This isn't intended to be a class or a formal education in all that branding is, there is enough information out there today about that. I’m not here to provide academic and marketing concepts to what actually "branding" is. If you’ve found yourself here, I feel like we all have an idea of what branding is in today's world is. The intention is just to be what I’m observing in regards to the subject (as with everything in this blog). Branding to me falls into two buckets: personal brand and professional brand (or how you want others to perceive your brand).
There are so many different online platforms today to express ones personal brand. Often times people have various brands, depending on which social media platform they are on. For example, on Twitter you may be more bold and sarcastic, on LinkedIn you may try and appear more polished than you would or could ever be, on Instagram you may portray your brand as something else (family man, hunter, brunch cruncher, etc.). So does having different styles or personal portraying (i.e. brands) across these platforms confuse your audience as to who or what your brand really is? Yes and no (more will be on that in the future, as I'm just trying to lay down what this page will encompass).
I plan to dive into the following to start, and will be building on the topics below, and diving deeper into them.
Personal branding
What is your brand?
What do you want your brand to be?
How can you play off your strengths to build your brand?
Branding across social media platforms
Building trust with your audience
HOW to build your brand
Professional branding
Company branding in today's market
What do you want your audience to feel when they see your content?
What content works when building your professional/company brand?
How to give your company a pulse online.
Guerilla marketing
Standing out in a crowd
Basic water
Not trying to do a humble brag and drop “I got my masters,” BUT when I was getting my Masters I did my thesis on branding and how companies can stand out with their image and how they make consumers feel...so I picked the most commoditized market (so I thought) with very little differentiation and a TON of substitutes: bottled water....to be more specific: How the hell does Evian charge such high prices for a bottle of water (not sure on how high, but ridiculous enough), when there are hundreds/thousands to choose from that are WAY cheaper. For a bottle of water to have a higher price point, the only thing that separates it is: THE BRAND, more specific, the feeling individuals get when they think about the name.
It was after this, I realized that product branding was crucial if a company wanted to charge a higher price and set themselves apart (can correlate this with individuals as well). It was during the lockdowns, that I realized that personal branding was just as important to show value, establish trust, and communicate to your audience who they were dealing with before they met you.
During the lockdowns I saw how employees became the brand, and I don’t see it going back.
Get out there and go be that Evian.
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