We continue our business development studies today from where we left off last week. Last week we began the study on branding, examining the philosophical and conceptual framework of branding as a discipline. We traced the origin of the word, “logo” to Logos and looked at the historical context of Logos. We established that Jesus as Logos is God’s corporate logo. He says he’s the graphic representation of the Father. (John 14:9) To read the previous posts from this business development series please go to www.myilluminare.com.
The logo is a store of economic value. It is not just a motif on the corporate letterhead. A logo is an economic asset. The most valuable asset of the Coca-Cola Corporation is not the bottling plants. Neither is it the famed “secret” formula. The most valuable asset of the Coca-Cola Corporation is the Coca-Cola trademark. That trademark is the key asset. There’s nothing so secret about the Coca-Cola formula that any lab can’t break down. And anyway, the constituent elements of Coke are listed on the bottle. The secretiveness of the “formula” is just marketing. Under the watch of the late CEO, Robert Goizueta, the bottling plants were spun off for accounting purposes. Coca-Cola International is quite separate and distinct from its bottling companies. Many of those are partnerships. Coca-Cola International can be regarded as an intellectual property corporation. It controls the trademark and “secret” formula.
What is the value of the Coca-Cola brand? In 2015 the brand was valued at $83.84bn. Whereas total assets was $90.093bn. But how does all this relate to Jesus? What’s Coke got to do with him? Well, let’s first establish an interesting principle. Proverbs 23:23 (MSG) says, “Buy truth – don’t sell it for love or money; buy wisdom, buy education, buy insight.” If the Bible tells you to buy wisdom, it means wisdom is an economic asset. It has economic value. Colossians 2:3 says in Jesus “are hid ALL the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Follows he’s a depository of economic assets and value. He’s a carrier of invaluable assets. Colossians 1:19 (MSG) says: “So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe – people and things, animals and atoms – get properly fixed & fit together in vibrant harmonies all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross”. The Amplified version of that verse says, “For it has pleased the Father that all divine fullness – the sum total of the divine attributes should dwell in Him (Jesus) permanently.” Therefore the wealth of God is stored in Jesus, not in cattle on a thousand hills. (Psalm 50:10) God only said he owns cattle on a thousand hills to show he’s not hungry. It’s not really a measure of his wealth. God bestowed on Jesus a name above all names. Therefore he has the highest brand valuation in the world. “Therefore God has highly exalted him and freely bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” (Philippians 2:9) The brand recognition of Jesus is cross-dimensional. It’s recognized in heaven, on earth and under the earth. “That at the name of Jesus every knee must bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” (Philippians 2:10)
Think of all the brand applications, associations and extensions of the name of Jesus and you have some idea of its clout. What if God decided to license the use of the name of Jesus? Now, that’s an interesting thought! It wasn’t Joseph and Mary who gave Jesus his name, it was God himself who came up with the brand name. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him, Mary his wife would have a son: “And you’re to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) It was God who named Jesus. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua, which means Saviour. The name of Jesus encapsulated a vision – salvation of the world. The question then is, what vision is embedded in the name of your corporation?
If your brand name cannot cross geographic borders, or jump cultural barriers you have a name that can’t travel. A name that can’t travel can signify a lack of global vision. Or at least it doesn’t demonstrate it. If your business name plays too much to geographically delineated cultural nuances you’ve circumscribed your vision. That is the lesson from LG, the company originally known as Lucky Gold Star. The name Lucky Gold Star played well in Asian culture but fared poorly in western culture. This affected the sale of the products, limited the prosperity of the company. It didn’t matter how good the products were. A poor brand name is a disservice to the quality of your products. It will circumscribe your prosperity. Western consumers didn’t want a television called Lucky Gold Star in their living rooms, hence the change to LG. LG was then marketed as Life’s Good! As expected, the change of name and logo cost a few dollars. A poor and limited brand name that has prospered some costs a lot to change. But it’s not wise to name your company an alphabet soup from inception. Corporations like IBM and LG arrived at alphabet soup names for strategic purposes. They were not originally alphabets. IBM and LG arrived at alphabet soup names as extensions of the equity already invested in original names. They had to change their names to adapt to environmental context and business realities. They were already well known brands. They just transferred the equity to the new brand name. Naming your company an alphabet soup from inception will get you lost in translation.
We’ll continue our series next week.
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If you’ll like to give your life to Christ please pray this prayer: “Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I know that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for me and that you raised him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Christ is Lord and I receive him as my Lord and my Saviour. I am now born again. Amen.”
© Leke Alder | talk2me@lekealder.com