Have you ever had someone give you a piece of advice that sticks with you throughout your entire life?

I have.

It came from an engineer.

He said (drum roll please for this profound wisdom), “If you can’t figure out why something isn’t working, unplug it and plug it back in.”

This well-educated, talented engineer said most of the challenges people bring him are solved by “unplugging it and plugging it back in.”

I love it. It’s pretty much the perfect advice – simple, effective, no frills, and it works.

It’s advice that reorients us back to the basics.

I was reminded of getting back to the basics earlier this week when a client was tackling some branding challenges they were facing.

Now remember, branding is the identity and story of the company – think logos, taglines, tone, values, etc.

This client felt like folks at his company weren’t on the same page when it came to understanding and being able to articulate the company brand.

He had a lot of thoughts and ideas about why this was, and I listened to all of them.

And when all was said and done, I asked three back to basic questions.

● Do you feel like you have a good understanding of what your brand is? (If not, let’s startthere!)

● If so, do you have a branding guide that thoroughly and clearly explains what the brand is?

● If so, is everyone in your company aware of the key elements of the branding guide?

These are not earth shattering questions, but when you can’t see the forest for the marketing trees, they can be amazingly impactful for getting yourself on the right track.

If you’re lost when it comes to branding, ask yourself those three questions, and if you get stuck, we’re here to help. Sometimes going back to basics is exactly what you need to keep moving forward.