Personal Branding

At Traffic, we live and breathe brands. On a personal level, I’ve been interested in brands for as long as I can remember, taking note of how they look, feel and communicate. Throughout my career, I’ve observed how strategic branding has evolved over time and across a range of industries. It’s fascinating how branding has expanded beyond its traditional product-based realm into that of tertiary sector service providers. Our team has assisted law firms, financial service providers and investor companies transform their brands to differentiate their offering and appeal to a specific segment.

One trend in branding I find intriguing is the rise of personal branding. Whilst some people might feel uncomfortable at the thought of people as brands, there is a growing number of people who utilize branding techniques to achieve their desired career objectives. In recent years, we’ve heard of Brand Obama and Brand Beckham. These public figures have meticulously worked out where they want to be and crafted the way they look and communicate in order to position themselves favorably in the minds of their target market. And I think it’s safe to say both have been very successful.

Another interesting industry that uses personal branding is the world of celebrity chefs. Gordon Ramsey, Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal, they all have their own unique personality, their own distinct cooking methods and their own end products. Nigella Lawson targets an upmarket audience. She speaks eloquently, dresses immaculately and creates recipes that are both expensive and difficult. Jamie Oliver, in contrast, targets those with a lower budget and fewer capabilities in the kitchen. He’s a casual cheeky chap who speaks informally to appeal to the everyday cook. Essentially, they are ‘master brands’, whose ‘products’ include TV shows, cookbooks, cookware and food products.

But it’s not just celebrities that can benefit from branding techniques. I recently listened to a podcast with Sue Currie discussing the role of personal branding in terms of achieving career goals. According to Currie, if you want to succeed in a cluttered marketplace, you must identify your ideal position and just like a brand, work out a plan to differentiate yourself in a way that is important to your target audience. This involves a 4-stage process.

Firstly, you must determine what you value and how that affects your personality. Subsequently, you must visually represent what you stand for in terms of how you dress and speak. Next, you should shape your behavior in line with how you would like to be perceived and lastly you must promote yourself, both online and in person. Branding yourself is about presenting in a way that is reflected of where you want to be tomorrow, not where you are today.

At Traffic, we run workshops as part of our strategic process and frequently find the business owner is key in shaping the values and personality of the brand; however, as yet, we’ve yet to brand a person.