|
Greetings!
Today's newsletter is all about personal branding. In today's market place we are encouraged to define and uphold our own brand, to know our own niche, even if we operate within a wider organization. People buy from people, so who we are and what we stand for is becoming ever more important in both life and business.
The way we advertise and communicate with the wider world through social media, (twitter, facebook and linked in) demands that we are both authentic in our message and true to our brand, as over a period of time it will be impossible not to be, any misalignment will soon become glaringly obvious. So if you are not aligned to your brand or have built it on false values look out, there maybe trouble ahead.
Personal branding can possibly be best illustrated in the field of sport and with both top tennis and golf tournaments being highly publicized at the moment there are many examples we can look at.
Today's video features the brand that is Rory McIlroy (RMac). After his meltdown in the last round of the US Masters shares may well have plummeted in RMac stock thinking he was destined to be the type of player like The Great White - Greg Norman or Scot Hoch, Scot who....? I hear you cry, 'Hoch The Choke'. Instead of which his bounce back ability may now have him more aligned with the likes of The Golden Bear - Jack Nicklaus or even Tigger himself. His star is definitely in the ascendancy as illustrated here. For more on Personal Branding please read on.
Have a great weekend.
Kind regards
Simon
Set Your Spirit Free
|
Personal Branding
What do we stand for?
The image at the head of this newsletter today is synonymous with a certain tennis player, whose shares may have taken a temporary dip by way of his Wimbledon quarter final defeat recently. However with a record 16 grand slam titles already to his name, his ongoing professionalism in the way he conducts himself on and off court, the respect he has for other players and the media, never mind the pure serenity in the way he plays the game, you can see why his legions of fans will continue to invest in his merchandise, his brand, for many years to come. Wanting to be just like the man himself, or become the next Roger Federer (RF).
Nike, never ones to miss an opportunity, have seen the benefit of housing such a superstar's personal brand under their own roof. Nike stands for victory (or the goddess of) so it is easy to see why they are partnered with such a god of the tennis court like Roger Federer, it's a pure winner all round. Roger's 'RF' is now almost as recognizable as the Nike 'Tick' itself, such is the power of his brand.
Other sponsors wanting to be associated with Roger and what he stands for invest in him too with the likes of Mecedes-Benz, Rolex and Gillette all falling for his clean cut image making Roger ever more wealthy in the process.
Compare him to another god of his own sport, who similarly has a personal brand housed under Nike and up to two years ago was seemingly comparable in every sense to Roger himself with his own TW brand (see above) and Gillette contract.
However revelations about his private life and the fact that he wasn't as wholesome as what was first envisaged by the majority have caused such brands as Gillette, AT&T, Gatorade and Accenture to disassociate or distance themselves from him. His earnings from sponsorship as well as his world ranking have slipped somewhat since. I'm sure you know who I am talking about, the former World Number 1 ranked golfer, Tiger Woods.
Fortunately for Tiger, Nike remain because he ultimately is a winner and may well prove to be again in the not too distant future, however should his slump continue for any length of time it will be interesting to see how long Nike themselves will remain engaged with him.
Tiger clearly has an adjustment to make in order to come to terms with the responsibility that rests upon his shoulders as he bids to continue to follow in the footsteps of the great Jack Nicklaus' bringing about golfing immortality. In that process however he will have to decide on who he really is and what his brand is and what he stands for, becoming more aligned again with his true self, as a lot of his current problems no doubt centre around the difference between who he ultimately is and the persona he gives off.
Personally and rather controversially I sympathize with Tiger, I believe he is somewhat of a victim of society and the way that it now operates, where anything outside of a monogamist lifestyle is frowned upon and placed into the shadows, such has been our conditioning. Modern living certainly within the full public glare doesn't seem to allow for such behaviour that operates outside the norm and it is somewhat easy to project upon Tiger as a villain, when not too long ago we were projecting on to him as a similar hero to what Roger remains, neither is the ultimate truth.
Fair enough if AT&T and the like stand for family values you can see why they are no longer aligned with TW, however first and foremost Tiger is human as he now has proved, as are the rest of us also, at least I think we are, we all are capable of being as much like Roger as we are like Tiger and it is somewhat refreshing to see the likes of Nike continue to stand by him, for in a truly compassionate and consenting society it shouldn't matter what goes on in your private life if you are perfectly good at what you do, it maybe that you are just better associated with other types of brand. What Tiger hasn't been of course within that journey is authentic.
So the lesson for us all, is alignment to our true selves, we have to embrace who we are as individuals within our brand, and our individual brands have to align within our companies and who we choose to partner with, if our values are out of alignment at any point then ultimately a parting of the waves will occur, where trouble will arise and partnerships will break down, within ourselves, our organizations or in relationship to our employees, customers and society.
If wishing to become more aligned with who you are as an individual, as an organization or as a leader with your team why not contact me now to see how I can help you.
|
About Set Your Spirit Free
Set Your Spirit Free is a Life, Business and Leadership Coaching company that aims to inspire all of us towards a more authentic and sustainable way of living and working, that is more true to our nature, both inner and outer. Helping us all to find our life's purpose and then come together with others to form common purposes within more inspiring organisations. Enhancing our community, ensuring our environment and enlivening our spirits in the process. I believe we are entering unprecedented times where the combination of various economic, environmental and social crisis are forcing us to think very differently about how we exist more authentically and sustainably. The solutions to these problems lie with more and more of us being aware of how we can uniquely contribute through our own life's purpose. I wish to help as many people as I can through all of my skills, who are already attempting to embrace this new way of living and working, or would like to, and wish to discover how their own unique products and services can help. To find out more about my work, research my website here or to see how I might be able to help you in particular contact me now.
|
|
|
|
Inspirational Video
 | | RORY MCILROY - THE CLIMB TO THE 2011 US OPEN |
From the lowest depth there is a path to the loftiest height - Anon. Today's video is a suitable tribute to Rory McIlroy's assent to glory. From disaster at the US Masters to triumph at the US Open!
|
| Visit My Website | 
|
|
Bonus Video
 | | Unbelievable David Beckham |
I can't leave today of course without referring to one of the biggest personal brands on the planet at this time where the collective positive shadow that is placed upon one individual becomes so large that the unbelievable suddenly becomes believable. Who is the real genius behind this clip David Beckham or the cameraman himself? The debate will rage on and it's easy to see why DB's own personal brand has gone so viral!
|
|
