Business Mandate

Ambi Parameswaran, Former CEO, Draft FCB Ulka, Author & Brand Strategist, debunks the myths of personal branding and throws some tips for management trainees to follow.

What is a brand and where does the word come from? The term “brand” comes from the Old Norse word ‘Brandr,’ which means ‘to burn.’ We are metaphorically burning the name into the minds of consumers. Without branding, there is no marketing. Philip Kotler famously said, “Branding is Marketing.”

According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), a brand is defined as a “name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.” A simpler definition of a brand is “a name that tells a story” (Claude Hopkins). What story does your name tell? Think about it.

A brand is more than just the product. It includes the intangible images, usage occasions, and user imagery that come to mind.

Three Brand Stories

Let me share three brand stories.

The first story is about an MBA student working at an FMCG MNC. He noticed how his colleagues eagerly grabbed Business India magazine to see the last few pages where the ‘job opportunities’ were listed. He wanted to take this concept to a different medium—the internet. He created Naukri.com. When he approached our agency for advertising, we proposed two options, and he chose the riskier one (Hari Sadu ad). Today, this company is publicly listed, and its founder, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, is a billionaire.

Story 2: This company was in the commodity business. They launched one brand, and it failed. The second brand also failed. However, the third attempt was a success. It even surpassed a major MNC brand. The brand is Santoor, whose market size is now larger than that of Lux soap. In 1994, when we started working on this brand, it was not even 20% of Lux’s size. A few years ago, it overtook Lux. We created 20 different ads with the same theme of youthfulness.

Story 3: This is a 100-year-old global brand. To celebrate their centenary, we created an ad campaign that became a pioneering effort in social media advertising. It went on to be a big hit. This is the world’s largest cookie brand—Oreo. It was rated as one of best global campaigns by WSJ, AdAge and even HBR.

As consumers become smarter, will brands continue to be important? The fact is, consumers have become more and more logo-oriented. Brands offer many advantages to consumers, manufacturers, and marketers. Can everything be branded?

Products, services, retailers, online platforms, people, organizations, sports, geographic locations, ideas, and causes—everything can be branded. The IPL is the biggest sports brand created in India in the last 10 years.

Personal Branding: Debunking Myths

Now let’s talk about personal branding. It is not just for stars and CEOs. Don’t think it’s complicated or just social media bragging. Harvard Business Review (HBR) covered this topic in a cover story last year on ‘Building Your Personal Brand.’ According to HBR, “It is an intentional strategic practice in which you define and express your own value proposition.”

Jeff Bezos says, “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.” Let me debunk 7 myths of personal branding.

1. Personal branding is a new fad: It is more than 25 years old. Management guru Tom Peters wrote an article in Fast Company Magazine, ‘The Brand Called You,’ in 1997. It is up to you to figure out how to manage your brand. Just like Naukri, Santoor, and Oreo—every single one of you is a brand.
2. Personal branding is just for CEOs: It applies to every single one of you. You have your mission, image, and values.
3. Personal branding happens on its own: Creating your personal brand is much better than leaving it to chance. If we map personal competence (low to high) against personal branding (low to high) in a 2×2 matrix, the stars are those with high personal competence and high personal branding. If you are low in both, you are a survivor. If you are high in competence but low in branding, you are a ‘workhorse.’ If you are low in competence but high in branding, you are a ‘braggart.’
4. Personal branding is nothing but bragging: Bragging is not personal branding. However, if you achieve something, talking about it loudly, proudly, and strategically can help you build your brand. Talk about your team rather than yourself.
5. Personal branding and networking are for losers: Which was the first breakthrough business that Microsoft got? DOS (Disk Operating System) for the IBM PC. How did Bill Gates get in touch with IBM? The story goes that Bill Gates’ mother, Mary Gates, was a successful entrepreneur. She was also on the board of a not-for-profit organization called ‘United Way.’ There, she met a board member named John Akers.

In one of the meetings, John Akers asked Mary about her son and what he was doing. She replied, “He went to Harvard but dropped out after a year.” Akers asked, “What is he doing now?” Mary said, “He is in the garage and says he is working on software.” John suggested that Bill Gates meet their team as they were developing a PC. Bill Gates went to New York, met the IBM team, and got the project.

Today, Microsoft’s market cap is 30 times that of IBM. Bill got a great introduction because his mother had built a strong network. So, map and develop your network.

6. Personal branding is too complex: There is a simple five-step process to build your personal brand.
7. Define yourself in three or four words.
8. Ask someone you trust if it is accurate.
9. Express your personal brand through your presence and voice.
10. Amplify your brand message.
11. Measure and course-correct if needed.
12. Personal branding is only about social media presence: Social media is just one aspect of personal branding. It can be built with little or no social media presence. It is about who you are. Use social media to amplify your brand.

Some Tips for Management Trainees:

• Always listen before speaking.
• Ask questions; don’t get tongue-tied.
• Take all assignments with a smile.
• Be ready to make mistakes.
• Politely disagree without being disagreeable.
• Know the difference between being smart, being human, and being a fool.

We are taught to do our best and let the world judge us for what we are. Seth Godin says, “Do your best and decide how you want to be judged and act that way.”