InsightBlog

Al Gore's personal brand expressed

Readers, I'm late to the game, I admit: Al Gore launched his television station, Current, eons ago, but I only just made it up to the 200s on my cable box this weekend to see it for the first time. In our personal brand workshops we spend a lot of time talking about creative ways to express your brand. Blogs, publishing articles and whitepapers, and speaking at local events always rise to the top...but a TV station? This is such an incredible expression of a personal brand, it's inspirational! The best thing: Al's station features user-generated content - everything is created by viewers, the world over. This weekend I watched a segment on a custom shoe manufacturer in Germany, which was interspersed with viewer-created ads...so, forget about throwing away your b-roll footage or that artsy piece you shot in the subway...make it into an ad and send it in to Al!

Here's an interesting blog from a guy who designed a version of the channel's logo. For you art directors, it includes some interesting design commentary. I just love how the station truly lives its promise to involve users every step of the way...they truly couldn't exist without their audience!

The channel's viewership is 18-34 year olds, but, like MySpace, something tells me there are aspirational viewers on both ends of that age range.