What is a brand?

Brands are everywhere. It’s virtually impossible to scan your environment and not pick out the brand name printed on your clothing, car, food, beverages, computer, books, billboards, magazines and the like. Turn on the tv and you’ll see advertisement for companies who want you to buy their brand name products.

But brands aren’t limited to products. People can be brands too. Actors like George Clooney and Tom Cruise are brands. News journalists like Katie Couric and Dan Rather are brands. Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, and Barry Bonds are brands. Rachel Ray, Oprah, Madonna, and virtually anyone famous you can think of are brands. Politicians like George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain are brands.

In fact, you are a brand. And everyone you interact with is a brand. You just might not know it yet. So let me start by defining what a brand is.

What is a brand?
Your brand is the collective sum of how each person you come into contact views you, your products and services. It’s the positive feeling they get when they think about you. It’s how they expect to be treated when they call you on the phone. It’s the service they anticipate when they hire you. And it’s how they convey who you are and what you do to their friends, family and coworkers.

But your brand isn’t limited to what your clients think. It’s deeper than that. It’s how your significant other, family and friends view you. It’s those characteristics that make up the core of your personality and attract others to you. As long as you’re not living a solitary life on a mountain top, you’re a brand.

What do I mean by that? Simply that your friends and family who know and love you are aware of your strengths and weaknesses - and they accept you as is. They know to turn to you if they’re in a crisis, or need a shoulder to cry on, or want advice about something, or need a companion for dinner. They know your likes and dislikes, what you know and what you don’t. If you’re into sports, they know they can talk to you about last night’s game. If you’re a movie buff, they know you’ve seen this week’s new releases. If you’re good at home improvement stuff, they know they can turn to you when they start thinking about adding a new room or deck. And they know when you’re in a bad mood and whether you need some cheering up or some space to recuperate.

All of those positive and negative interactions they have with you collectively form your personal brand. It’s not about who you are, personally, but how other people see you. The more they spend time with you and get to know you, the more their perceptions of your personal brand will match who you are.

Most people never get to know us that well, so they perceive who we are by what we say to them, how we treat them, and what they perceive our motivations are. That may or may not be an accurate representation of who we are, but based on the data they’ve collected and pieced together, this is their assessment.

And that’s why learning to manage your brand is so important.