What colour are you?

Personality tests amuse me. Just for fun, go to http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~chua/test/test.html. Discover the real you!

It's amazing, eh? Just from one click I can be totally analyzed! Imagine that.

Just like your uniqueness is based on your personality, brand is the essence of your corporate or organizational personality.

When we were outfitting our office, the office design consultant suggested a sleek, steel look. We were confused.

Barefoot -- on steel?

Not really reflective of our overall brand identity. (I'm trying to convince Larry we should install a sandbox in the reception area...)

Brand is the overarching personality of the company. When you are building brand, remember:

Brand is not an icon, a colour, a font type or a product. It is the underlying personality expressed by various communication components.

Start with the overarching brand statement. Who are you? What do you look like? What colours represent your brand the best? If you are using images or photos in communication and marketing pieces, what kind of photos are you using? What is the mood of the photo?

UNICEF has a great brand. The brand colours are primary - reflective of their overall mission: unite for children. Their photos focus on children with dignity, opportunity and honesty. Perfect to capture the overall brand of an organization. They have a unique UNICEF lexicon that defines their communication materials.

Think about the difference between Please Mum and Baby Gap. Both retail outlets show their personality in the complete communication package: name, logo, store front, products, advertising and communication pieces. Please Mum is about active, growing babies in jeans, t-shirts and running shoes. It's about the basic functionality of the clothing. Baby Gap, on the other hand, is about babies made for the designer world -- a cut above perhaps. Moms at Please Mum wear running shoes and t-shirts, their babies are dressed similarly. Moms at Baby Gap wear designer shoes and labels; their babies wear designer shoes and labels.

Both retailers sell baby clothes -- but they have built their brand personality around their unique selling points.

As you are going through the process of brand, consider outsourcing the discovery process. A consultant or agency specializing in brand can often articulate your core brand personality more effectively than the internal team. They are not as embedded into the business model or organizational/corporate services.

Remember, brand is not your business plan -- it's your core personality. It's who you are: the make-up, the clothes, the language, the friends, the photos. When you're working on brand, play a little. Imagine creating your face book -- what would you post? Who would you invite? What would you write?

Great personalities attract others -- it applies to the business world as well.