DOES “PERSONAL BRANDING” DESERVE ALL ITS HYPE? (ROUND #1)
November 10, 2009 by Jason
Filed under FEATURED, MICRO DEBATE: BRANDING & MARKETING
POSITION: DEFINITELY NOT!
Personal branding is getting a ton of hype these days, and I can’t quite figure out why. Personal branding has been around since the dawn of time, but we used to just call it reputation. (I’d like to take this opportunity to point out that I’m not that old.) Everything you do, every way you present yourself, and even more importantly every way people perceive you influences your reputation.
Perhaps the rise of digital and social media is causing a rise in the understanding of the concept of branding across multiple platforms, but really digital and social media are just channels for the same communication. Put more simply, new media is just another way you can build and define your reputation, not a game changing way people perceive your reputation.
POSITION: ABSOLUTELY!
Personal branding has received oodles of attention recently. Is it deserved? Absolutely! Put simply, personal branding is a method by which individuals can showcase their unique attributes – just as corporate brands have done for decades. But why all the recent hype? Because new technologies, “Web 2.0”, and the emergence of social media have broken long-standing communication barriers. Armed with a blog, a flip cam, and a Twitter account, you can now broadcast your message like never before.
Previously, your life experience and career expertise were represented by a black and white resume, lost somewhere in a stack of identical pages. But in 2009, your unique characteristics can shine through – in real-time, broadcast instantly around the globe. How empowering is that? And hiring managers are taking note as well. Studies show that 75% of hiring managers research a candidate’s personal brand or social media presence while making a decision. They’re convinced that personal branding is more than just hype. I suspect many of your colleagues and competition are convinced too, and are building and promoting their personal brands as we speak.
Today, a strong personal brand can truly impact your career path – believe the buzz, it’s more than just hype!
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I just wrote a blog article about this very thing. In fact, allow me to quote a line….”Can you imagine the success McDonald’s would have had if they’d chose to use a photo of their CEO instead of the golden arches?”
Nuff said.
Interesting point, Doug. Isn’t the question at hand how successful the CEO would be (in future endeavors) if he/she used the arches as his/her only picture? Or what about someone like Gary Vaynerchuk who has built an empire around his passion, name, and image?
I will check out your article now – look forward to reading it!
Great topic! I completely agree with Ryan, the proliferation of web 2.0 and social media tools is changing the nature of our communication. Much of this discussion is centered around people having a horizontal “presence” across platform which is important in growing your networks and visibility, but I think it’s equally important to develop a vertical presence to demonstrate the depth of your abilities and talents as well.
I think you both have good points.
Reputation has been around forever (and hence Personal Branding), but that doesn’t mean that one should not work with continuous improvement in all areas of life, both personal and professional.
However, there is a big but, a huge BUT, and that is that the hype around Personal Branding is not really about how to build and improve your brand based on a continuous development of your self knowledge and your persona, but rather on how to promote it in different (new) media channels. In that sense, the hype is not deserved.
Looking forward to round #2
The best way to diffuse a debate is so chip away at the foundation on which it is built. That being said, the argument against personal branding seems to stem that it is basically a new term on an old idea – reputation. The same could be said about entrepreneurs these days – it’s the buzz word that everyone is throwing around. Entrepreneur is just the new 2.0 version of Pioneer which is still used but just not as frequently. So the argument against personal branding isn’t against it’s essence but against it’s new 2.0 smell and feel.
Personal branding now encompasses the 2.0 world as the word reputation generally is seen as a in person feeling that you get, not much associated with your online presence. All in all, I am on Ryan’s side as his debate is more logical and addresses the real issue at hand.
I’ll save all of my opinions for next week (I’ll be taking the position that personal branding does not warrant its hype in Round Two of this debate next week), but I want to jump in real quick and say that I think Trace has the right idea. I don’t think anybody is ready to say that personal branding is unimportant – the question is does it deserve the massive amount of attention its receiving lately, simply because of the Internet and social media? Somehow it’s become a cottage industry, even though the act, art and science of branding oneself (establishing ones’ reputation) is no more important today than it was decades ago.
I really wanted to wait until next next week to jump in on this, but I couldn’t help myself!
Glad you gave us a little teaser
Ill be waiting for your debate!
I think it’s a good thing that personal branding is being promoted as much as it is for a couple reasons:
1) The expectations that are on individuals are far higher than they have been in the past. A good reputation is imperative, but it’s not enough to go on reputation. You need to know how to use the tools available to promote why you warrant the reputation you have.
2) Some people still don’t seem to understand or realize that they are “on” 24/7 when they use social media. The many gaffes that have made the rounds via Twitter and blogs (Fatty Cisco, for example) are proof of that. There needs to be a heightened awareness around the topic of personal branding to keep folks cognizant of the fact that everything they say affects their personal brand.
The problem with becoming a “brand” is it’s NOT “personal.” Ryan mentioned the black and white resume. Like most resumes, personal branding is piled high with BS. Also, with technology it’s not necessarily in your control. There is so much crap out there that we’ve become jaded. If people like you they tend to believe the good, and dismiss the bad, (and vise versa) without ever considering if it’s true or not. This leads to people getting hired for jobs, or elected to positions they aren’t qualified for. *wink*
I am all about the truth, and think reputation is extremely important, but I think this could be harmful.
I don’t think it deserves all the hype, but I don’t get to chose. Since apparently it DOES deserve it, and I can’t be wrong, I’m going to have to give this a tie. As you can probably tell, I don’t have much of a business mind, bit I look forward to round two, and learning more from all of you.
So the question was does it deserve all its hype. As a marketer I have to say that if there is the interest and the response then yes, it deserves all the hype because those producing content see a market for it.
The more interesting question is, Why?
To answer that I think we need to consider all the new media channels now available to just about anyone with an Internet connection, an ever-increasingly narcissistic society seeking the proverbial 15 minutes of fame, high unemployment, a very competitive job market, the importance of key words and web search and the realization amongst professionals that personal/professional differentiation is desirable because there is always somebody more skilled willing to work for less money.
The reasons are a mix of good and bad and there seem to be way too many self-proclaimed gurus on the topic out there but if there is a market then there will be the hype.
The only hype that is undeserved is the hype that claims there is some kind of secret or magic to it all and as such it requires a topic expert to help the hapless subject through the process.
I can see both sides of this debate; to Jonathan’s point your reputations has been around forever, but as Ryan says “it’s now broadcast like never before.” What tips the scales in favor of a personal brand is the need to maintain it.
We’ve all seen the articles about someone loosing a job based on a picture or status update that they posted. All of the casual comments that you make online impact your reputation and add up to equal your personal brand. Though some people actively work to create their brand, others inadvertently tarnish it. I think the hype is valid if nothing else as an awareness campaign for what not to do.
Great debate. I look at personal branding a little deeper than the web 2.0/online conversation only. Is it important absolutely you have to be relevant and provide digital bread crumbs online to draw people to who you are which can create opportunity for yourself. In the end I go back to a critical question if there was no Facebook, Twitter, or other social networks would personal branding exist? The answer is yes because because these channels are amplifiers of who you are. Continue to help people understand who they are and they will be irresistible when people find them in these channels.
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