So what's up with this brandividualism, this identification of individuals with brands? Are we seeing technology enabling the democratization of a trend pioneered by people like Lee Iacocca? He became the face of Chrysler and turned it around. The late Victor Kiam liked the Remington shaver so much he bought the company. The indefatigable Mr. Oreck is still asking people to buy his Oreck vacuum cleaners.
However, what is happening today goes beyond pitchman to something more personal. Other trends at play here include the shift toward open management in business and transparency in government (which is increasingly in our business).
The breaking down of barriers between work and play has been at work for several decades (think of how hard they struggle to hold the line in Mad Men). Then there's the trend identified by Fast Company in 1997 when it started talking about The Brand Called You, which encouraged some individuals to put themselves ahead of their companies.
What very few people saw coming was the way new media like Facebook and Twitter would force the issue. Just about every company I know is talking over this question: "Do you Twitter as a brand or a person? And if so, how do you handle it? Where's that line between personal and private? Do you follow your competitors AND their friends and family? And what happens when Sarah quits?
There are certainly some very lively discussions of brandividuals going on right now, especially in the marketing world. One of the biggest trends in marketing over the last 5 years has been Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization. And a notable trend in the SEM/SEO space has been the emerge of big name experts, some of whom have acquired bigger names for themselves than for their companies. This is the subject of provocative post by Lisa Barone on OutSpoken Media. And this one by Todd Mintz at Search Engine People. The topic was also covered by Abbey Klaassen at Ad Age here.
What very few people saw coming was the way new media like Facebook and Twitter would force the issue. Just about every company I know is talking over this question: "Do you Twitter as a brand or a person? And if so, how do you handle it? Where's that line between personal and private? Do you follow your competitors AND their friends and family? And what happens when Sarah quits?
There are certainly some very lively discussions of brandividuals going on right now, especially in the marketing world. One of the biggest trends in marketing over the last 5 years has been Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization. And a notable trend in the SEM/SEO space has been the emerge of big name experts, some of whom have acquired bigger names for themselves than for their companies. This is the subject of provocative post by Lisa Barone on OutSpoken Media. And this one by Todd Mintz at Search Engine People. The topic was also covered by Abbey Klaassen at Ad Age here.
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