The first rule of branding is – we do not talk about branding.
The second rule of branding is – we do NOT talk about branding.
There seems to be an unofficial tug of war amongst business thought leaders, to introduce and then, a few virtual minutes later, kill off the new big “thing” – whether marketing, technology, sales, or otherwise. Apple products may be the only known exception, with its business model that introduces a new version of the thing just before the critics and cynics cook up the old thing for dinner.
As one of personal branding’s biggest fans I’ve already observed an emerging game of tug of war. On one side, there are the fast moving information hounds who have already declared “branding” (which they usually utter with a virtual sneer) dead on arrival. They have labeled it an empty marketing gimmick with no real teeth.
And then, at the other end of the rope there are those like me, who see personal branding as an extremely innovative and valuable tool in promoting who you are, what you do and why people should care. It’s also a brilliant replacement for the old way of answering these questions.
Remember how the Internet was once cluttered with gigantic, confusing, nearly identical company websites? It began with a rambling, scrolling home page with every last detail about every company service. Then, if, you hadn’t already returned to your desktop game of solitaire, you could visit the “About Us” page, where every single thing the company ever accomplished was described chronologically and in great detail. A typical “Key Person” Bio then attempted to explain why the CFO’s first accounting job out of college was key to the awesomeness of the business today.
Fifteen minutes later, you could conceivably know every single thing about the business (including the CEO’s favorite flavor of ice cream; strawberry by the way) except the most important thing – why should I care enough to buy from them? We could always look to the mission statement – the company’s grand opportunity to truly differentiate itself from the competition.
99% of mission statements (yes, I’m exaggerating) from back in the day, were a variation of, “To provide excellent customer service.”
Today, more and more companies are getting the message and communicating their message clearly, consistently, creatively and succinctly. No more CFO resumes or CEO ice cream picks.
The old way of explaining why you’re special is the equivalent of sugarless, fat free, store brand vanilla ice cream. Branding is Ben & Jerry’s. It sticks with you longer and offers much more to sink your teeth into – it’s just better. So please, cynics at the other end of the rope, don’t take away my Chunky Monkey. I’m not done yet. But if it will satisfy your cynicism, we can call it iBranding 4S.
As one of personal branding’s biggest fans I’ve already observed an emerging game of tug of war. On one side, there are the fast moving information hounds who have already declared “branding” (which they usually utter with a virtual sneer) dead on arrival. They have labeled it an empty marketing gimmick with no real teeth.
And then, at the other end of the rope there are those like me, who see personal branding as an extremely innovative and valuable tool in promoting who you are, what you do and why people should care. It’s also a brilliant replacement for the old way of answering these questions.
Remember how the Internet was once cluttered with gigantic, confusing, nearly identical company websites? It began with a rambling, scrolling home page with every last detail about every company service. Then, if, you hadn’t already returned to your desktop game of solitaire, you could visit the “About Us” page, where every single thing the company ever accomplished was described chronologically and in great detail. A typical “Key Person” Bio then attempted to explain why the CFO’s first accounting job out of college was key to the awesomeness of the business today.
Fifteen minutes later, you could conceivably know every single thing about the business (including the CEO’s favorite flavor of ice cream; strawberry by the way) except the most important thing – why should I care enough to buy from them? We could always look to the mission statement – the company’s grand opportunity to truly differentiate itself from the competition.
99% of mission statements (yes, I’m exaggerating) from back in the day, were a variation of, “To provide excellent customer service.”
Today, more and more companies are getting the message and communicating their message clearly, consistently, creatively and succinctly. No more CFO resumes or CEO ice cream picks.
The old way of explaining why you’re special is the equivalent of sugarless, fat free, store brand vanilla ice cream. Branding is Ben & Jerry’s. It sticks with you longer and offers much more to sink your teeth into – it’s just better. So please, cynics at the other end of the rope, don’t take away my Chunky Monkey. I’m not done yet. But if it will satisfy your cynicism, we can call it iBranding 4S.
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