Product Marketing Blog

There’s been much to do lately about the effect of personal branding on businesses and the importance of personal branding for small and medium businesses.  I think both personal and business branding are important – and they certainly have an effect on each other. How much will depend on the influence and reputation of the brands.

Now, I’m not against personal branding, as I said it may offer some people that ability to create the best job going, but a business is an asset, something that gets more valuable over time and, here’s the biggie, can be sold. It is very difficult to sell a personal brand. Some of biggest personal brands you could name on twitter right now would be worth very little without the person behind the avatar. – John Jantsch – Business Isn’t Personal – Duct Tape Marketing

Businesses certainly can benefit from having a bit of personality.  Customers want to have experiences, not just purchase products, and they want to interact with brands and businesses.  As Scotty Monty, who works for Ford, said:

It’s a lot more difficult to screw a brand when there’s a real person that you know that’s associated with the brand.

Some of the most popular business brands today have strong personal brands behind them.  Apple, for instance, is undeniably tied to the personal brand of Steve Jobs.  But a personal brand is not the same as a business brand.  While Steve Jobs may work for Apple, there is more to his personal brand than just a CEO.  Apple is more than just Steve Jobs (at least, so the investers hope).

In an era when transparency is much easier, it is important to be aware of the effects of personal brands on business brands, and vice versa.  What you say and do as a person is linked to your business, even if you’re building separate brands.  What a company does while you own it can also be tied to your personal brand.  Instead of a black and white division – there are many shades of grey.

(photo by Mister Wilson @ Flickr CC)

Technorati tags: brand, branding, branding strategy, business, marketing strategy, marketing

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