We live in branded world.
We wake up in the morning and brush our teeth with a branded toothpaste, wash our face with a branded bar of soap, put on a branded pair of jeans and sneakers, jump into our branded car, drive through our favorite branded coffee shop and on and on.
We are surrounded by brands.
I’m not saying that’s good. I’m not saying that’s bad. I’m saying it’s real.
I’ve never heard any of my children reach out to me and say, “Dad, I cut my finger… any adhesive plastic strips in the medicine case?” Of course not. They ask for “Band-Aid,” a brand (not a product).
I’ve had a Toshiba copy machine in my office for decades but I still ask my assistant to “shoot me a Xerox…” It isn’t a Xerox. It’s a Toshiba.
We repair torn paper with “Scotch Tape”… apply “Post-It Notes” on flip charts… add “Sweet n’ Low” to our coffee… clean our ears with “Q-Tips”… wrap a sore muscle with an “Ace Bandage”… and relax in the “Jacuzzi” even if it’s made by “Kohler.”
Brands, brands and more brands.
Here’s the threshold question, “What if you thought of yourself as a brand?” After all, people are brands, too. Names like Elton John, Mother Theresa, Oprah Winfrey, LeBron James, Chipper Jones and others are brands.
We, in turn, need to manage our own personal brands so that we’re believed, we’re trusted, we’re seen as sincere and we’re ultilmately respected. After all, each of us are unique brands unto ourselves.
And so, as the author of Managing Brand You (Amacom, 2008), I thought I’d quote myself and provide you some tips to help you build, extend and manage the brand called “you.”
- Great Brands Stand For Something.
What do you stand for? How would you define your personal brand attributes? Sincere? Cerebral? Logical? Hard Working? Humorous? Whimsical? Loyal? Just like brand Volvo stands for “safety,” define what you stand for and live it everyday, every way.
- Great Brands Are Committed To Consistency
Are you consistent? What you say and what you do define who you are and how your brand is viewed. A great parent doesn’t mandate his oldest child be home at 11 p.m.… years later, allowing his middle child to come home at midnight… Consistency is king. The restaurants and retailers you frequent consistently live up to their brand promises. Great personal brands are consistent.
- Great Brands Strive For Credibility and Believability
We purchase products and services from companies we trust, that have credibility and are believable. Personal brand success is no different. If we are not trusted… not credible… and not believed… our brand will be suspect and what we do will be questionable. Honesty has always been the best policy. Great brands have integrity.
- Great Brands Differentiate Themselves
Celebrate your uniqueness. We are all blessed with discernible, sustainable points of difference. Let those shine. Be proud of “who” you are… “how” you act… and “what” is uniquely you about you. George Bernard Shaw wrote, “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.”
- Great Brands Are Remembered… Not Just Recalled
We often tell our friends about a restaurant that provided us great food coupled with great service. We also often recommend retailers, attractions, cities, hotels and even local service companies (i.e. lawn, painting, etc.) that we remembered providing us memorable results, products and services. We, too, as personal brands, need to work hard to be respected… be recommended… and positively remembered (not just recalled).
And now, it’s time for a short course in “Branding 101.” In branding, we have two notable terms, namely, “Brand Identity” and “Brand Image.” Brand Identity is what you believe your brand stands for, what you hope your brand stands for and what you work to stand for. Brand Image, on the other hand, is how others perceive what your brand represents.
Sure, we’ve all said sometime in our life, “I don’t care what others think of me.” No way! Don’t believe it! We all hope our personal brand is viewed as positive. We all hope people respect us because of what they perceive us as.
Here’s an easy exercise. Write down a list of eight or ten things you believe your brand stands for. Don’t share it with anyone but write it down nonetheless. Now go to people who know you well… you know, your significant other, your brother, your sister, your children, your friends, perhaps a co-worker.
Let them know you are doing a “personal brand audit” and ask them to write down eight or ten or twelve traits they believe define your personal brand.
Expect some consistencies as well as discrepancies. For example, if you put “selfless” on your brand identity list and they put “selfish,” that doesn’t mean you are selfish. That brand disconnect simply means that’s their “perception.”
Brands can change. This is a good lesson to compare what you believe you stand for as opposed to what others think. Use this exercise to help you work on ways you can be perceived more in sync with your belief of your own brand identity.
After all, your brand is what people say about you after you’ve left the room. In closing, remember that everything you do and say defines you. Legendary investor Warren Buffet said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
Good luck going and growing forward… brand you!
Ira Blumenthal is a business consultant, a Georgia resident, a best-selling author, a globally renowned public speaker, a university educator and a college Lacrosse coach. Ira welcomes inquiries and can be reached at Ira@Iraspeak.com. His web site is www.IraSpeak.com
