Backward branding
Light defines shadow, shadow defines light. (Image by ADD)
When I think of great personal branding, I think of pop stars.
Pop stars — the ones who are the best at being pop stars — are incredible at making it seem like they aren’t trying, even when they have a whole team carefully crafting their image.
They cultivate an air of mystery, yet they are easily recognizable, even with a just a symbol. Think of Madonna’s lace gloves, Elvis’ sideburns, or Michael Jackson’s red leather jacket.
The thing about it, though, is that it was the actions of these stars that emblazoned these iconic images into our minds. We don’t care about Prince wearing a ruffled white shirt without remembering Prince playing the scorching guitar solo on “Purple Rain” while wearing that ruffled white shirt.
In other words, Prince’s indelible brand emerged as a result of Prince embodying the values of that brand in everything he did publicly. It wasn’t the result of a meeting with some consultants, validated by a focus group.
Bob Dylan, who felt so constricted by his initial public persona that he blew it up, provides another example. He invented wild tales about his past and fashioned himself after troubadour Woody Guthrie, singing protest songs and even adopting Guthrie’s Oklahoma accent. He was seen as a wunderkind protest singer until he added the electric guitar to his band and sang blues tunes with surrealist lyrics. Thus, Bob Dylan’s brand shifted from folkie protest singer to that of a contrarian who refuses to be pigeonholed.
What I believe, as a result of assessing these examples and more, is that a brand is earned, not invented. If it is invented — as in the case of “manufactured” pop stars like Britney Spears and NSYNC — it must still be tested.
Many of us, dutifully following advice we were given, find ourselves trying to figure out our brand before we’ve done anything. It’s reasonable to have a starting point — to choose a few colors you like and a few words that might describe yourself or your work — but ultimately, you are not the one who decides your brand. Your brand is in the eye of the beholder, and you will, unless you possess the savvy of one of the artists I mentioned above, be the least able to perceive it.
How many wannabes have tried to be sexy or funny and totally failed because their trying was so painfully evident? How many would-be leaders have cultivated a persona of trustworthiness and high moral character that was completely undone when their dishonest or immoral choices came to light? No matter how painstakingly the blueprint of a brand is designed, it won’t fit if it is only for show.
I can guess at my own brand, but only as I see it reflected back to me by others. I can stand back from what I’ve created and see some patterns that guide my choices, but I can never know exactly how I’m perceived.
This drove me crazy when I was a young singer/songwriter. I wanted to create my brand first and write songs that fit. This approach led to nothing but frustration and wheel-spinning. When I did manage to create, I got lost trying to figure out how to square the songs with the image I wanted to project — an image that was not authentic to me or my songs.
I would have been much better off to focus on writing and performing and let other people describe me — if, indeed, such pinning-down of my brand was actually necessary. It probably wasn’t.
These days, I am the sum total of what I’ve done and what I’ve created. I don’t know the exact implications of that, and that’s fine with me. I haven’t updated my LinkedIn profile in about eight years and my website has no tagline, but the people who know me, get me. They know what I stand for. And for the ones who don’t, I’ll just have to show them.
