I am the ultimate cliche.

With my MacBook Pro, Molskine notebook and large venti latte I am writing a blog post while contemplating the nature of branding in a downtown Boston Starbucks; thus is my post-Accelerator vacation. Like I said, the ultimate cliche.

With my stint as a summer business bootcamp coach now over, I have decided to take some time off to get ready for the second half of my summer as a brand intern for a fairly large restaurant company. My time is now gladly split between running around Newberry St. looking for new duds and having my nose buried in a couple of excellent branding books with my best friend from college, Steph.

It should be noted that this is my first real trip to Boston (the one other time I was up here was more of a one-in-a-lifetime 300 mile adventure to Belmont, MA) but its one that has been quite impressive. Not only was I able to take in the fireworks on the Esplanade (see video below…why they chose Rascal Flats for a July 4th celebration above the Mason-Dixion line, I have no idea) I am being treated to the real-life character of the area from long-time residents of the city.

The point to all of this is that those books I mentioned include Accidental Branding and Personality Not Included, two awesome books that talk a lot about authenticity in marketing.

My challenge over the coming weeks is to not only discover the authenticity behind the brand of the company I am working for, but also find a way to sell that authenticity as the way to go. As both David Vinjamuri and Rohit Bhargava (the respective authors of both books) explain, this is no small task.

I am excited about the next four weeks, though and will try to write as much as I can within the professional context of the work. For now though, back to the vacation…and the cliche.

Technorati Tags: Accidental Branding, Boston, branding, Owen Accelerator, Personality Not Included