Posted on: October 6th, 2009 by Reuben Turner

Ah, Les. Able, during the Blankety Blank years, to make millions guffaw with a mere raised eyebrow or a bleak, hangdog sigh. On stage, at, say, a Royal Variety Performance, he just had to walk on to be funny.

He didn’t need jokes, because Les’s great success was his comic persona.

Except that it wasn’t a persona at all.

If you’re to believe the great man, the birth of his comic self came at the low point of his career. In his twenties, after a disastrous run of shows at working mens’ clubs in the North, Les had sunk into depression and was drinking heavily. One night, shortly before he was to go on, he decided to give up his dream of being a comedian for good. On stage, liberated from the need to be funny, he told the audience how he really felt. Gone was the comic patter. Script abandoned. No jokes. He laid into the venue, the audience, the town and the profession of comedy with a vengeance.

And got laughs.

And never looked back.

Branding is often seen as an exercise in taking an organisation and making it more interesting, engaging and sparkly than it really is. It’s writing a great script for a dull politician. Or jokes for an unfunny comedian.

Except that that never really works.

Organisations should have a reason to exist. Branding should remind people what that reason is. It should be about discovering the truth, and telling it well. Living the organisation, not covering it up or, worse, trying to make it clever.

Otherwise you won’t be Les Dawson. You’ll be Les Dennis.