Branding 101 The Yellowstone Way

The term brand originally came from the cowboys who would brand their cattle to know which cattle belonged to which property owner. That brand became the representation of that property, that property owner and all they stood for. In the last few weeks I have become engrossed in the brilliant series Yellowstone on Stan. It’s a story about a Montana family, the Duttons who own and run a cattle property called Yellowstone. An underlying story line is just what the Yellowstone brand means to the family. John Dutton (Kevin Costner) says to his head wrangler Rip “The brand isn’t something you earn, it’s something you live up to.” Imagine if you and everyone in your company lived up to the highest possible standards that you as a leader set for the brand. Standards that every team member wanted to be a part of… aspired to achieve and be proud to associate themselves with. Wear it with pride where other people look at you and say “you really get to work for them?”. It would be something others would write about. Sadly for many, the brand is just a logo to stick on an invoice. To have a brand to live up to, you need to have an imbedded mission you would sacrifice for, true authentic values, strong leadership and consistency over the passage of time. It’s doable.