I was listening to NPR on the way to work yesterday when I caught them talking about Starbucks. Seeing as how I am a fan of coffee and also heading to Seattle next week, my ears perked up, no pun intended.

The story was about how Starbucks is struggling and how in the past, they came out of rough times thanks to the strength of their brand. But there are doubts that their brand will be able to help them out this time around, as in their quest to become bigger and “better” as quickly as possible has led to a watering down of their brand (and their coffee, but I digress).

Just think about it: you see the Starbucks logo staring at you in the bookstore, in the gas station, in the grocery store, in the airport. And while convenience can be really great for some things, in Starbucks’ case it is only hurting their original quest to sell a really good cup of coffee. People are turning to independent coffee shops or McDonald’s to get their coffee fix, often at a lower price.

So what does this have to do with professional writing? In my line of work, we are all about the brand and protecting the strength of the brand, from using corporate font faces, standardized logo placement, color guidelines, and more. I think this is common practice across organizations, creating the corporate identity and sticking to it.

But shouldn’t we also be thinking about our own professional identity? (more…)