The Olsen Theory: Why the Real Brand Is You

By Mandy Shunnarah

The traditional steps in creating a brand include a logo, often with a specific Pantone color, a blog, and a multi-platform social media presence. Yet, the Olsen Twins have managed to capture the nation’s attention for 27 years, their entire lives, without the traditional approach. Jessica Nell Graves, Creative Director at Shops Around Lenox and early blog adopter at The Love List, explained the secret to the Olsen Twins’ branding success at the Southern Coterie Summit earlier this month in Athens, Ga.

“The Olsen Twins are a great example of branding success because they’re not just selling a product or information. They’re selling a lifestyle, which has evolved as they’ve gotten older. Because what they’re selling has changed over time and they don’t have the traditional branding logo and Pantone color, that means their brand has always been them,” Graves explained.

She urged bloggers and entrepreneurs to humanize their brand as a means of better connecting with followers. Seeing the faces behind the brand leaves followers confident in the brand’s transparency and helps customers identify with the brand.

“If you want to see how adding a face to the brand can boost business, just look at Jenna Lyons, the Creative Director of J. Crew. She’s almost as famous as J. Crew itself and international fashion magazines detail what she’s wearing each new season. The J in J. Crew might as well stand for Jenna,” said Graves.

Like Lyons, the Olsen Twins own their brand and they’re their own ambassadors. They’ve inserted themselves into their brand and found their voice in dialogue with their followers.

“Don’t be afraid to own your brand and post pictures of yourself doing so. Mary-Kate and Ashley aren’t afraid of being photographed slinking all over New York City in black, rockabilly garb and smoking cigarettes. They’ve nailed down who they are and are comfortable in their own skin. That’s what it takes,” Graves said. “Your face is your brand.”

Graves suggest openly sharing your ideas, opinions, and tastes, and writing in first-person to do so. Although there’s a certain vulnerability in doing this, it’s ultimately forwarding your brand, she argues. And if there comes a time when someone disagrees, don’t apologize for your taste.

“You have to defend your brand while showing that you don’t just have a knack for whatever you’re doing,” said Graves, “you have a unique take on it.”

Another way you can improve your blog, and therefore your brand, is to make it look more professional by forming a partnership with a local photographer. Having someone in charge of photography means better photos of you sporting your brand. It’s a partnership that’s good exposure for both parties and shows that you’re open to collaboration, which Graves says you shouldn’t be afraid to embrace.

“Don’t get angry if others are doing something similar to what you’re doing. Either embrace a collaboration or move on because the idea is so old someone else is using it. Brand success doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” Graves said.

If you still feel uneasy about personalizing your brand start by focusing on and sharing who you are within the context of your brand. Later you can open up more as an individual in other contexts because you’ll then be identified as your brand.

About the Southern Coterie Summit: The Southern Coterie Summit, or Southern C Summit, is a conference series that brings the together “best of Southern brands, bloggers, businesses and an assortment of Southern creatives to collaborate, create and innovate.” The conference is an extension of The Southern Coterie: The Social Network of the South. For more information on the next conference in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 17, check out the Southern Coterie Summit website.

Mandy Shunnarah is a freelance writer and editor, and an aspiring novelist. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, learning to letterpress, watching Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, and finding stray cats to cuddle with. Follow her on Twitter at @fixedbaroque and @awhitewrites.