Hello again! 🤍
Lately, life has felt like it has been opening one door after another. Doors I might not even have imagined knocking on just a little while ago.
One of those doors has been our collaboration with Vogue.
Next Monday, I’m actually attending a Vogue event – and honestly, I couldn’t be more excited. ✨ I can’t wait to see who I’ll meet, what conversations will unfold and, most importantly, what new connections, networks and opportunities this might open up for us.
But perhaps the most interesting part of this project has been how much it has already taught me about branding.
When we talk about branding, we often think about the visual identity first.
Brand colours.
Fonts.
Photography.
Copy.
Tone of voice.
The logo.
And yes – all of these things are part of a brand.
But the more I’ve built my own brands and had the opportunity to work with different international players, the more I’ve started to think that a brand is so much more than how it looks.
In fact, I think we should almost treat a brand like a person.
It should have its own personality: Its own values. Its own worldview. Its own interests. Its own energy. Its own way of speaking and behaving. Its own dreams.
And above all – its own reason for existing.
Only when these things are truly clear can you start building the visual identity, content, events, partnerships and everything else around them.
This is a question I’ve started asking myself a lot.
If your brand walked into this room right now, what kind of person would walk through the door?
How would they dress?
How would they speak?
What would excite them?
What kind of people would they want around them?
What would they care about?
What would they never do?
What kind of places would they love?
What kind of conversations would they want to have?
And most importantly – how would it feel to be around them?
To me, this is one of the most fascinating parts of branding.
A brand isn’t simply a surface built around a company. It can become an entire world that people want to step into.
And when a brand is genuinely built around its own values and personality, it doesn’t need to try to appeal to everyone.
It starts attracting the right people.
One thing I’ve learned over and over again through entrepreneurship is that having a strong identity also means being willing not to be everything.
You don’t have to like everything.
Everyone doesn’t have to understand your brand.
Everyone doesn’t have to be your target audience.
And your brand doesn’t have to look like whatever happens to be working for someone else right now.
In fact, the more we try to build a brand that pleases everyone, the easier it becomes for it to lose its personality.
A little bit like people.
Think about someone who constantly changes the way they dress, speak, what they’re interested in and even what they believe depending on who they are around.
They might get along with everyone – but how many people actually know who they are?
The same applies to brands.
A magnetic brand dares to be something.
It can be luxurious or playful.
Bold or subtle.
Minimalistic or expressive.
Serious or slightly rebellious.
What matters is not what it should be.
What matters is that it is genuinely recognisable.
And perhaps that is why building a brand ultimately starts much deeper than a logo or an Instagram feed.
It starts with one question:
Who are we really?
Once you know the answer, so many other things start falling into place.
Maybe that is why I’ve started seeing branding in a completely different way.
It is strategy, but it is also creativity.
It is business, but it is also imagination.
It is about being able to look beyond what currently exists – and having the courage to create something that doesn’t exist yet.
When you build a brand, you are allowed to think big.
You are allowed to be a little unrealistic.
You are allowed to combine things that wouldn’t normally be combined.
You are allowed to create moods, stories, worlds and experiences.
And perhaps that is exactly why I love it so much.
To me, branding is a form of art.
I’ve experienced this particularly strongly through this Vogue project. It hasn’t simply been about how something looks or what something says.
We are building a whole.
A world.
A feeling.
A perception of what our brand stands for and the kind of people we want to surround it with.
And at the same time, I’ve noticed that the better I understand our brand identity, the easier everything else becomes.
Choosing the right partners.
Planning events.
Creating the visual identity.
Communication.
Content.
And even deciding which opportunities we say yes to.
That’s why next Monday, I’m going into this event above all with curiosity.
I want to listen.
Meet people.
Have conversations.
Learn.
And see what this door might open next.
Maybe a new collaboration.
Maybe a new friendship.
Maybe a new idea.
Maybe an opportunity I can’t even imagine yet.
Lately, I’ve also been thinking a lot about how quickly life can change when you dare to say yes to things that feel both a little scary and incredibly exciting at the same time.
You don’t have to know everything beforehand.
Sometimes, you simply have to walk through the door.
And see what’s waiting on the other side. 🤍
Perhaps one of the most beautiful things about entrepreneurship is that when you first dare to build something that truly feels like you, the right people, collaborations and opportunities gradually start finding their way around it.
You don’t have to build a brand that everyone loves.
Build a brand that the right people want to belong to.
And perhaps that is where the most exciting part begins. ✨
