Are you, or your business, your brand?

I'm not entirely sure what it is, maybe it's my stunning good looks, or my amazing talent, or my dry sense of humour... But once someone's met me they rarely forget me.

And that's certainly what you want from a brand, to be remembered, isn't it?

Does one person make a business?

I mean, I'm the only full time employee in my business. Being in video production I hire talented freelance crews, designers, editors and admin staff as and when I need them. Without me there would be no business.

And my USP, it's totally built on my many years of broadcast and video production experience. With another Producer / Director at the helm my business would be completely different.

Welcome to Anim8 Productions

Actually, I've been running Anim8 Productions since May 2013 when I was commissioned to produce 36 animated kid's songs and rhymes for an old client of mine. Songs like Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and If you're happy and you know it...

Anim8 seemed like a great name to me at the time, after all, I was producing animation. But ever since that animation project I've put all my other work through the company, even though very little of it was animation.

As Anim8 only appears on invoices and other legal company documents, very few people know the name.

So, do I build Anim8 Productions into my brand, or build me, Neil Ben, as the brand? After all, if I ever go to sell my business at some point in the future and it's called Neil Ben it'll be hard to separate myself from it!

2 unique brands - 2 USPs

What about creating 2 brands?

1 - Develop myself as a brand, especially around my coaching and training activities, because that work tends to be one-on-one and I'm being hired as me as the one who can help an individual.

Brand: Neil Ben
Helping coaches and trainers who struggle to communicate their expertise, create authentic video content that establishes them as the "go to person" in their field.

2 - Develop Anim8 Productions as a brand around my training video and animation production activities - after all, I want to create something that is bigger than just me to be able to help large organisations.

Brand: Anim8 Productions
Working with training organisations to create engaging video content that inspires their learners to learn, and empowers them with new knowledge and skills.

UPDATE: If you look at the footer of this website you will see I have come up with a solution. I trade using the name Neil Ben Films, but have the below on all official documents.

"Neil Ben Films is a trading style for Anim8 Productions Ltd"