What’s in a brand? Is it the sleek logo with the matching color palette and catchy tagline? Is it your organization’s mission statement and your event’s core values? Or is it every single thing that makes your event a memorable experience for your participants on race day? Well, according to my guest today, event branding expert Peter Abraham, your brand is all of the above and a whole lot more. It is the heart and soul of your event, and what it aspires to be for your team, your participants, your stakeholders and the rest of the world. And, at a practical level, your brand is the North Star in every decision you make about your event, from your logo and the contents of your swag bag to your choice of sponsors and the design of your race course. Today,  we have a lot of unpacking to do. We’re going to be looking at understanding what your event’s brand is and how you can develop it, we’re going to be discussing your organization’s mission statement (and how to come up with one, if you don’t have one already) and we’re going to be tying all that back to laying out your marketing plan and finding your event’s unique voice. In today's episode: What makes up a brandWhy your brand needs a point of viewAvoiding the trap of being all things to all peopleConsistency as a cornerstone of your brandingDon't be different for the sake of it - be different for a reasonHow is your brand solving you participants' problems?The importance of having a robust mission statementUsing your mission statement to make decisions on everything you do: designing a logo, mapping your course, conducting yourself in publicWriting a good mission statement: What do you do? And how do you do it?Going from your mission statement to a marketing planTelling the story of your race experience through your marketing campaignsThanks to RunSignup for supporting quality content for race directors by sponsoring this episode. More than 25,000 in-person, virtual, and hybrid events use RunSignup's free and integrated solution to save time, grow their events, and raise more. If you'd like to learn more about RunSignup's all-in-one technology solution for endurance and fundraising events visit runsignup.com. You can find more resources on anything and everything related to race directing on our website RaceDirectorsHQ.com. You can also share your questions about marketing or anything else in our Facebook group, Race Directors Hub.