Personality Marketing
I've been doing a lot of reading lately about personal branding as it relates to its use in building awareness for the corporate brand. (Blogged about it too, here and here.)
A term I've been tempted to use as a label, but refrained from until reading Todd Defren's post, Got Some Personal Branding I Could Borrow?, is Personality Marketing.
We've always had celebrity spokespersons or pitch men/women (animals too, for that matter). Whether it's Robert Wagner touting reverse mortgages, Michael Jordan wearing his Hanes tagless T's or Reese Witherspoon speaking on behalf of the Avon Foundation, celebrity spokespersons have been a staple in our culture for years and years. (See list of Tweets below for more.)
Along comes social media and its own set of rock stars. Why shouldn't corporate brands latch hold of them and leverage some of that personality for themselves.
Microsoft did it with Scoble (or, rather, Scoble did it with Microsoft, then Podtech and now Fast Company), Chris Brogan is doing it with CrossTech, Doug Haslam with SHIFT, the many analysts of Forrester...and the list goes on and on. The use of personalities has always been a marketing/advertising tactic.
Todd is one of the forward-thinking entrepreneurial execs who understands how to maximize the value of the personality - "We run a talent agency, not a PR agency," he says - and offers some practical tips in his post.
I'm fortunate in that my CEO, John Munsell, is equally forward-thinking. He sees value in my participating in the conversation via this blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc, so long as it doesn't preempt the service I provide Bizzuka. (Of course, compared to the likes of those previously mentioned, I'm a bit player, but grateful to have the opportunity to play a part.)
My office is in the same wing of our building as the production department staff. They remind me of worker bees churning out Web sites and billing by the hour.
I sit in my office, listen to their chatter about one client site or another and admire their dedication and perseverance, all the while writing blog posts, interacting on Twitter, and otherwise engaging myself in ongoing virtual conversations. Mine is an enviable position and I understand the unique nature of my role. (That's not all I do, mind you, but it does comprise a healthy portion of my day sometimes.)
The $64,000 question ultimately is, does Personality Marketing pay off in terms of measurable ROI? I hope it's having a positive effect on behalf of the company, though I suspect the jury is still out on that one.
Like Todd's blog says, "It may be the future but you still gotta eat." And as my Twitter friend Albert Maruggi said in a , "so long as companies have quarterly earnings their vision will be obstructed. Relationships take time." And that's essentially what all this personal branding stuff is about, building relationships...or fandom, one or the other.
Tweets listing celebrity spokespeople...in response to my request....
Clevecarole @pchaney, how about Valerie Bertinelli for (?) weight watchers or nutrisystem? I can't remember which 33 minutes ago from web in reply to pchaney
w2scott @pchaney Kelly is pushing kitchen appliances, not sure of the brand, Fergie: weight watchers or Jenny Craig. 33 minutes ago from twhirl in reply to pchaney
LisaSanderson @pchaney Sally Fields, Queen Latifah and the Geico Gecko. 33 minutes ago from web in reply to pchaney
PhoenixREGuy @pchaney Thanks to the beauty of TiVO, I never watch commercials. Is Catherine Zeta-Jones still pimping T-Mobile? 33 minutes ago from TweetDeck in reply to pchaney
w2scott @pchaney Fergie, Dutchess of whatever 37 minutes ago from twhirl in reply to pchaney
w2scott @pchaney Kelly Rippa of Regis & Kelly 37 minutes ago from twhirl in reply to pchaney
