Personal Branding is Made-Up Nonsense

secret-personal-brandingOk, I’ve had enough and it’s time to set some things straight. I’m not quite sure how it happened, but this “personal branding” nonsense has got to stop. It’s way past time for the truth. If you understand anything about branding, actual branding, you know, the fun little concept invented by good ‘ol Procter & Gamble, you know that it’s fundamentally about emotion. It is not fundamentally about which friggin’ outfit you choose to wear today (for God’s sake). air jordan 11 I believe “personal branding” was sorta manufactured and co-opted by the HR profession and someone who should’ve been stopped before they cleverly concluded that people could market themselves in the workplace just like brands. The logic goes — if you REALLY want a job or want to keep your job you should really think about “your brand.” L to the O to the L. This would be fine if it were anywhere close to facts or the truth. As my company preaches from every rooftop and conference room, real branding transfers emotion from human beings and human relationships to things that have no particular emotional attachment – say companies, logos and other man-made creations. So if you engage in “personal branding” what you are literally saying the to the world is: “as a person I lack the ability to connect with other human beings naturally and must invent some clever way to do it and transfer that emotion.” In the immortal words of Dr. Evil, “Um..How about NO!” Please stop it. You are not a brand and you never will be. Actually, you as a human being are already BETTER than a brand because you have this little thing called HUMANITY – a built-in-from-the-factory way for other human beings to connect to you. It’s like Wi-Fi only you don’t have to pair with anything or enter a password. No branding is necessary. nike air max flyknit Branding is actually a step-down from your natural state. nike air max 97 All the things you NATURALLY have are the things that BRANDS want to have transferred to them, not the other way around. If you are misusing the term “branding” to mean “the perception you want to create about yourself,” that is just flat-out wrong. A more accurate term is your “image”, your “identity” or just you know, “you.” Why make it more complicated and use anything other than “you.” Sheesh! So please good readers, the next time you hear anyone talk about “personal branding,” please send them this link and make them stop. It is completely contrived BS that continues to cloud the waters of actual branding and the work we do in this area every day. Branding is extremely difficult 24/365 work that requires the perfect recipe of creativity and discipline in order to get the desired emotional transference effect. air jordan 31 I’ve adapted a little children’s story to help. nike flyknit Feel free to share with your kids or anyone who needs it. If you give a mouse some personal branding advice…. Stop it.