I talk about brand identity a lot. Every day. Discussing all of the strategies, elements, tactics, and tools involved in building a great one. Yet it still doesn't stop me from being affected by it all. If I was a magician, I would be less affected by another magician's tricks because I would know what they're doing behind the scenes in order to make it happen. Not the case with brand identity.

I realized this 2 weeks ago, while Blake and I were in Kenya and sitting in lots of traffic looking at the cars around.  I kept noticing what looked like the Lexus RX400, but it had a Toyota logo on it instead.  Turns out it's a Toyota Harrier.  Now I know that Toyota owns Lexus, but still it didn't seem to fit.  Lexus is a high end brand that should stand for luxury, whole Toyota is an any-man's brand that stands for affordability and reliability.

It doesn't matter how much I know about branding, it still drives the way my mind sees companies and brands.  That's powerful.

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