What's Your Brand?

Branding

In the big wide world of business and in particular, marketing, the suits are always talking about 'branding'. The need to create a well-respected, well-known brand (reputation, profile, public perception) for our product, service or organisation. If you have the best product in the world but nobody knows about it, or nobody knows it's any good, then you're going nowhere fast. Many great ideas, products and concepts have died a slow (or rapid) death because they 1) had no branding or 2) had bad branding.

The alleged expert

As a media commentator, corporate speaker and (alleged) fitness expert, I have my own brand - how people see me. So too, my company has it's own brand in the fitness industry here in Australia. One of the reasons I started to do media stuff was because it helped to increase the 'brand awareness' (and hopefully credibility) of not only my company as a player in the fitness market in this country, but also me personally as an industry expert, speaker, educator and commentator. Yes that all sounds a little strategic and it is. Of course. A company or career without a strategic plan is a ship without a rudder and doomed for failure or at best, mediocrity.

I recently spoke at a conference with a guy who (I was informed) gets paid over $15,000 for his forty five minute presentation. Was he good? Yep. Was he mind-blowingly incredible? Nope. Was he fifteen times better than the $1,000 speaker? Nope. Then why did that company pay so much for his services? Because they were buying a brand that's why. A name. A reputation.

Have I got a deal for you....

What do you think would have happened if I had told the conference organiser that I could have provided a $1,000 speaker (unknown brand) to deliver the exact same message (same info, same style, same passion, same quality) for one fifteenth of the cost? More than likely he or she would have said "thanks, but no thanks." Because:

1. They want the brand.
2. On some level they don't really believe that the $1,000 speaker could deliver like the $15,000 guy and
3. Even when it comes to corporate speakers, we're label shoppers!

That's the genius of great branding; it often has nothing to do with reality (what you're actually buying) and everything to do with perception (what you believe you're buying). It's about making people feel and think a certain way about something (a product, person, program, company, system).

It's not you; it's what they think of you

Why do companies now pay me five times more (to do the same thing - speak) than they did a few years ago? Am I five times better? Nope. Do I get five times better results? Nope. Is there a lack of cheaper speakers who could do a great job? Nope. They pay me more because my brand is bigger and better these days. Simple. Sometimes it's not about me (strictly speaking); it's about their perception of me.

Your brand right now?

Whether or not you know it, want it or like it, you have your own brand already; how other people perceive you. Now, of course you don't want to be obsessed with, or insecure about what people think of you (that's definitely not what I'm suggesting by consciously developing your own brand) but at the same time, it is important that we all realise that our personal brand (how we are perceived) will have a great impact on virtually every area of our life. If people perceive you as an untrustworthy and unprofessional individual, then they won't want to do business with you or have you on their team. If your brand reeks of arrogance and ego they won't respect you or want to listen to you. If you're wearing the needy, insecure and high-maintenance labels then they'll avoid you like the plague.

However, if your brand is synonymous with quality, integrity, reliability, honesty, generosity and thoughtfulness then you (and your skills, products, services) will be in demand.

Everything you do (and don't do) says something about your brand - who you are; your communication style, your habits, your values, how you present yourself, what shape you're in physically, how you deal with different situations and challenges, how you manage relationships, how you resolve conflict, how you interact with your staff / work colleagues, your ability to get stuff done and the results you do and don't produce.

The questions you might want to ask yourself moving forward are:

1. What kind of branding do I have right now and
2. How can I improve the value of my brand?