Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Tom Cruise proves the necessity of managing your personal brand
Well, it finally happened...Paramount terminated Tom Cruise's contract due to his recent 'unbecoming behavior,' proving that even H'wood has its standards. Tom's brand: boyish charm meets hot, well-poised, likeable action hero - left no room for jumping-on-various-furniture-and-automotive-platforms while screaming-and-declaring-his-love-for-Katie-Holmes-under-the-influence-of-scientology-while-attacking-Brooke-for-using-medication-for-PPD-Tom. In fact, you could argue, as Paramount is apparently doing, that the two personalities dramatically conflict with each other.
Let's look at Old Tom vs. New Tom:
- Boyish charm? yes
- Hot? yep
- Well-poised and likeable? Aha! Here is the problem...Tom's recent expressiveness led him into a dark hole not unlike the one Howard Dean was forced to contend with during the last presidential race. And his attacks on Brooke Shields for using medication to treat her Post-partum depression were just downright mean. Is it fair to judge someone's character by one or two random acts? Maybe not...but herein lies the power of audience in evaluating brands, and it underscores a key point: every single opportunity to show your brand counts. You MUST feed the public what you want them to takeaway from their interactions with your personal brand, because if you don't, they will create a brand for you. And more often than not, it'll be 'unbecoming,' too.
Read the story:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Business/story?id=2344327
BTW, Insight303 conducts a workshop on personal branding called "The Power And Permission To Be Yourself." Email us for information about bringing it to your company. talkback@insight303.com.
Stacy & Faith
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Is innovation the new integration?
So we've been reading tons lately about giant corporations needing to "innovate." Just last week, Wendy's announced it formed an innovation and strategy group which will "oversee research and development, insights and other functions." Ian Rowden, evp / chief marketing officer said ""We know that innovation at all levels, from the menu to packaging to the customer experience in our restaurants, is critical to our success. Everything is now strategically linked and will work tightly together." Hmm. Sounds. Like. What people meant when they talked about integration a few years back. Not to pick on Wendy's - the word has been coming up more and more in our observation.
The act of innovating, in the dictionary's opinion, just means "to bring in new ideas". This, in our mind, is a good idea in itself. For too long, companies have let the impersonal corporate structure take over not only their internal operations, but their public persona. People, and customers have been replaced by "consumers." Ideas, and thoughts have been replaced with "process" and buzzwords. "Surprise and delight" is an old-fashioned ideal, and human emotion has been replaced with computer-facilitated relationships. If "innovation" is the label applied to questioning this way, and "innovating" brings back simple human truth to the corporate sector, we're all for it! Let the innovation begin..!
So we've been reading tons lately about giant corporations needing to "innovate." Just last week, Wendy's announced it formed an innovation and strategy group which will "oversee research and development, insights and other functions." Ian Rowden, evp / chief marketing officer said ""We know that innovation at all levels, from the menu to packaging to the customer experience in our restaurants, is critical to our success. Everything is now strategically linked and will work tightly together." Hmm. Sounds. Like. What people meant when they talked about integration a few years back. Not to pick on Wendy's - the word has been coming up more and more in our observation.
The act of innovating, in the dictionary's opinion, just means "to bring in new ideas". This, in our mind, is a good idea in itself. For too long, companies have let the impersonal corporate structure take over not only their internal operations, but their public persona. People, and customers have been replaced by "consumers." Ideas, and thoughts have been replaced with "process" and buzzwords. "Surprise and delight" is an old-fashioned ideal, and human emotion has been replaced with computer-facilitated relationships. If "innovation" is the label applied to questioning this way, and "innovating" brings back simple human truth to the corporate sector, we're all for it! Let the innovation begin..!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Turning your lifestyle into a brand
In our personal branding work with groups and individuals, we see an increasing need for the way people spend their precious time to be relevant and deeply fulfilling in their lives. The NYTimes recently ran an article on the cultural need to do meaningful work and to be deeply connected with how we chose to earn a living. With the popularity of the new individualism, we see more and more people (ourselves included!) striking out on their own, making compromises about salary and work hours to regain self-control and responsibility for self-satisfaction. The article profiles a seemingly unlikely candidate to do so...maybe it'll inspire someone you know to use their personal brand to achieve their dreams.
Read the article here.
In our personal branding work with groups and individuals, we see an increasing need for the way people spend their precious time to be relevant and deeply fulfilling in their lives. The NYTimes recently ran an article on the cultural need to do meaningful work and to be deeply connected with how we chose to earn a living. With the popularity of the new individualism, we see more and more people (ourselves included!) striking out on their own, making compromises about salary and work hours to regain self-control and responsibility for self-satisfaction. The article profiles a seemingly unlikely candidate to do so...maybe it'll inspire someone you know to use their personal brand to achieve their dreams.
Read the article here.
