As the summer comes to a close, Joe and I decided to squeeze in one last outdoor dining experience on a mid September afternoon.

We enjoyed the season’s first pumpkin ale by the waters edge at Billy Joe’s Ribworks in Newburgh, NY. Great place.

As we sat enjoying our meal, a group of brand ambassadors walked in, and took over the bar area—and I mean took over. Leather clad and tattoo laden, yes it was the Harley Davidson crew. The thought occurred to me—now THAT is successful branding.

According to Luke Summerfield of Entrepreneur Magazine, “branding is the process of forming memories, emotions and a relationship around your brand in the consumer’s brain. The goal is to build such a strong connection and such strong belief that the consumer take on your brand identity as their own. They use your brand to help define who they are as a person.”

These consumers had formed memories, emotions and a relationship around their beloved brand. They had built a strong connection and a belief that they have taken on the Harley Davidson identity as their own. They use the HD brand to help define who they are as a people group.

Harley has done such a phenomenal job building a relationship with their audience that those folks take on the “Harley rider” persona and get decked out in leather, bandannas and even permanently tattoo Harley’s logo on their bodies.

It was evident as I watched this group of men and woman enjoy the last of summer at the outdoor bar that they represented the true meaning of “brand ambassador”

Okay, how does this apply to you and me? Perhaps you are not aiming at your company logo tattooed across your customer’s thigh, but you can approach your target audience with such a passion that your ideal client will be singing your praises at the next networking event or referring you to a potential customer in need.

As you sort through who your ideal client is and how to remain top-of-mind to each of them we can help you build that brand and develop a following of brand ambassadors for yourself.