The key culprit responsible for the above mind-boggling changes is technology trends. Technology is pervasive. It has its own beat, resulting in the fact that every business, every household, every community and every person is today a digital entity. We find ourselves left with little self-empowerment and almost zero personal control of our brand called “ME”.
Let’s take a moment to look in the rear-view mirror. The analogue mirror. In this analogue world, you and I were king and queen of our personal brands. We decided what perception we wanted to be labelled with, we decided what presence we wanted and where we aimed to market our personal brands, we chose where to play; how to play and what to play. In summary, we were the CEOs of brand ME. So, rightfully as CEO of our personal brands we needed little external support or fanfare.
Let’s take a look at the elements that we consciously or unconsciously executed to build and maintain our personal brands in the analogues era. I coined these the 10P’s of personal branding:
You will agree with me that the above seems like a tall order and a lot of work. This recipe has worked for eons. The result is that millions of individuals have gained financially by ensuring that their personal brands fulfil the above personal brand strategy. However, in an ever-changing, superbly dynamic digital world, personal brand fluidity is called for. The above model maybe too cumbersome to manage. The power of managing our brands has shifted from us to the virtual realities of this world. In essence if you don’t exist in the digital world – you basically are irrelevant. Digital first/physical second is the new process for personal brand equity build.
What does the framework look like in the digital world? What changes are required:
As CEOs of our personal brands, we have the responsibility to ensure that our brands survive this digital tsunami. Long live brand me!
