Posted in: Comics, Digital, Recent Updates | Tagged: Comics

It's Not Rocket Science by George Peter Gatsis – Branding Your Character

Say you have an awesome idea for a comic book… where do you begin?

The knee jerk reaction would be to start drawing… or writing a story.

Stop!

Ask yourself a few questions… okay, just one question…

• Do you know how to distinguish your main character from the sea of characters already out there?

If you've answered yes to the question, comeback for the crazy climatic conclusion… same BLEEDING TIME, SAME BLEEDING CHANNEL.

If you've answered NO to the question read on…

BRAND POSITIONING PLATFORM TEMPLATE

The corporate world has a wonderful little formula that BRAND MANAGERS get paid a lot of money … ( and by alot of money… I mean, you can go to the comic shop on Wednesday and buy the entire 52 and still have enuff money left over for a mansion and a yacht… that you can include in the small city you are building with the rest of your Lego Star Wars, Harry Potter Collection) … to use, apply and execute concepts with… and you are about to learn what that is for FREE!

The formula goes something like this:

the BRAND ( Whatever your concept is – a person, a thing, a service )

1. TO BE : Transcends day to day operations to raise the challenge from where you currenly are to where you want to be… most of the time, it's a catch phrase or forward thinking statement.
2. TO FEEL : Summarizes what the soul of the brand is. Describe the main and distinctive characteristics and tap into deeply rooted needs… usually as little as 3 words in total.
3. TO SAY : Describes the way a brand or service is defined for a specific consumer target. It should describe the unique selling proposition that will make people want to come to the BRAND. Focus on:
   a) important attributes;
   b) benefits offered;
   c) competitive advantages;
   d) occasions of use.

Okay? Got it?

Hmmmm… I would have to say no, I don't understand. You sound like the crazy lunatic from the Steam-Punk un-employment office. (cause everyone knows Diesel-Punk is in.) What the heck are you talking about? How do you apply this formula to my character… or ANY character?

Well let's try an example…

Your character is an alien from (loud echo engaged) OUTERSPACE!

Yeah, so is Superman, Venom, President Obama and so many others…

Yeah, so… let's try Superman in the formula.

the BRAND ( Superman )

1. TO BE : Fight for truth, justice and the American way.
2. TO FEEL : Invincible, Idealistic, and Inspirational
3. TO SAY : Fill people with hope that, the truth will always prevail, justice is swift and the world is united.

There you go…

Now try applying this branding method to your character and compare your results with what is already out there.

If you find something similar or exactly… then rethink your strategy until the similarity disappears in the void that is at the end of the rainbow… or the edge of the universe… whichever comes first.

Up next: Creating a general story template… same BLEEDING TIME, SAME BLEEDING CHANNEL.

Sincerely,

George Peter Gatsis
http://www.georgepetergatsis.com/

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