| Be Your Own Brand: A Breakthrough
Formula for Standing out from the Crowd
By David McNally and Karl D. Speak
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., San Francisco, 2002.
Reviewed by Kerry Bierman
What's your brand promise? If you don't know or if you don't have
one, maybe you should. Be Your Own Brand makes you think
about your presentation of "self" to others. It is a motivational
book, a marketing book, a book for management and a book for individuals.
A book for the classroom or the nightstand, and especially for the
office. In a business world that can sometimes seem cold and insensitive,
there may never be a more appropriate time to examine your personal
brand behavior. And there may never be a more important time to
align your personal brand with that of your employer or client.
So get out your highlighter. This book will glow yellow by the time
you reach the end, and you will be better equipped to manage and
position your "self" in a brand-conscious world.
As authors David McNally and Karl Speak point out, "the most
important brand relationship you have ultimately is with your 'self.'"
But beyond your "self," this insightful book will help
you with other relationships in your life: with your work, your
family, and your friends. It will make you think about your "self"
as a brand-and how that brand links with the values of the world
in which you live.
What is your life purpose and how do you fit into your organization's
brand purpose? Sounds a bit Zen, but the authors tell us that there
is likelihood for dissonance between our own brand "promise"
and that of our employer or client. The good news is that "we
have more power than we think." According to the authors, there
is opportunity for all of us to achieve a better alignment.
If you read nothing else but the last chapter, you will still be
ahead of the game. However, like everything else in life, you need
to invest in all of the chapters. The fact that so much logic has
been packed in so few chapters is a tribute to the authors' ability
to "keep it simple." Perhaps the hallmark of a truly meaningful
slice of information is that you already know it to be true. Be
Your Own Brand puts some very common sense into some very understandable
words. It captures thoughts you probably already have and organizes
them.
Perhaps nothing is more complex in life than our personal relationships.
By comparing our personal relationships to brand relationships,
the book presents highly useful metaphors between what we are and
how we respond to corporate brands. It takes some quiet thought
to digest the contents, but it's hard to think of any better use
of our resources than applying them to improving our relationships.
The creative community is noted for its outside-the-box thinking,
but here is a book that helps us look at how that thinking is perceived
by others… and perhaps make us even more likely to succeed
in achieving our creative goals.
I would urge you to not just to read Be Your Own Brand but
to study it and apply it to your career… your life. Because
like a Snickers candy bar, we must fulfill our promise of quality
once the package is opened. No matter how good we might look on
the outside.
Kerry
Bierman is an independent consultant and the former vice president
of corporate communications at The Scotts Company.
|
