On Being a Brand: What's in a Name?

Chairman,

Trump

University

I never planned on becoming a brand name. Nevertheless, my wellspring of ideas, my own personal aesthetic, and a variety of circumstances have resulted in an expanding network of interests. Trump has ultimately become a great brand name due to my rigorous standards of quality. The Trump brand carries a promise that whatever bears the name will be elite.

It all started with Trump Tower. I was originally going to call it Tiffany Tower, but good sense prevailed. Trump Tower is my signature building, and serves as the model for my idea of branding. From the start, I wanted everything I did to be of the highest quality imaginable and to be associated with luxury and exclusivity.

The Trump name carries with it a price tag: people pay a lot more to live or rent commercial space in my buildings because of the association with me and my ideals. These ideals are constantly put in practice in ways both big and small. For one thing, I'm an ardent believer in always creating something that's visually striking, like the illuminated seven-story waterfall cascading over finely matched Italian marble in the atrium of Trump Tower. I avoid the commonplace and give tenants and buyers more than they might expect. That's a big part of the Trump brand.

When you're a brand, you are your own best asset, which means you make money while you sleep (as you would with a great real estate investment). Becoming your own asset and adopting the mentality of an investor--making decisions and taking or delegating actions now that will bear fruit later--is the key to wealth creation.

For me, being a brand certainly doesn't mean jumping at the best offers and slapping my name on anything I think people might buy that wouldn't embarrass me. I have to believe in whatever I put my name on, and it has to reflect who I truly am. To do otherwise would be a disservice to me, my loyal customers, and prospective customers.

In a nutshell, my branding strategy is "to thine self be true." Like a lot of pithy wisdom, Shakespeare said it first, and I second it here--and everywhere else I put the name Trump.