[photo from Shutterstock]
The thing that bothers me most about branding, be it personal or otherwise, is the whole consistency item. When learning about branding in the 90′s while I was at University, it was taught to me that going ‘off brand’ was a big no-no. Going ‘off-brand’ would confuse your customers, alienate the people who identified with your company and cause some major implosion to your company. Companies like GAP and Apple were upheld as being brand geniuses because we could look at a logo-less advert for 5 seconds and know instantly that this must be one of theirs.
I always questioned the value in that idea. Okay, so I recognize the ‘look and feel’ of this advert. Must be the GAP. And? I know that consistency is equivalent to comfort, but I am uncertain of the longevity of that particular strategy. GAP was awesome in the 90′s and early 2000′s. The consistency of their clothes – jeans, fitted sweaters, khakis and an array of colourful t-shirts – WAS comforting, but after a while it became so comforting that it became common, then commonplace. Now when someone is wearing an entire GAP outfit, people snicker behind their backs, implicating that person as a follower and unoriginal.
And unoriginal is no longer going to fly in the ‘I-want-it-my-way” era of the personalizable, customizable, nichified, tribe-ified net. Choice is king here and the ability to craft a style based on a person’s individual ‘brand’ is the key. Nobody wants to look like they stepped out of the window of any particular store any longer. Sure, the tee can be from the GAP, but the boots are from Fluevog, the pants are Hudsons, the sweater is vintage from a little second hand store in the neighbourhood and the scarf was a gift from my BFF who bought it in Amsterdam for me. All pieces become unrecognizable as any particular ‘brand’ and become part of a person’s style.
But what of personal branding, then? Is that where it’s headed. God, I hope not.
I’ve heard so much of the term ‘personal branding’ batted around lately in reference to people like Gary Vee and Julia Allison and Chris Brogan, etc. (they even have their names as their websites). People are lauding this exercise of creating a personal brand as the secret sauce to their success. I can’t speak for them, but I know when I told a friend the other night that I was working on a book called ‘Happiness as Your Business Model‘ and he responded to that by saying:
“Well, it’s definitely on brand for you.”
I cringed. It made me want to throw it out and write something like, “Taking Advantage of Your Customers for Big Bucks”. I recoiled at the consistency of who I’ve become. Am I a broken record? Please, God, let me be more than a personal brand!
And I am. I know that. I may be consistent in my passion and what I believe in, but I’m terribly inconsistent in my actions. I talk of empowering customers, yet I’m the biggest sucker for a sales pitch you have ever met, spending most of my time impulse buying, then regretting. I may go on and on about women getting in front of parades and dispelling myths, but I’m incredibly anti-social most of the time, embarrassed to take credit or do any pro-active self-promotion (I’ve been lucky enough to have amazing friends and supporters who do this for me). I go on and on about how important relationships are, yet I am terrible at keeping in touch with friends, spending enough time with my family and getting out from behind my computer to meet new people. Yet, I really display the opposite. Nobody who “knows” me online would agree with how I’ve characterized myself here. Funny that. It’s me. 100%. The teensy group of people I let in know this.
We talk about authenticity, but people rarely want to see the negative side of a person. When I’ve been truly honest – angry, sad, scared, belligerent, grumpy, negative, depressed or anxious (and I keep it under control, but I have terrible anxiety) – people get nervous. I lose followers. I get long emails from people asking me to stop being self-indulgent. I get messages from concerned friends saying, “Don’t you worry about damaging your brand?”
And that’s it. Do we want authenticity? Or do we want branding? One of the most memorable lines in a movie for me is from Magnolia, where Claudia says to Jim:
“I’ll tell you everything, and you tell me everything, and maybe we can get through all the piss and shit and lies that kill other people. ”
I love that line because I think it’s what we all want to do, but are afraid to do it. We love people who represent the ideal, the perfect, the imperfectly perfect, the happy, the successful, the amazing, positive, go-for-it, wa-hoo in life. And I’m not saying those people don’t exist. They just don’t exist as much as we think they exist because there are so many bloomin personal brands out there that are inspiring the crap out of us that we lose the fact that behind the scenes, they are probably falling apart now and then.
Much like not wanting to look like we stepped out of a GAP ad, I don’t believe any one of us wants to look like we stepped out of an episode of Leave it to Beaver, either. We also don’t want to look like we stepped out of an episode of Absolutely Fabulous, but real life represents all of these scenarios.
I don’t have a personal brand, I have a personality – complete with crazy moments and drunken nights, super highs and heartbreaking lows. And every single one of those moments define who I am. Now. Who are you? A personal brand or a personality?
Honest and insightful opinion. I Think some of the points mentioned are valid however as we continue to live within our fast paced lives brand you will continue to a the forefront of what we all do and say.
You can also read an interesting article on brand you here: http://www.thinkbigbebigentrepreneurs.com/2009/02/the-brand-you-is-dead-long-live-the-brand-you-build/
Great reading! Brand your personality – I don’t think anyone can relate to something perfect, shinging and untouchable in the long run. Be who you are and stick to that…
Thanks for writing this Tara! I’m so with you on this one. I think that the idea of personal branding is just an attempt on the part of social networking ‘aficionados’ to somehow take our new networked reality and frame it with a paradigm that doesn’t really fit. Individuals have more power than ever when it comes to creating public presence, but it’s because of social equity created (as you’ve aptly distinguished) when the online world is humanized with our vulnerability and connection, and not because of media or the medium. Just because individuals are now ‘broadcasting’ on multiple channels, doesn’t mean we now have to create a strategy and a style guide for it.
In other words, let the authenticity rip!
To have a personal brand you must first of all be a person. And if you are a real person you would never stoop to become a brand. That would be market economy in absurdum.
A brand is one thing. A person is many things… and have been… and vill be…
I think this was a very nice and cleaver post.
There is a necessity with product brands to keep it simple. If Wal-Mart tried to be Nordstrom’s, they would wind up in the middle (Sears.) McDonald’s would not likely be successful if they suddenly introduced five course luxury dining. But burgers and lobster rolls are within brand. (Yes, I’ve had lobster rolls at a Maine MickeyD’s
Extending brand to one’s public persona is fortunately, not that simple. Part of anyone’s personal brand strategy is to be authentic. However, in this world where you need to specialize to be considered an expert, it can be difficult to be the ‘go to’ person for both sushi and chimney cleaning. With such issues, polymaths can wind up with a generalized personal brand covering multiple things, and make the web facing fronts for specialized departments completely different. No one needs to know that ChurchLady42 is also P*rnSt*r513. This is why all identity information about us online *must* be presented in context, allowing individuals the freedom to have multiple personas where each can be as complex or as simple as we require for our intended audience. Indeed, we must retain this freedom to become/remain the wonderfully complex creatures we are/have the potential to be.
To restrict this either by fiat or law is a mistake. For example, discussing religion or politics at work is not a good idea. But that doesn’t mean religion or politics need never be discussed in non-work environments.
I think the misconception is to think that a personal brand has to be the same as a business brand or have the same characteristics. The confusion may come from the fact that we’re calling it brand so I’m with you in saying we have personalities.
We are humans indeed with our ups and downs and that’s who we are and people will get to love us in those ways (as we do in all our offline relationships). We are not the best sons or daughters and yet our parents love us. Being consistent is good, but being consistent doesn’t mean we can’t change when we see that our previous idea is outdated or is not the best human. Being consistent doesn’t mean that we can’t have a bad day, but that we acknowledge it as such.
Having a personal brand is just being you (your personality). Building a brand for you with just the good could have a positive or negative impact but in the end it will be felt as fake.
I try to have a personality changing as I grow and trying to improve the things that I need to improve, but taking care of you as a brand is stressful and useless, because you can’t be a brand (corporate style) all the time.
This is a really good insight. Sometimes I look at a person I’m following and I think, “are you really that perfect?”. I do think that having the world watching you is a powerful way to keep your behaviour in check. But behind closed doors, I’m afraid to say that I am definitely less patient and more irritable with my close family than I am with acquantainces and colleagues. I know that’s not right and I’m working on it!
Tony Hsieh of Zappos wrote an itneresting blog about how he feels twitter has made him a happier person. http://blogs.zappos.com/blogs/ceo-and-coo-blog/2009/01/25/how-twitter-can-make-you-a-better-and-happier-person
Personal branding has always seemed like somewhat of an excuse for brand marketers to wrap up the social media into something they can sell again.
There is no way a person can “be consistent” with his/her brand. Unless s/he’s very boring. There are too many factors in a human being.
How do I give a huge hug virtually? I wish more people would expose themselves for the REAL people they are/brand/personality whatever words you want to exchange.
People/brands who are not transparent, bore me and tell me they aren’t not of substance. I can surround myself with superficial by going to the local drugstore or bank and be asked “How are you today?” all on my own but those are not the type of people/business with whom I am interested in vesting myself.
Loved this. Gonna follow you every way I can and now my husband needs me. Away from the computer for awhile I go. That’s the hard part for me too. Remembering to stay actually plugged versus virtually. Ah to find balance.
I’ve been struggling with this issue myself. I feel like I’ve whitewashed my brand too much. I swear, I talk smack, I can be crude. But I’m uber aware of who my customer is and I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Part of my New Years resolution is going to be “Say the f word more”. Brand that!
Tara,
I accept you with your warts and all. People say they are seeking authenticity, but it’s with constraints. Penelope Trunk has managed to be authentic and many cringe at her openness.
There is a big problem with the unrealistic expectations and demands that others put on people in the spotlight, that they crash and burn. Let’s get over perfectionism. Ben Franklin tried to be perfect and he failed. He realized that perfectionism doesn’t exist. But he also recognized that on his way to perfection he achieved excellence.
What would happen if we tried to be more tolerant? What would happen if we accepted Tara and others with their warts and all? Isn’t that we want for ourselves ultimately? If that’s what we want, why wouldn’t we want it for others?
Each day try to show up as yourself, and some of those days you will be better than others days, but isn’t that what makes life so interesting? Let’s get over ourselves. I am not throwing stones because I am writing this for myself as much as I am writing it for you.
Avil Beckford @avilbeckford
Several years ago I was leading a group of 40 skiers on a charter flight from Virginia to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for a week’s trip. At the last minute, I fell into my seat on the plane already exhausted just getting everyone else on board. Still having to play hostess, I turned to the guy in the seat next to me that I had not met and said, “So, what do you do in real life?” Silence, then he sat up straight in his seat. “Lady,” he said. “If I wanted to talk about real life, I’d be back at the office.” Then, he slumped back in his seat and covered his face with a cowboy hat.
Stunned, I remained silent the rest of the trip–and once in Jackson Hole, I skiied alone for two days trying to figure out what I had to say that wasn’t about work. My conclusion? Except for skiing, I could thinking of nothing else to talk about. I realized that work had become my life, and I was determined to change that.
Many years later I had just finished a rousing speech to a large group of volunteers for the nonprofit where I was CEO. One of the ladies came up to me and said, “Oh, Judy. That was wonderful. You are _____________ (and she named the charity.)
The next day, I started a plan to leave my job. I shuddered at the idea that now I had become an organization in other’s eyes. I did have another life by then so what did her comment mean? Probably, that I had become so visible that I prevented others from shining–not a good policy for a leader. A few months later, I took another job, determined to build a personal “brand” that reflected all of who I am, and build a culture where everyone got to shine. It became the most satisfying and successful job of my career.
Why should personal brand be separate from your personality? We are all people with individual experiences and weaknesses not business entities with functional requirements.
Tim Sanders hit the nail on the head with his “Love is the Killer App” and “The Likeability Factor” two good reads for an alterative working model to personal branding.
Tara, you are who you are – thats your brand!
Agree completely.
While its been covered to the point where I hate to mention it the recent Tiger Woods infidelity perfectly illustrates this. For years the Tiger Woods brand has been one of auteur perfection; of inhuman focus and successful control. Now it is revealed that the personality behind the facade was anything but. Much of the blow-back, I believe, is people having confused the brand with Tiger’s identity; this was not the behavior of the Tiger they “knew”. They feel betrayed.
While unfortunate (or damn tragic from his family’s perspective) that level of anger on the part of Tiger’s fans is unjustified. They confabulated a sales pitch for a person. It is my hope that the social Internet would bring us closer to having meaningful, deep relationships. If all we’re doing is creating mediums for misdirection – trading idealized projections for authenticity with greater ease – we’re setting ourselves up for even greater shocks in the future.
I’m thoroughly taken with your separation of “personality” and “personal brand.” There *is* a difference, you’re right. But it’s one of perspective.
If you accept as true the definition of brand as that which exists in the minds of those who interact with you, then there absolutely will be a difference between how you see yourself (your personality) and how others see you (your personal brand)–regardless of how true to yourself in every interaction you are.
How people view us is a combination not only of how we want to be seen by others, but by how *they* want to see us, too. That’s where there will always be those folks who seem to have it out for us, and we can’t think of any reason why they might.
We find disturbing those people whom we sense are actively trying to *create* a specific impression–one that our gut tells us is a bit off from who they really are.
That’s my biggest beef with “personal branding” as a movement (and it even galls me to call it *that*) because it somehow implies that you can game how people see you. I’m sure some can. But I wonder for how long….
A good friend of mine once said to me, “Other people’s expectations of me are none of my business.” It’s been a guiding (if aspirational!) thought ever since.
I can really only worry about how comfortable I am with myself, who I am, and how I live my life. The clearer I am on that, then the clearer–and more consistently–who I am comes across to other people.
What an awesome post. I think that, with respect to personal brands, your brand *should be* authentic — ideally, they would be interchangeable. You are you; that is your brand. “Unapologetically Me” — to quote MizFit.
Branding is a tool, not an objective.
Even though in some cases products consist almost entirely of brand experience, especially digital products. But people are not products
The idea of having a personal brand seems demeaning and goes with the idea of “selling” yourself. In my day-to-day life I play different roles, partner, parent, professor, grandparent, director, etc. My solution is to have different avatars for the different situations and occasions. Why limit yourself to a single “brand”?
Awesome. In the photo world, we are constantly told:
“BRAND BRAND BRAND!”
“Never say anything negative on your blog!”
“Promote products!”
Well. Sometimes my life ain’t so great. And sometimes I don’t feel like being positive. But I’m afraid this will scare clients, so I don’t write it, even though I’m positive that many of my readers are going through similar issues.
Kudos to you or writing this, I’ve always thought about this in regards to other’s blogs/tweets and also my own. We don’t live in a perfect world devoid of misfortune or problems, and I think it often presents a skewed view when folks present themselves like this -if your aim is to be more human online – then go for that to the fullest degree.
It’s a shame. This entire post was written from the misperception that (true) branding and authenticity are mutually exclusive.
If you lose followers when you talk honestly yourself, were they really “followers” in the first place ? From my personal and professional experience, I learned that people have always trusted me better when I am authentic, no matter what. Isn’t trust the most valuable thing ?
This is why I love my BFF, you rock, well said!!
Tamsen -
Great points! As I like to tell my father, there is a fine line between expectation and imposition