Best of the Banter: Self-branding
by Donna Stryk, Moderator of the Online Ads Discussion List
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One of the favorite topics on Online Ads continues to be branding. This time, Kate Kaye put a new spin on the old subject. She asked about the practice of branding yourself or promoting the aspects of your personality that are distinctive. She said, "The thought of considering my individual being as a "brand" leaves an acrid taste in my mouth. Yet, after pondering it a bit, I realized that the word "brand" is simply a term employed to represent an idea with which most people seem pretty comfortable. … It seems to be perfectly reasonable, but I still can't help but feel demeaned by the thought of myself as a brand." So, can something be gained by considering your personal assets to be part of a package rather than simply a set of assets?
It seems that the biggest problem Kaye has with the idea of "self-branding" is the perception of what a brand is. She doesn't want to think of herself as a marketable product, but as a person that you can get to know and respect. Marcia Yudkin brought up an interesting point of view, as she explained that viewing the image you project as a brand will help you avoid the common mistakes that people make in self-promotion. "A cardinal rule of branding, for instance, is consistency. I have seen authors water down their brand by not using the same name every time they publish," Yudkin said. As a marketing executive you would never allow a product to be called X and then promoted with the name Y. The same principle should be considered when it comes time to promote yourself.
Kim Brooks echoed this sentiment. She too has a problem with the connotation of branding and attaching that word to her own person, but she said that there are valuable branding strategies that should be considered when conducting self-promotions. The first is to identify and articulate your unique value proposition. What sets you apart from your peers and why is that valuable to others? After you nail down what it is that makes you unique and valuable, you must communicate those qualities to those around you. This is the equivalent of marketing and advertising a new product so that the market will understand the value associated with it. Finally, you have to live up to the reputation that results from this promotional effort and reinforce it through all of your actions.
Does this sound like a familiar process? It should. The benefit of looking at yourself as a new brand is that you will take care to create an image that is both consistent and effective at achieving your goals. I would have liked to hear more about how to construct the best personal image. Unfortunately, the discussion took a little detour from here, delving into the longstanding Online Ads debate over the differences between awareness and branding. A few of the members of the list pondered the qualities of a successful brand and the best steps to achieve that status. Although that is an interesting discussion in its own right, the topic of promoting oneself got lost along the way.
To read all of the comments on this topic in more detail, including those about branding as a whole, go to http://www.adbanter.com/wordsearch/selfbranding.shtml.
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