When your job involves branding, you should prioritize asking questions. To the people responsible for a brand, or those who aspire to success in branding, that might be counterintuitive. Aren’t you supposed to have all the answers?
In some ways, yes, you have to filter ideas and communicate your brand’s framework. But the truth is that the more you think you know about the brand, the more dangerous you potentially are. Because if you think you know the answers, you are making assumptions.
Brands aren’t static—they are organic, and they are affected every day by internal and external forces. By continually asking questions, you stay curious, humble, and open to new insights that can contribute to the long-term health and reputation of a brand.
I can think of few things more perilous in branding than making assumptions before asking questions. You could make statements that your organization’s culture can’t support. You could inoculate yourself to the genuine authenticity of your brand. You could assume that people understand your company’s brand when in truth, they don’t. Questions are your best defense against these branding risks.
Who should you be asking questions?
Ask your customers, ask your colleagues, ask your team, ask your boss, ask the intern, ask the person who left a negative review, ask the security guard, ask the driver dropping you off, ask your neighbor.
And how should you ask questions? Genuinely, without presuming that you know the answer. Sometimes your questions will lead to insights you don’t yet have but should, and sometimes those questions help you understand that people don’t perceive your company (and therefore your brand) the way you thought they did.
What kind of questions should you ask?
Ask questions about anything that you are curious about. And when you ask a question, listen openly, and if something in the answer catches your attention, ask more questions to get at the heart of something new or clarifying. You success in branding depends on this endless curiousity.
Ask external people what they’ve heard about the company, how they would describe it, or what their experience has been with it. Ask internal people what they are working on lately, how their team is doing, or what they want to learn. Ask your boss what their priorities are, what they care about, and what they see in the company’s future.
Some of the best moments in my career started with a question that led to a revelation that I wouldn’t have had on my own. And I could have avoided some of my biggest mistakes if I had just asked more questions from the start.