Building a business brand is more important now than ever before.
Increasingly, companies are realising the value of sharpening up their business branding and marketing. But with fierce competition and rapidly changing ways of communication, it’s becoming just as vital to build your own personal brand.
One of the highlights of the second MS Africa Partners’ Conference and the eleventh MSSA Partners’ Conference in Clarens in November, was a presentation by senior managing partner, Olivier Barbeau on building your personal brand.
With the catchy phrase, ‘It’s a brand you world’, Olivier talked about the value of a brand and challenged people to ask themselves: ‘What brand are you?’
Entrepreneur, Richard Branson, has this to say about the worth of a brand:
“A brand is more than a logo or a name. It’s a promise with whomever you are dealing. And if people feel that the offering does not live up to what you expect from the brand, they will go elsewhere.”
Olivier talked about instantly recognisable logos such as the one for Nike, while another way of knowing that a brand has become a runaway marketing success is when a brand becomes a verb. Think of the following few classic examples: “I’ll just Google it? Can we Skype later? The kids love to Rollerblade. These carpets need a Hoover”.
Icons like the late Nelson Mandela, as well as leaders such as Archbishop Emertius Desmond Tutu, and business leaders, Richard Branson and Donald Trump, have become brands in themselves.
But a personal brand can change. Just take a look at sporting greats who have taken a fall, such as Lance Armstrong, Oscar Pistorius and Tiger Woods.
Olivier has suggested some guidelines on building your own personal brand.
He says it’s important to ask yourselves whether you can say Yes or No to the following statements:
- “I have a finely-honed elevator speech that clearly speaks to the attributes that make me unique and better qualified than others.”
- “I have a personal vision statement.”
- “I have a mentor who is helping me with my career and personal branding strategy.”
- “My brand is clear and consistent on my online profiles (LinkedIn, Twitter).”
Olivier suggests that you look at the five Ps of building your own brand.
- Purpose - Define what your purpose is.
- Passion - Define what your passions are.
- Planning – What is your personal branding plan? Ask yourself: Am I on LinkedIn? Am I writing articles and making myself available for radio interviews? Am I active on social media? Are my plans consistent with my brand?
- People – What people am I associating with?
- Perseverance – Get your message out all the time. Consistency is key.
The rise of social media has had an enormous effect on the need to market and brand ourselves. If you are not branding yourself, you can be assured that others are doing it for you.
Olivier highlighted the excellent work Moore Stephens has done on corporate branding over the past year. And he’s challenged everyone in the Moore Stephens group to build on this by using 2015 to develop your own personal brand.