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Personal Branding and Marketing…what’s the difference? August 21, 2009

Posted by ppantoomano in Branding and Marketing.
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Last month, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brenda Bence, a personal branding expert and the author of How You^tm Are Like Shampoo. Some of you may be thinking how’s branding related to marketing.  To me branding is the strategic position that you take and marketing is the execution.  It’s difficult to market something if you haven’t established a brand positioning.  Similar principles apply to personal branding.  Enjoy the article and let me know your thoughts.  Best, PP

Personal Branding Tips from Brenda Bence, the Personal Branding Expert

1) Why did you decide to take your marketing skills acquired as a corporate branding executive and apply them to “personal branding”

A few years back, I combined my passion for corporate branding along with my certification in executive coaching and developed the only personal branding “system” that exists today.  It’s based on how corporations build powerhouse megabrands but it applies to each one of us — as individuals. So now, each one of us can benefit from that same sense of brand loyalty that your favorite name brand products enjoy day in and day out.

Putting it another way, studies show that we run across about 3,000 brands every single day, but out of those 3,000 brands, I’ll bet you have a few brands you’ve grown to love and use regularly.  Maybe it’s a brand of toothpaste or a favorite brand of jeans you always buy. When you think of your chosen brands, they drive feelings of warmth, of connection, of relationship. They stick out from the pack, and we choose those brands over others again and again and again.

That’s the power of branding, and it applies to people too. Think about it: What if you could get people to feel the same way about “YOU™” – The Trademarked You?  That’s how you build a relationship with a potential employer, a work colleague, a boss or a subordinate that will serve you well in your job, your career… and in your life.

2) What are some of the personal branding Dos and DON’Ts advice that you give some of the your clients?

DO’S:

-          DO be clear on what your personal brand stands for.  After all, if you’re not sure, it’s guaranteed that no one else is either. Just like the strongest name brands out there, take the time to carefully define the six elements that go into building your brand:  Audience, Needs, Comparison, Strengths, Reasons Why, and Character.   Learn them, define them, use them – they serve as the “compass” for all that you do on your way toward building and communicating a strong personal brand, leading to greater success.

DON’T’S:

-          DON’T ignore your “online” personal brand.  If you haven’t “Googled” your own name lately, do so. More and more, people are checking you out in cyber space to see what they can find out about you… before you get called for a job interview, before they decide to give you a raise or a promotion. Don’t underestimate the importance of this!  If your Facebook or MySpace accounts show you stretched out on a friend’s couch wearing your craziest hat and drinking champagne, you may want to consider changing it. It’s not that you can’t be “fun,” but that kind of image won’t help your professional standing. So, think twice before posting crazy photos and remember: Thanks to the Internet, privacy has become a thing of the past.

3) What do you see as the top 3 common issues for personal branding?  How can they be overcome?

The top three issues I see around personal branding are all about how woefully misunderstood it is!  Here are three common myths about personal branding – and why they are indeed “myths.”

1) “Personal branding is all about self-promotion.” Many people believe that branding yourself is about being in the limelight, so I often hear, “You misunderstand me, Brenda – I don’t have or even want a personal brand.” That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Here’s the reality:  Everyone already has a personal brand. Why?  Because personal branding is “the way you want people to perceive, think, and feel about you.” Since those perceptions, thoughts, and feelings already exist, just by interacting with others, you already have a personal brand. The question is: Do you have the personal brand you want?  If not, it’s up to you to take charge and create the brand you want and deserve for yourself.

2) “Personal branding is all about me.” It’s a big surprise for many when they find out their personal brand isn’t about them… indeed, every personal brand starts first and foremost with the “audience” for that brand – the person or people doing the perceiving, thinking, and feeling about you. So, the single most important element of your own personal brand is that audience because your brand exists in their minds. Taking control and making sure that audience perceives, thinks, and feels about you the way you want them to is at the heart of personal branding success.

3) “Personal branding is all about how you look and dress.” How you look is indeed one of the five activities you do every single day that most communicate your personal brand, but – contrary to popular belief – it is not the most important. The other four activities – your actions, reactions, sound, and thoughts – are just as important, if not more. 

4)      Could you give some case studies of personal branding that went right or way off course?

I will share some celebrity examples, but it’s important to remember that personal branding applies to each and every one of us — not just people who have PR firms managing their reputations!

In 2005, Russell Crowe was generally acknowledged as the favorite Oscar nomination for best actor until he had a personal fit and hit a hotel employee with a phone. With the slap of a receiver, there went the Oscar; not because his performance changed in any way, but because Oscar voters were not impressed by his behavior and chose not to make him “their favorite” that year.  Some people speculate he has still never recovered from that “Personal Brand Buster™.”

On the other hand, some examples of strong celebrity personal branders are Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, and Oprah Winfrey.  If you think about those three individuals, they have created and maintained the same brand year after year after year, “consistently consistent” in who they are and what they want to stand for. How do you know? Ask ten people the first five adjectives that come to mind when they think of the name “Oprah Winfrey.” See what people say… and most likely you’ll get the same answer every time. That’s how you know you’ve built a strong brand. (By the way, try this with some friends – can you say the same for yourself?)

It’s absolutely critical to remember that your personal brand is being built 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Just as you form an opinion about a product brand (like McDonald’s or Nike or Starbucks) each and every time you come in contact with those institutions, so people are forming a perception of “YOU™” every time they hear you, see you, or interact with you in any way.

That means the key to success in powerful branding is consistency, consistency, consistency. It holds true for multi-million dollar mega corporate brands – and for YOU™ too.