Branding - The Power Of Building A Brand

I want to start off by saying that this post isn't entirely about travelling, but I find it more than relevant for all you who are interested in reading about travelling. The reason for this is that focusing on this aspect is the only reason I am able to travel full time now! So here we go -

In the light of my latest partnership I wanted to write something a little different for you guys this time, and talk to you about what components need to fall into place to be able to go from simply having a camera, to turning that into a business opportunity. I want to go ahead and say that there is one word, more important than anything else, which will be the answer to most of your questions, and this is; “brand”. Establishing your brand, is what will open doors for you – and branding is a lot of things, but most importantly; it is a full representation of your work, your core values and beliefs, and the way you express these things through your output. That output could be any form of content, but in my opinion branding is only possible with some sort of content.

Product shoot of Shaping New Tomorrow in Bali

I don’t mean you have to sit down and be creative, you could literally just stand and talk, and if that is ever recorded and surfaces anywhere, that counts as content. I think a brand is the strongest selling point in the world of marketing at the moment, and being able to tell a story is what will establish, and continue to develop your personal brand. The way I believe we need to look at it in this day of age, is that we (anyone who is active online on any social media platform) are the modern day commercial output. If you think about what “influencers” are, you will quickly realize that they are basically just the tv commercials of todays age. No one watches commercials on tv anymore, as soon as they come on we either skip them or whip out our phones – so that is the first important thing to understand in my humble opinion.

Once we understand that and believe in the power of social media, we then need to think about who we like to follow? What incentivizes us to follow someone? Is it their style of content? Or are they funny? Do they have an important message? It could be any of the above, but TYPICALLY, the people who we follow the closest, are the people who are taking us on a sort of journey, telling a story along the way – almost as if it’s the longest season of a tv show ever, where we get tiny insights and updates on a daily basis. When we look at the bigger picture, we then have to start thinking about “well who is going to pay me to tell a story?” – that’s where the marketing manager of your favorite company comes in!

Typically, if you are putting out some sort of content, and you have favorite companies of any sort, you are probably creating a form of brand alignment in one way or another without even thinking about it. Most people strive to be what inspires them, or at least include aspects of this. Brand’s are always looking for new creators or “influencers” to work with to get the message/product/brand out – through their social channels to loyal audiences. You can bet on the fact that these companies are getting smarter and smarter as this social media world develops, and now having followers is not the main goal – it may once have helped you in every scenario, but its getting a lot more specific as more people are entering the space – with this development companies are also starting to realize where their marketing budgets are best spent.

The companies who are invested in social media marketing are going to be looking to find audiences that are aligned with whatever it is they are selling, so if you are into fashion and you have a blog about fashion and design, your dream client is probably going to be some sort of establishment or company in this industry right? Well there you go – then you’ve already got it figured out. But if you’re writing/posting about fashion, but in reality you have grown to care more about visiting remote countries where “fashion” as we know it isn’t relevant, then you should probably reconsider your options! That’s not to say you need to start over, but instead start telling a story – start focusing on “what is the fashion of this region” and turn it into a creative read/watch.

In my opinion there are always ways to find alignment with brands, but it will more and more frequently, continue to come down to the story telling aspect – what story are you telling with or on behalf of the brand, and why is it relevant. I must add – probably THE MOST IMPORTANT thing about branding is that you should AWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS make sure to only promote something to your audience, that you actually think provides value – If no value is provided, you will become irrelevant and thus have less authority in all of this.

I partnered up with Shaping New Tomorrow for several reasons – they are a Danish company, which makes it relatable on a national level – they are also pushing entrepreneurial energy as a focal point in their company (which is what I always promote to all of you guys who are following along – being your own boss/pioneer) – and then outside of the story and branding, their clothes is made to fit both casual and outdoor environments and I actually really really love their gear as it is durable and I can walk through jungles or go for a hike in it, but I can also go out to dinner in the same clothes so its perfect for what I do. In addition to that they are supporting communities in less financially fortunate/more remote places in the world, and are also making alot of their clothes with sustainable sources of recycled plastic. On top of all of that, they want me to shoot my own style of content, and simply incorporate their clothes, as one of their main goals in their marketing is to show and prove that the quality allows the clothes to be utilized in all and any conditions.

The reasons above outline a partnership that is very obvious – and after pursuing my passion for almost 2 years full time, the partnership sort of almost landed on my doorstep, “simply” because it got to a point where my personal private brand, and the brand of Shaping New Tomorrow just aligned so perfectly that it only made sense to work together. That's not to say that it is easy, it takes weeks/months of planning to find out the best route to take to promoting a brand or product to an audience, but when the brand alignment is already established before partnering, it becomes a whole more relevant.

I hope that you guys found some value from reading this – and well done if you made it this far!

Happy adventuring friends! Feel free to ask any questions here or on DM on Instagram and I will get back to you asap!