(Warning... I'm running on little sleep and lots of coffee, so I may be a little off my game. That makes me even more dangerously passionate I suppose...)

The most common misconception I find in organizations struggling to create or modify their brand is that their brand is something distinct from themselves as individuals and even as an organization. They view it as a pretty logo, or perhaps their tagline, or the sum of all print and web efforts undertaken by the organization. I've never heard someone answer the question "what is your brand" by just saying "me" or even "us." 

I firmly believe that this lack of ownership leads to more failed brand launches and rebrands than any other factor. (Economy excepted, perhaps?) Without a sense that the brand is the organization/product/person there is no driving need to actively and passionately support or defend it. It becomes just another marketing thing to be tested and discarded.

It's not just another anything. It's you. And if you don't believe that you and your organization are special or important then why in the hell should anyone else?

Just dreaming here... but If it was possible to build one of those trapdoor-over-alligator-pit-thingies-with-a-hidden-button in such a way that it'd meet standard building code I'd be a happy man. If a prospective client or interview shows no spark...

Click... Into the pit with you.

Sadly, both our current office and the one we are soon moving to have no room for a pit... Unless maybe we flood the kitchen.

Hmm...