PERSONAL BRANDING
A brand refers to meaning. A brand refers to a promise, a hint of future assurance that a business, product, company, area or person stands for in the minds of the public (Chiaravalle and Schenk 2014: 8). According to Heding (2016), brand equity refers to the subjective or objective value of a brand. The subjective value meaning the public’s perception of the brand and the objective meaning the financial value of a brand. Regardless of our age and position (Peters 1997), all of us need to understand the importance of branding the self, which, in the knowledge economy is a key promotional device (Gandini 2016). There are numerous academic works that have been written on self-branding over the last decade. (Khamis, Ang and Welling 2016: 1). In this piece, we will discuss the importance of active self-branding/ personal branding in building one’s own subjective brand equity.
What people say about you when you’re not in the room is not entirely own of your control. Self-branding gives you power over your own reputation and image. You are able to directly create and orchestrate your preferred brand image in to existence. This gives room for growth and self-transformation.
People feel more comfortable when they have a clear print of what a person can do and everything they stand for. When they are aware of your back story and the things that drive you, they have more ease in trusting you.
Some of the aspects of self-branding like networking help one to form and build connections. As young professionals reach out to people more through conferences, or even casual chit chat, they are able to both receive feedback on their brand image as well as associate meaning and value to themselves. Through this, they get more exposure and form more relations with people who would be potential clients/ customers/ hirers.
The premise for personal branding is that everyone has the power to be their own brand and a person’s main job is to be their own marketer (Labreque, Markos and Milne 2011). Building credibility involves developing one’s skills in his/her areas of expertise. Since branding is about creating a promise of value and then delivering it, one has to actively work to ensure that he/she are credible in wat they stand for. This promotes further growth and urges others to have faith and trust in them.
Individuals can gain confidence while developing their brand. This is because they become aware of their strengths, positive qualities and actively work to build them. The more they gain a sense of security and stability.
Personal brands are built from passions, skills, traits and talents unique to the individual alone. Once one embarks on the journey of self-branding, they begin a process of self-discovery and alignment. A person then grows based on their own archetype, and not that of another.
One’s brand’s usefulness rests on its promise of consistency (Khamis, Ang and Welling 2016: 1). Everyone has a chance to stand out, everyone has a chance to be a brand worthy of remark (Peters 1997). Take a moment and ask yourself, “What is it that makes me different? What do I bring to the table?” Give yourself at least 15 words or less, write down your answer and take time to read it. Individuals must take control of their own brand identity in order to stand out and project a kinetic, dynamic and valuable image (Peters 1997).
Aaker, D. 1996. Building Strong Brands, New York: The Free Press.
Chiaravelle, B., Schenk, F, B., 2014. Branding for Dummies. 2 ndEdition. Hoboken: For Dummies.
Gandini, A., 2016. Digital work: Self-branding and social capital in the freelance knowledge economy. UK: The Burroughs
Khamis, S., Ang, L., Welling, R., 2017. Self-branding,’micro-celebrity’ and the rise of Social Media Influencers, Celebrity Studies, 8:2, 191–208
Labrecque, L., Markos, E., & Milne, G. (2011). Online personal branding: Processes,
Challenges, and implications. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 25(1), 37–50.
Originally published at http://kerensarahobara.com on May 10, 2020.
