BR Lesson 4: Book Rapper’s Identity Crisis

Book Rapper has had four different identities.
And I don’t just mean a logo in the corner.
Each of these identities include registering, hosting and designing a website.
And they include logo designs too.

Four Versions

1. The first ever issue went out under the banner of ‘The Idea Service‘.
2. The second issue went out as ‘Corporate Book Club‘.
3. The third incarnation was as ‘Book Rapper‘.
4. And, some where in the middle I designed an issue and announced to my supporters that I was changing to ‘Trendrap‘. I really liked ‘Trendrap’ – particularly I liked the visual appearance of the word. Thankfully with ‘Trendrap’ I listen to the howls of complaint and switched back to ‘Book Rapper’ before it was too late.

My New Identity

And now, well, I’ve even been introduced as ‘The Book Rapper’.
And, I’ve even met people with the following introduction, ‘This is Book Rapper, I don’t even know his first name, I just know he’s the Book Rapper.’
You know your branding is working when you’re know by your brand.

So what does all this mean?

No, It wasn’t a lack of clarity.
It was more a case of putting something up and out into the world and seeing what response you get.
In the first couple of issues, getting the documents done was more important than trying to call it something.

Shipping

This was a deliberate effort to overcome procrastination and perfectionism.

Or as Seth Godin has said in Linchpin, referring to Steve Jobs, ‘sometimes you just have to SHIP!’
Then, as things developed we were able to hone into what we were actually doing and refine the branding and identity as a result.

PS: I can confirm that we’re sticking with Book Rapper.

Lesson : Don’t let getting it right get in the road of getting it done. Some times you have to let things evolve. If you’re open and honest about what’s going on people will understand. And with a little luck they might even give some good feedback.