BC Business
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In which BCB's new branding and marketing expert, David Allison, blogs a few words of introduction. Pleased to meet you.
In which BCB’s new branding and marketing expert, David Allison, blogs a few words of introduction. Pleased to meet you.
As this is my first blog post for BCBusiness Online, let me introduce myself, and tell you what I hope to accomplish here. I’m curious about how branded entities of all sizes (companies, charities, individuals, you name it) make decisions about telling their stories. I’m also fascinated by the huge changes being catalyzed by the current economic meltdown, so there will likely be comments and questions on that too.
The title of this blog is an obvious play on a Buddhist koan: “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” Intended to shock the mind into awareness, koans were proposed and debated amongst groups of big thinkers, who, incidentally, usually dressed in robes. My goals are similar: I want to interrogate branding-related topics and make at least some of you, some of the time, think about things in a new way, regardless of what you’re wearing.
Personal info: I’m 43, and a 12-year resident of Vancouver. I’m old enough to remember a time before fax machines but young enough that I have a Twitter account. (It’s @BAdavid, if you were wondering.) I’m a denizen of the Generation X cusp, born in the transition between the boomers and the next wave, and so my worldview reflects both demographics.
Along with my business partner and a tremendously talented staff, I’ve built a firm, Braun/Allison, that specializes in marketing real estate developments and recreational properties around the world, and, just like many of you, I’m trying to find a way to keep my company moving ahead in these turbulent times.
I wrote my first TV commercial at the age of eight. I’ve worked in advertising agencies across Western Canada. I’ve held senior management positions in large companies and been a freelance gun-for-hire. In the past year I’ve traveled across Canada extensively, and to Dubai, New York, London, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Paris, Berlin, Grenada. Between international stops I’ve been involved with projects in Kamloops, Kelowna, Nelson, Tofino, Penticton, and a dozen other spots across beautiful B.C.
I’m sharing all this because I want to give future entries some context. I hope you’ll join me as we explore the now-more-important-than-ever world of branding, and add your own context to the conversations that ensue.