The Brand: Above or Below?

In many of my blogs and podcasts I’ve talked about personal brands.  I have talked some about companies, businesses and organizations and their brands, but where do they stand together?  I had some thoughts to ask yourself about your yourself or where your company, business or organization stands.

I think most people would agree, that having or being a personal brand is a good thing.  With the tools and technologies there are many great places to start to build your personal brand.  If you have already started down that road, great.  Something to think about when building or maintaing your personal brand, how does that define you?  Do you want to be defined by what you say, do, wear, blog about, tweet about, etc.?  If you could sell yourself, your personal brand to someone in three words what would they be?

Now talking about brands as a name, company, business and or organization.  I think many would agree that having a brand to stand by, above, below creates more credibility and can look very professional.  If you wanted to start your own venture to build your personal brand, do you think it’s important to have a brand name or be the brand?  I have several reasons for writing this blog and asking these questions.  1. I want to get you thinking about where you and maybe your brand is.  2. I want you to understand the power that a brand as a person or a name can have, both positive and negative.  3. To get you to think where you stand with yourself as a brand and where your company, business and or organization also stands.

Let’s take corporate American out of this completely and focus on the entrepreneurs, small businesses and highly successful firms that combine skills, creativity and drive.  Now that we are thinking of people and brands on a smaller scale (small scale as number of people) let’s talk about where they stand.  Ask yourself these questions that might be somewhat of a review from above.  What do you know about your personal brand and what do people say about it?  Once you have the answer to that questions ask yourself the same question, but focused on a brand name (company, business and or organization)  Make some notes on the answers.  Maybe more important than what you know and think, what are others thinking and feeling?  Ask them, this will only help you.  You might be one of those great brand names and or personal brands who people tell you all the time what they think and how they feel.  You may not even have to ask.

Yes, I know what your thinking.  Why should I care and why if I already have this information am I still reading?  I will tell you.  You may or may not have thought about this but you should, it could affect on perhaps both your personal brand and brand name.  In the picture below (I drew it, but you get the point) is a picture that shows what I’m talking about.  I will explain below.

When looking at this picture, minus the obvious (that it’s a stick figure drawing) do you see yourself on either of the two sides?  There in my opinion are positive and negative sides to both.  You or your brand name could be the exception, by being one with your brand and have the people that work within your brand be at the same level as your brand.  If this is more perception and perception is reality does this even matter?  Let’s talk about what I think each section means, why and what that means for the personal brands and brand name.

First, let’s talk about being above your brand.  I think this can happen when a person has built a very successful personal brand that when compared to the brand name they created or work for they can be bigger.  This can be great if you recognize this and can allow you to take those from your personal brand and show them your brand name.  They can both shine, but one might shine more than the other.  If you notice I drew two people in each picture.  That’s not to say that you can be a personal brand and have a brand name as one person.  You can.  Go for it, the sky is the limit.  I drew this because I think that can be one big negative in being above your brand.  Say for example you have two people who work for the same brand name.  One could be the owner of the brand name, they could own it together or one could just work for the other person.  Either way, the two people above that brand will continue to build their personal brands and incorporate the brand name to create a balance and cohesion.  The bad can come when and if someone leaves the brand name, gets fired, laid off, etc.  The personal left standing above the brand may have people asking questions and may want justification of their brand name equity and loyalty.  Not to say that will or will always happen.  That’s one potential negative when you are above your brand.  One great thing about having two or more people all above the brand is that they can go in different directions to build their personal brands and at the same time build off their now common base, the brand name.  One last thing to think about with being above your brand, you and the others who work with can control what happens and is said about the brand.  Sure, people are going to talk, but you will be watching and can correct and or take legal action if needed.

Now let’s talk about being below your brand.  I think this happens more with older companies, businesses and or organizations.  Those brand names have a lot of built up brand equity from it’s longevity.  The other great thing about being below your brand (we are just talking people here or your personal brand) is many may have already heard of it.  What they heard or know could be good or bad.  This is where your personal brand comes in, can you fix it, educate them, or change their perception of the brand name?  That opportunity in their eyes might put you above the brand.  The other great thing about being below your brand is you can go back and look at their timeline, past successes and failures.  If you are in a position to make changes or suggest growth, do it.  One problem with being below the brand is that you may never get your change to build or create your personal brand to then break through the brand to be above it.  As collective group of people that make up a brand name is that it can take one department, one person, one incident or something get on the internet about the brand name and could ruin your brand equity and credibility.  You may not have any control of that or even know about it until it’s too late.

So where do you stand?  Do you think it’s better to be above your brand or below it?  I think both create opportunities, positive and negative situations.  One last thing to think about if you are a just starting to build your personal brand, are a personal brand, or a brad name, if you are above or below your brand, who will you hire?  Will you hire people who have the potential to take your brand name and stand above it or hire someone who is a personal brand to stand above it with you?

Thank you for reading.  I hope this has got you thinking.  Any thoughts and or ideas, please leave a comment.  I know I would love to know what you think and others who read this will as well.  Thank you.