What is your brand?
What is your brand?
What brand of tomato sauce do you prefer?
I would guess that most people would pick All Gold. It is a classic, after all. I like Wimpy; it tastes like going on holiday. We all have brands that we love and are loyal to. Some people put Apple stickers on their cars, but I can’t recall ever seeing a Samsung sticker on a BMW.
Last Friday I took my family to watch the All Blacks play against the Stormers at Greenpoint Stadium in Cape Town. It was a fantastic occasion! There was electricity in the air, and it felt special being there. I’ve admired the All Blacks since I was a young kid. They play a brand of rugby that is fast, exciting, highly skilled and very sexy. I was excited to see the haka and watch them play, although my blood is completely green. But then there are the Cape Crusaders. Every time I encounter them, I am amused by this subculture of South Africans who support the All Blacks as their primary team – although many of them don’t know what the capital of New Zealand is and might struggle to find the country on a map. Each to his own, I guess. The point being, some brands resonate with us more deeply than others, for whatever reason.
When I was a postgraduate student, we had a wonderful professor who specialised in media psychology. As we were getting closer to entering the job market, he taught us that not only do companies, teams, and products have brands, but individuals do as well. And we should be paying attention to the personal brand we are building. This was before social media and influencers became a thing, but the idea does not only apply to people in the public eye. You also have a brand, whether you think you do or not.
Just like people conjure up an automatic image and experience when they think about All Gold, Apple or the All Blacks, they do the same when they think about you. So the question is: Is your brand one people enjoy, aspire to or dread? Do you show up with care, enthusiasm and a smile, ready to contribute, or are you better known for being cynical, angry, hard to please and quick to complain?
Just as these companies spend a truckload of money and effort to manage our perceptions of them, we should be mindful of how we are experienced, too. It’s not a question of being fake, trying to be something you are not, but rather taking responsibility for the impact you have. Earlier this week, somebody told me about a colleague he and the team have been struggling with because of her attitude. When made aware of it, she quickly shot back with something akin to “Well, that’s their problem!”
The problem is that it actually IS your problem. Yes, people can lie about us and skew the view. But the way we show up and are subsequently experienced is our personal responsibility, and I think we should take it seriously.
So I’m giving you some homework for the weekend: Think about what you want to be known for and compare that to what people actually experience from you. If you can’t see a gap, ask someone you trust if there might be one you are missing. Then start taking the steps to fill the gap.
As always, thank you for reading. Have a great weekend!
If you would like some help figuring out what your brand is, get in touch. You can reach us at info@purposeworks.co.za.
At PurposeWorks we are all about Making You and Your Work Rock. Our focus is on Organisational Health and Design, Employee Centered Culture, Leadership Development and Performance Coaching. For more information on how we can help you create a work environment that rocks, develop a great team, become an inspiring leader or unlock your personal excellence talk to us at info@purposeworks.co.za.
