I am sure this may not come to a surprise for faculty and staff at the university, but as I continue throughout the program I am reassured I made the correct choice in choosing this program. This course in storytelling and brand development has helped me a lot in my journey as a creative looking to turn their dream into a reality. In the course of four weeks the idea for a business I have been developing for a little over a year has finally come full circle. It has gone through 3 iterations from a media group, to a production company, to a creative agency. Making that transition from creative to business-person and more importantly the leader of a business, your storytelling and brand identity are über important. These two ideas are the sole reason people decide to buy-in to not only your company, but you as a leader.
I knew the reasoning behind my business and the name, but in talking to people over the year I have noticed that the explanation of what I want it to be changes. This course was a huge help in establishing my creative identity. The idea for Scarab Creative comes from my love of ancient Egypt. I admired their culture as they seem to embody creativity from their clothing, to their writing and sculptures. Something that has always stuck out to me as well was their polytheistic culture and how they had many gods and goddesses which they used in a way of respecting everything that comes from the world and others. Khepri, which means “to create” or “to transform” is the god of creation and is responsible for the movement of the sun, life and resurrection. His symbol is the scarab or dung beetle as it represents his movement of the sun through the sky every day. As a creative I see every day as an opportunity to create and live for moments to use my “right” brain to solve problems.
I underestimate this course as I mistook your story and brand identity for simply your vision and mission statements. This course expounded on those idea teaching me how to create my brand position statement, establish creative goals, and a brand promise. The tool of the brand identity prism is a great one to have in order to not only stay true to the expectations I set for myself but to look for areas of both growth and opportunity. The opportunity to conduct market research in was great for not only finding my niche but seeing that there are opportunities for my brand to exists in what seems like such a saturated content market. I was able to hone in on my specific audience of aspiring and emerging urban creatives and the different traditional and digital platforms to connect and distribute their works. All in all, this course helped me to develop the same excitement for creating my business as I have when I am creating. I am looking forward to continuing to develop my business in both acumen and marketing and development.
Ishmael McKinney-Mastery Journal 