On the seventh day God rests from the task of completing the heavens and the earth: “So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all his work which he had done in creation.”

I was thinking the other day about branding and became interested in the notion that just about everything holds some sort of brand identity, even the days of the week. Sunday is the day of rest. A time to sleep in, go to church (if that’s your thing), spend time with the family or even do some gardening. Perhaps you’ll go for a Sunday Drive?

Sunday doesn’t have a logo (neither do Monday through Saturday). It’s a set of experiences that stemmed from a basic positioning statement: the seventh day would be blessed and hallowed and was to be a day of rest…all of the other experiences filled in over time.

If you ever start a branding or re-branding project don’t start with the logo. Start with the statement of what you want the experiences and interactions with your brand to be and the rest will eventually fall into place.

All markets have a rank order. There’s a number one, two, three…and so on. And, like in any race the largest reward goes to first place.

Remember that every person perceives the market differently. Who’s the leader in my mind might be different than the leader in your mind. Coke may be number one to me…and Pepsi number one to you….it really depends.

It’s important to recognize the distinction, because if you are telling everybody you are number one and everybody thinks you are number two, your audience will stop listening. You’ve lost credibility.

Find out what position you first hold (in your audience’s mind) then set out the plan to move to the position you want.

People pay attention to new. The media pays attention to new. It’s in the name…break it apart (Sesame Street style)…’NEW’…’S'…..news.

If you have a choice between line extending an old idea (like the new Reebok Lawn Shoe)…or creating something entirely new (the Grass Gator…fictional of course), then your best bet is to go with the new. Segway was new. They created a new market space. Tivo was new. Again, a new space…see the pattern?

Each could have attached themselves to the old, but they didn’t. The Segway resisted the temptation to call it a Stand Up Transport Machine. Tivo resisted the urge to call it the digital VCR. Both received massive exposure; for almost nothing.