shoes. It is all the audio-visual expression of your company: name, logo, colors, fonts, and at times campaign jingle or music.

What about branding?

Branding is the process of directing company activities towards making your products and services deliver the kind of experience you want your customer to perceive. It is the overall perception that you want your customer to talk about when they recommend your product or services to friends. It may also be the other way around. Branding can be the steps that your company takes in order to address what the customer wanted to experience in your product or services.

Overall, I can surmise that Brand, Brand Identity, and Branding is continuing lifecycle in marketing.

Lion Dream

On 15th day of lockdown due to COVID 19 , I had a dream, and it goes like this…

It was a sunny ☉ day at the open area before forest, I was with 1 male and 1 female stranger beside a tree 🌳. The conversation started:

Me 👧: Where is the lion?

Man👦: It is nowhere in sight

Lady 👩: Come let us climb a tree.

We then all climbed the tree , too scared

Lady 👩: He is behind us!

We all went down the tree. The man went to the lion unafraid. He acts like a lion whisperer. He pet the lion while I stand frozen. The lion however face himself before me, rest his body on the floor and his head on his paws.

👦: Streatch your arms together with open palm.

With fear, I streatched both my arms , with palms open . The lion approached me and lay his face on my palm. I started to pet him, then he turned lattery exposing his tummy which I then started scratching.

Next Scene…

I find myself hiding in the kitchen looking outside through a window beside the door. I can view the lion going to the terrace where some kids are. Then my big brother came, I told him, there is a lion there at the terrace. We looked again, O saw the lion standing calmly while kids move to the side, standing still, afraid of what the lion will do next…

I awake.

Carry Me to Boracay

While there are 7,102 islands in the Philippines, it may be difficult to find reasons to visit Boracay again. Yet with the recent rehabilitation efforts made, it is worth a try. So to get the maximum benefit of my money and other resources, I thought of bringing my carry me bike sd.

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Packing my carry me bike sd as a check in laguage is no hassle. With the help of cling wrap, I simply surround it with re-used styropore and wrapped it with a re-cycled cardboard. I however made the rolling wheels protuding for easy transport while not yet in-use. For safety reason however, I deflated the wheels so it won’t burst like the released ballons to the sky.

Rolling carry me bike is an eye catcher. Hidden inside a recycled cardboard tightened by a clingwrap with a protuding rolling wheels makes heads turn at the mystery of the package inside. Transit is also no problem, given the wheels and its light weight I have no problems asking from the travel agent or boatman to help me load my bike.

Keeping my carry me bike in the hotel room is no space consuming even when unfolded. Folded, it can be parked at the corner or under a table or bed. Unfolded, it can be parked beside a wall, bed and even under the bed.

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Carry me around Boracay, is a small but terrific experience. It’s portability gives me the confidence that if something goes wrong it is easy to load it into a tricycle and bring it to the vulcanizing shop. And that is what I just did to have my bike inflated again and put the exterior to the right places. That trip to the vulcanizing shop brought me to inner street and meet some locals. From that vulcanizing shop my carry me to Boracay adventure begins.

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Carry me to Boracay: Bulabog Beach

Flu and getting lost is no hindrance to me in exploring Boracay. Kicking the pedal from the bridge beside the vulcanizing shop at Laguna de Boracay is a clueless jouney of where my carry me bike will take me. Finally, I reached Balabag lake and knew I am already near the hotel where am staying. But the nice asphalted parallel street had me taking it wrongly as the main road and so I got lost. Yet by fate of goodness, led me to discover Bulabog Beach.

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  Shed with location map signage

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Bulabog beach is a first time experience for me. I checked some reviews on line and so I learned that it is the kite surfing area of Boracay. I took a respite to take some photos of my carry me bike at the waiting shed that was newly made by the government. Then I headed to the shore to have a photo of my carry me bike at the foreground of kite surfer.

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Bulabog beach due to abundant of grass sea weed is not a swimming destination, rather it is the kite surfer’s paradise because it is nestled on the windy part of Boracay. Looking back at location map I realized that am very near my hotel, so I decided to bike further.

Carry me to the Floating Board Walk

Map My Ride log of my route

Biking further along the coast of Bulabog beach is an exciting sight of blue board walk. After receiving a permission from the security guard, I hit the pedal with great enthusiasm. The cruise on the lego-like blocks, is a new exhillirating bumpy ride on floating blue ribbon-like board walk that undulates with the wave. Soon I reached the edge and stopped to let the wonderful “vitamin sea” sink into my very core hoping that it will kick my flu away. I cannot resist to take photo of such a wonderful novelty of a sight and biking feel. Then, I decided to call it a day.

On my way back to my hotel, there are a few mountain bikers on the opposite direction who flashed a smile upon seeing my bike.

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  Carry me at the floating Board Walk

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  Biking on the floating Board Walk

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  At the edge of the floating board walk

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  My Google Map Route

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  My logged biking activity

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Carry Me to Puka Beach

The following day, my carry me bike hit the road to a more challenging destination: Puka Beach. It was a 4.1 km ride onto a hilly terrain with a few muddy, bumpy and floody part due to some excavation going on. I had a few stops along the way to rest for a few moment and mark my journey in google map. Owing to the small size of a wheel, with few stops to rest and take photos, it took me two hours of biking to finally reached Puka Beach.

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Puka Shell Beach is the north tip of Boracay Island. After few snap shots of my carry me bike, I took time to swim near small local kids, while other tourists are pedal surfing, kayaking and having a pre nuptial photo shoot (in my 3 hours of stay there, I witnessed around 2 pre-nuptials photo sessions). It’s name is due to crushed Puka Shells found in it’s sand. At 3pm, I decided to go home before the sky gets dark. The way home is far more difficult climb. There was a sharp turn ascent that made me go down the bike to walk with my bike. Yet after which is relief of slight descent. I arrived the hotel tired but beaming with pride because I came, I Carry Me, I conqured. 😉

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Map My Ride with Elevation Record

Depression: How I Got Out

I have been wanting to share my experience as a survivor of depression but nothing could really set my fingers to start working with these keypads.

Then few weeks ago, following the development of my niece’s pageant, a question was asked from her: how would you help a person experiencing depression? Her answer was quick and short: A person suffering depression needs someone to listen, and I am willing to listen and give some advice to a person suffering from depression. Immediately after a lively exchage of opinions roused among her sibblings, uncles and aunt. Someone said she gave a wrong answer, someone said she gave the right answer, her uncle said she should have read articles on Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade where it said that seeking a professional help is advised. Me on the otherhand regrets the fact that I fail to prepare my niece on that topic. Through my first hand experience, she could have nailed the Q&A. While my niece and her uncle is right, I still find the answers weak in some point. Here’s why:

1) While having listened to at first is part of the solution, it is not always therapeutic. I find being listened to very helpful only for confirmatory diagnosis. But my depression apart from due to burnt out is also due to some kind of addiction in remembering or relishing hurts and pain. Something similar to a grieving person, where relishing memories of the departed beloved brings the pain of loss. Yet, these repetative speaking of my pain makes me relive my hurts, and consequently increasing the stress hormone thereby aggravating depression. Listening therefore has it’s limit. So I decided to cut this seeking to be listened to and sought for other options.

2) Advice. This is the hard part on people who want to help because in my case, advices becomes a painful experience, since as a depressed person I associate it with a reprimand or rejection of my way of doing things. When I was suffering from depression, I would rather hear positive encouring words and inspiration.

3) Psychiatric help. It helped me a lot in identifying my state of depression but the rest becomes an annoying repetative, “on and off” cycle of talk teraphy. Again, because talking much about my pain only

agravates the situation. Although I am not saying they are useless, what am saying is at this point of time, the science of psychology has not yet fully grasp what works and does not work for every depressed person.

So what helped me get out of being depressed?

I got out through physical activity or exercise particularly biking. Why? Because biking is an exercise that recharged my already depleated happy hormone. Moreover, through sweating it out and good breathing, the production of stress hormone was put to a halt. So everytime am asked how I got out of depression, I answer by finding the physical excercise that I enjoy. Thanks to bicycle 😊

Dead Bury the Dead

“Lord let me first go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, let the dead Bury their dead, but do thou go and proclaim the kingdom of God. ” (Lk9:59-60)

This passage took on a new meaning to me when someone close to me who is on a path to change got into trouble. His was already a path toward a financially responsible and respectable lifestyle… but, due to some sort of pride went to see his old friends who remains to be an irresponsible drunkards to boast about his success. After few repeated meetings, he once again fell into drunkenness, lost his mind one night and verbally harassed a lady via private mail. Now, he cannot go back to the town of his birth for fear of being in prison.

Change or conversion if sincerely sought must “let the dead bury the dead. ” Now to me that means, do not go back to your friends who were a living dead. Who are living dead? Those who are alive but are actually wasting their time here on earth in drugs/alcohol/gambling and other form of vices. They are those who are slowly killing themselves and those around them. When we leave them to change our life for the better the old self is dead and left in the memory of those friends who are living dead. To say “Let me go back to bury my father” could be taken figuratively as let me go back to the old environment, the ones I call my home, the one that taught me all these vices. There is no need to go back to them, because if you want remove something in your life (bad habits) you have to do it cold turkey (Bo Sanchez). So, when it comes to bad company that made you who you are, let go. To do otherwise is to put oneself in the danger of losing ones life again. Why? The power of the subconscious that has been deeply rooted in the past. It is too difficult to resist. St. Josemaria once said when it comes to temptation “be brave as to flee.” Bad company is a strong temptation, hence is apt to say let go and let those living dead bury the dead.

Human Resources the Most Important

One of the questions I need to answer in my Comprehensive Exam for Masters in Management is something like this: ” How can you explain to the business leaders that the most important resource are human resources.” Among all the questions asked this is the one that gave me so much delight. &sp; I answered with great pleasure not in technical ways but through two stories:

Why is it important to study Chemistry?

Prayer Before Class

This is a prayer before class that I composed to help students appreciate their lesson..

board version

notebook version

Teacher Retention: Value

Today, I decided to pick up this status of Francis Kong via fb because his phrase is somewhat related to what I read from Bo Sanchez (which hopefully I can insert here….am quute new with Samsung yet…hmmm)

(…got it! Success!!!)…  From these two, I seemed to find help in developing my reqired Business plan paper for my Masteral.  Among private schools, low retention rate of teachers is a well known phenomenon due to greener pastures in public schools.  Yet, we cannot neglect a fact that strong faculty retention gives positive impact on stability of school and continuity to child learning.  Knowing what money represent could be a good starting point in finding solutions.  I believe many teachers uphold certain value more than money.  If they see that there is more to gain in value than what they receive monetarily they will find reason to stay.  I remember back in 90’s there is this auditing firm who pays very low on entry level persinnel yet accounting graduates seek to work and stay for a considerable years because they have good training exposure with them.   This is something that perhaps school administrators could look into… to seek to make their teacher more valuable each year so that they may have reasons to stay.

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