the grass is greener on the internet


Personal branding:: the next big thing?
September 1, 2008, 6:07 pm
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Maybe it’s just because I’ve been thinking about jobs lately, but I think the next big trend might be personal branding.

At the ‘how to get a job in marketing’ talk at Marketing Week, it was mentioned that going to recruitment consultants is the obvious way to go but not necessarily the best. Like a company listing in the Yellow Pages. What’s the value proposition? What are the values that define you as a brand?

A lot of things are now being sold on pure cult of personality, mostly celebs. Paris. Beckham. Posh. You all know who I’m talking about, and they turnover product purely through personality. Why? They’ve established a personal brand with massive brand equity

Personal branding is more effective for social marketing, too. It’s easier to stand for something, to be trusted, and to interact with your target market, if you’re an individual with a recognisable personality. Just ask Perez. Or Xiaxue. Of course, the downside is that they can’t interact with everyone, which could limit conversations, but it puts more value in those conversations.

Hmm. Sometimes I wonder if Interbrand will measure personal brand equity. Or even blog brand equity…

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Thoughts on Nokia
August 30, 2008, 6:14 pm
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Doing a study of Nokia at the moment, just some random thoughts on what I’d like to see from the brand from a strategic point of view::

  • Honing on on those developing markets like Brazil and South Africa…creating the software to be able to engage properly with these markets as well as rolling out devices which are an all-in-one communication tool as well as being cost-appropriate.
  • The mobile phone industry reached maturity in about 2000, how about expanding technologies! Doesn’t have to be as radical as paper mills to electronics, but how about more Skype-enabled phones? (Or do I have to buy a tablet?) How about a phone that I can program to be a tv remote? (iRiver did it with an mp3 player, although mine never worked…) A phone that can double as a car unlocker?
    I don’t know, I think there’s far more capabilities that you could have to make a mobile phone a kind of electronic best friend… Just watch a couple of Bond movies, and instead of saying ‘wouldn’t that be cool’, say ‘I wonder if we can make that happen in real life applications?’
  • Forward integrate and take some control over distribution in selected locations. There’s a whole Nokia lifestyle thing they can work with, which would be particularly effective in parts of Europe where mobiles are an all-encompassing way of life. Nokia concept stores, stronger Nokia-Siemens networks where they’re not at the mercy of telecoms operators for distribution. Otherwise you’re putting half of the brand experience in the hands of someone else!
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