battles in building a brand

contrary to some IG dweebs, building a brand isn’t just picking a cool and mysterious name, designing a logo, and revelling in your success at parties.

it’s a slow, lonely journey with more confusion than a drunken walk back to your hostel in foreign country.

and just like a 7/11 at the end of a long night, i hope this post can also be a beacon of light and hope in an often confusing adventure.

here’s my thoughts on building a brand:

can’t save souls in an empty church

no one gives a fuck.

no one’s waiting for your product to launch. no one checks your instagram.
you have to earn every second of attention you get. and it’s a slog.

there’s no shortcut here. ya can’t buy loyalty or fast-track trust.

trust grows at the speed of a coconut tree and falls at the speed of a coconut

you show up, over and over, and trust that people will take notice of your herculean efforts. (not being a drama queen, i am insanely appreciative now of the effort it is to create things. shoutout other small biz homies)

if you don’t go out and do the work of teaching people how to appreciate you, your odds of being appreciated are very, very slim. - viskanv

be authentic

this instant classic on /r/streetwearstartup sums it up

Your brand doesn’t need to be fake deep

Everyday I see posts on here from new brands that claim wearing them will make you feel xyz way or that they represent these grand ideas or feelings. And 99.9% of the time they look like shit. Nobody cares about your fake deep philosophical or emotional background origin story for your brand. I guarantee you that most famous brands you see today didn’t start out because they were trying to evoke certain emotions, they started out because they wanted to make cool shit that people actually wanted to wear and/or they captured the spirit of a specific scene (skating being the best example). Stop wasting time coming up with these stories and put that time into learning how to design and putting out better work.

“finding your voice” can be a cringe term. but it’s true. you gotta figure out how to sound like you.

not like other brands you admire. not like what’s trending this week. like you.

your voice (the tone, the message, the values) sets the foundation for everything you do.

but here’s the hard part: your voice only gets clearer by using it.

you’re gonna have to publish 100x insta posts. record cringe tiktoks. talk to customers. figure out what feels right. you’ll cringe early on (and later too). that’s normal. keep yapping.

consistency without boredom

for both myself and frens following along.

consistency builds recognition. but freshness keeps people (myself included) interested. the best can do both.

be consistent! but also keep evolving! that balance is tough. if you change too much, it breeds confusion. if you stay the same, you risk becoming stale.

in all honesty, i don’t think i have this part fully figured out. who cares?

trust the process that everything will work.

pushing through the passive

starting out sucks. you'll bust ya balls working on a post and get two likes.

lean into that. post what you enjoy making. try new things you wouldn’t otherwise. you have no expectations. embrace that!

i already miss those early days with sub-100 followers where i could most a smattering of deranged shit.

“Develop your eccentricities while you are young. That way, when you get old, people won’t think you’re going gaga.” - David Ogilvy

but trust that by being consistently you, you will find your tribe.

because bit by bit, people notice. they tell a friend. someone then places an order. someone leaves feedback to say they love what you’re doing.

Wagga Wagga wasn’t built in a week or something like that.

it’s personal

for me, okka isn’t just business. it’s personal. i love this shit.

to labor in the arts for any reason other than love is prostitution.

it constantly asks me to be vulnerable, to put myself and my work out there without knowing how it’ll be received.

it’s hard. but that’s also what makes it worth it.

if it was easy, everyone would do it.