Brand Extensions and Personal Branding (5-2-24)

Happy Thursday!

I thought I was done with the series on personal branding, but then the universe tapped me to write this one about brand extensions and personal branding.

What if I told you that Tide was going to open a laundromat? Would that make sense to you? I’m assuming you could see how that would fit with the Tide brand. The Tide brand stands for cleanliness and dealing with tough stains. Tide deals with tough stains as a liquid detergent, pods, and a to go pen. Having a Tide laundromat, isn’t too much of a stretch because of what the Tide brand stands for. If I told you that McDonald’s was going to open a laundromat, that would probably be a harder one to figure out 😉

What does this have to do with personal branding? If Tide only looked at itself as a laundry detergent, then it would have just stayed in that narrow space. Instead, Tide saw itself as a stain fighter, and realized that it had the opportunity to compete in any spaces that fight stains. On the personal branding side, I’ve had people in the past tell me that they wanted to expand and evolve their brand to help them switch career paths or do something different. They wanted to figure out how to do this in a way that made sense to other people, so those people would be willing to hire them and give them a shot. I think this comes down to two things. How narrowly do you define your brand? How well can you connect your brand essence to where you want to evolve?

I spoke to someone once who had a background as a scientist and was trying to establish themselves more as a marketer or market researcher. They were having trouble connecting their brand as a scientist to marketing. I explained that if they just saw themselves as a scientist, then there wasn’t much of a connection, because when people hear scientist they think of lab coats and experiments. If their brand is about being curious and about being intentional about testing hypotheses and leveraging data to make sound decisions (aka the scientific method) they start to sound like someone who works in market research or in marketing strategy. They had to step away from their initial narrow depiction of themselves, and then connect their essence to the problem needing to be solved.

The challenge- If you’re looking to evolve your brand, how do you define your brand? How do you connect your brand essence to where you’re going?

Bonus thought- During my Lilly career I’ve worked in sales, training, communications, market research, marketing, and my current market research innovation and capabilities role. On the surface, those things are very different from each other. On the surface, those brand extensions don’t make any sense. However, I don’t define my personal brand by a specific role. I’m a spark igniting storyteller. I tell stories that MOVE people. That’s what I do and enjoy doing and am good at doing. Using my energy and storytelling to move people is the golden thread that connects everything I do. When I’m on stage performing poetry, I move people to feel something. When I write blogs I move people to think differently. In sales I moved customers to try products. In training I moved learners to develop skills. In communications I moved people to think/feel/do certain things to accomplish organizational objectives. As a brand market researcher I moved people to make good business decisions, and there is something magic about this that brings me a lot of joy. In marketing I used tactics and channels to tell stories to move customers to do something. In my current role I try to lead people to take action to build a new future we are only beginning to imagine.

Bonus poem– I stumbled across a poem I performed about being in market research. It has some great tie ins to the essence of your brand and how it connects to opportunities. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrew-embry-979831b7_marketresearch-research-analytics-activity-7191644032991662080-QvGT?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Personal Branding: Image vs Brand (4-24-24)

Last week we explored how your brand may not be for everyone and that’s okay. This week we will look at image vs. brand.

Apple has been recognized as one of the most powerful brands in the world. When you hear Apple, what do you think of? One of the first things that comes to mind is the sleek design of their products. The things Apple does just look cool. Now, I want you to imagine a world where Apple products all continued to have the hip trendy designs, BUT none of them worked well. How do you think the world would feel about Apple? I’m assuming that Apple wouldn’t be appreciated, because that would not be a good value proposition. While it’s true that image and design is a component of the Apple brand, it’s NOT the entire brand. The Apple brand also stands for things like innovation, technology, challenging the status quo, simplicity, being intuitive, integration, genius bar, and customer wow moments. Their brand is more than just image and aesthetic, it’s a combination of other intangible promises that Apple makes to consumers.

What does this have to do with personal branding? It’s easy to confuse the concept of image with brand. Your image and the way you present yourself are just part of your broader brand package. While these things are important, staying so focused on surface level elements distracts us from focusing on the true substance. Yes, we appreciate Apple because their products look cool. However, if the products looked cool and didn’t offer the other things Apple offers, they wouldn’t be worth much.

I was talking to an individual once, and they brought up how cognizant they are about shaping their brand. They talked about how much time they invest cultivating the right image online on LinkedIn and other social media sites. They also talked about looking the part when they attended networking events. I didn’t hear them talk about their unique genius, strengths, what they do, or how they do it. I didn’t hear them talk about the problems they solve or the value they provide. They were so focused on creating an image that they weren’t creating a brand that provides real value.

The challenge: As you build your personal brand, will you think beyond just shaping an image? Will you think about the unique genius and strengths that you bring?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Your Brand Is Not for Everyone… and That’s Okay (4-17-24)

Last week was about exploring the problems your personal brand uniquely solves. This week is about understanding you and your brand aren’t for everyone… and that’s okay!

I was in an interview once and they asked me what one of my favorite brands was. I explained that it was Sprecher Root Beer. I enjoy a high-quality root beer, and that’s exactly what Sprecher stands for. It’s root beer made with Wisconsin honey giving it a smooth taste. It comes in thick glass bottles. You only put things in glass bottles if they are worth something, and we all know beverages from glass bottles are always better than beverages from cans or plastic. Restaurants and places that carry Sprecher root beer show me that they care about quality and about doing things a little differently.

I imagine that most of you reading the blog this week don’t care much about root beer. You probably read the above paragraph and was like, “That’s nice… I guess.” You won’t think about root beer again or you’ll say to yourself, “A+W and MUG root beer are just fine.” All of this is okay. At the end of the day Sprecher is NOT a brand for everybody. It’s a brand for people who enjoy high quality root beer, and not everyone can be as awesome as me 😉

What does this have to do with personal branding? As humans, I think we naturally feel the pressure to please everyone, and as a result we want a personal brand that is liked by EVERYONE. I know I feel this way sometimes (or a lot of times). When this thought kicks in, I try to remember two things. First, pleasing everyone is impossible. Second, attempting to please everyone would require you to water down so much of who you are that you wouldn’t be you anymore. Much like Sprecher root beer, if your brand is truly built on you and who you are, then your brand shouldn’t be for everyone and for every situation. There is power in embracing this. Just because my brand doesn’t work for you and for a situation doesn’t mean it’s bad or I’m bad. It just means the situation isn’t the right fit, and having the right fit is more important than force fitting something.

The challenge: Can you accept that your brand isn’t for everyone and every situation? (Per previous challenges- Who and what situation is YOUR brand for?)

Bonus deep thought/confession: I’d argue that reflecting to define your brand is relatively easy. The harder thing is deciding to accept yourself (and your brand) for who you are, what you do, and how you do things. Earlier in my career I had this weird love/hate relationship with being known as this inclusive storyteller poet guy. (Truth be told, this love/hate relationship still continues sometimes, but it was fierce and brutal when I was younger). I had decided that “the world” only rewards people who are seen as “technically smart” in certain areas and often doesn’t appreciate “soft skills”. As a result, I had this inner battle and sometimes outward flinching even when people were giving me compliments about my inclusion and storytelling skills. It’s like I’d get irritated at them for seeing me for who I was, because I didn’t think who I was would be valued by the organization. People would give me compliments and I’d essentially be like, “Yeah, but nobody cares about that stuff. I need to do and be X.” Does that make sense to anybody? Have you ever felt that way? I often felt that I was less than and not good enough. Over time, I’ve come to realize and embrace that my inclusive nature and storytelling skills are superpowers that make me unique and enable me to make a difference wherever I am. If you ever go through something similar, I hope you ultimately stumble into this understanding and peace as well. (Side note, Tori Brown, if you are reading this, I know you’re smiling/laughing/smirking after having this convo with me a few times in my career. At least this shows I heard you 😉. Along those lines, I hope you all have a Tori Brown in your life who helps you realize you are just totally wrong and blind for not embracing yourself.)

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

What Problem does your Brand Solve? (4-10-24)

Last week we started a series about personal branding and thinking about the space you own in someone’s mind. This week we will dive a little deeper and reflect on brands and the problem they solve.

Let’s pretend for a minute that you’re hungry and you’re looking to go somewhere to eat. Where would you go? What places immediately popped into your mind? Now let’s slightly tweak the problem you’re solving. You’re hungry AND you need to grab something relatively quickly. Where do you go? Maybe you think about Panera, Chipotle, or McDonalds. Let’s say you’re hungry AND you want a place where you can kick back and chill. Where do you go? My first thought is Moontown, a local brewpub. Let’s say you’re hungry AND are craving pizza. Where do you go? Maybe you think of a chain like Pizza Hut or maybe you think of a local pizza place.

You might be wondering how this connects with personal branding. All the above places could solve the generic issue of being hungry. However, each of them is best equipped to solve a more specific hunger related problem. Some brands focus more on speed, others on types of food, and others on the overarching experience they want to deliver. Similarly, I often hear people articulate their personal brand by saying things like, “I’m creative. I’m a leader. I’m a team player.” All those things could be true. They are also very generic and broad. They are often so broad that they end up representing a generic brand instead of a specific person. When I hear things like this I often say, “I hear the buzzwords, but I don’t hear YOU. Can you get more specific? What do you help with?”

I think all of us can address a variety of problems, and there are certain types of problems we are best equipped to solve. If you’re looking for someone to build detailed process maps, do hardcore editing of documents, code computers, understand/apply regulatory rulings, have/share deep medical expertise, embrace rigid standards, or run a large multi-billion dollar company I am NOT your guy. Those are all important skills, and they are NOT my strengths or passions. However, if you need someone to communicate something clearly and effectively, move people to take action, love/care for people, transform ambiguity into smaller parts so you can attack a problem, look at things from perspectives you wouldn’t think of, tell bad dad jokes, keep it real, bring the energy and funktastic flavor, or rock an awesome beard then call me 😉 Those are all problems that align with my passion and strengths. Those are the kinds of problems I’m more uniquely positioned to solve. That is what my brand is about (or at least I hope that’s how you experience me).

The challenge: What specific problems do you solve? When should people call you vs someone else?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Personal Brands, Being You, and Owning Space in People’s Minds (4-3-24)

This week we are going to kick off a series on personal branding. This week is about brands, being you, and owning space in someone’s mind.

I can’t remember who told me this, but my favorite definition of what a brand is goes something like this, “A brand is the place something/someone owns in your mind that is uniquely theirs.” If I told you to think about Apple, I’m sure a few things would pop into your mind. If I told you to think of Android or Microsoft, I’m sure you’d think of different words, even though they are all in the tech sector they each own a different piece of real estate. Similarly, if I said Toyota or General Motors, you’d likely have different ideas instantly popping up into your brain. We could play this game over and over again with things like McDonald’s vs Panera, Nike vs. Under Armor, etc. Over time these brands have earned that space in your mind, by communicating AND fulfilling a promise to you. That promise consists of their mission, what they do, and how they do it. The more often they fulfill that promise, the stronger the brand becomes.

What does this have to do with personal branding? Similar to those other brands, I believe someone’s personal brand is the piece of real estate you own in someone’s mind when they hear your name. A person owns that spot in someone’s mind, because they have CONSISTENTLY lived and acted in accordance with their mission. They have demonstrated values and behaviors that align to that mission over and over and over again. When people hear my name, I hope they instantly think something like, “Spark igniting storyteller. He cares deeply for people, is a creative problem solver, keeps it real, brings the energy, and communicates in a way that moves people forward”. I hope at this point in my career I’ve delivered on that promise and those things enough times that I own that space in people’s brains. I didn’t get there overnight. I had to spend time to figuring out who I am, my mission, what I do, and how I do those things. From there, I had to consistently live those things over and over again and continually refine myself along the way.

The challenge: If someone hears your name, what space would you own in their mind? What is your mission? WHAT do you do? HOW do you do it? Do you live those in a way that other people feel them?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry