Is your career facing a Kodak moment?

January 20, 2012 by 1 Comment
kodakvintagead

No doubt the business school case studies in years to come about the sad demise of Kodak and it's brand will raise many questions about the effectiveness of it's leaders. The filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy by Kodak this week has many lessons for all businesses, but what can you learn from this and be sure that you are not facing the same in your career? 1. Don't underestimate the impact your ideas have. It was the mid-70's when Kodak actually developed for the first digital camera. Can you imagine how far ahead they may have been in the market place and for how long had they moved on this revolutionary idea. Personal Brand Lesson - just because your industry or vocation has done it the same way for a long time and everyone is comfortable with that way does not mean an idea out of left field is not a better one. Be willing to challenge the status quo. 2. Don't be complacent or greedy. Kodak leaders decided to shelve the digital camera because they felt it was going to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Everything is a Brand, Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding Quick Tips, Recession-Proof Your Career Tagged With: , , , ,

Engage Brain Before Tweeting – 5 Personal Brand Lessons From Ashton Kutcher

November 16, 2011 by 3 Comments
Aston Kutchner

So another celebrity, this time Ashton Kutcher, has proven to us all what we already know - that we are no different from each other when it comes to making mistakes. Last week on seeing the headline about Penn State firing their football coach he immediately put his stream of consciousness on Twitter and told his 8 million followers what he thought. This was his original tweet; @aplusk: How do you fire Jo Pa? #insult #noclass as a hawkeye fan I find it in poor taste Within minutes the backlash started, nasty responses started to fly and within hours he had removed the tweet, apologized and then decided to suspend tweeting whilst he no doubt consulted with his PR advisors. As of immediately I will stop tweeting until I find a way to properly manage this feed. I feel awful about this error. Won't happen again. Just a few hours later he announced his Twitter account was going to be handled by his PR agency. Twitter Management http://post.ly/3rk2N So what are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Expressing Your Brand, Social Media, Sports Tagged With: , ,

On the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month – remember those who gave and still do.

November 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Ron Copcutt 002

As on all remembrance days I will be remembering the sacrifices and bravery of all and in particular my father (above) who served as an instrument basher in the Royal Air Force for 6 years in WWII and my Grandad who served in both the army and navy in WWI - Lest We Forget This was originally posted in November 2009, but in our busy, ever connected world, felt it was worthy of repeat. Like many of you this past week, I had the opportunity to attend a remembrance day event. This one was part of a client event and included a talk by a WWII veteran. As I listened intently to his stories I was distracted by a bright light in the dimmed auditorium. I glanced across and noticed an invited guest to the event checking and sending e- mail on their smartphone. Initially I gave the benefit of the doubt, you never know when someone has something personal and urgent going on. But the scrolling, clicking and tapping of the keyboard continued. Finally I had to lean across and ask the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Discovering Your Brand Tagged With: , , ,

Does your business card communicate your personal brand?

October 7, 2011 by 1 Comment
John Baird

Last week John Baird, Foreign Secretary and one of the Canadian governments leading figures, caused a bit of storm with a recent business card re-design. He seems even to have strayed from the 'brand standards' that are recommended and his Chief of Staff even had to sign a disclaimer to formally acknowledge that his office was advised against the changes. There is always the challenge of wanting to have a business card that best communicates your brand, but it also has to be remembered when representing an organization that the card also has to convey their brand - even when it comes to Government. In a rush to stamp his own brand on the card, Baird seems to have committed three sins of business card design: 1. He actually had the 'Canada' word and brand of the flag removed entirely from the card. If you represent a well recognised brand have that on your card, it adds to your credibility. 2. He changed it to a unlingual card, not having the reverse done in French, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Expressing Your Brand, Personal Branding Quick Tips Tagged With: , , , ,

And the new Premier of Ontario is….LIKEABLE??!!

October 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment

The provincial election in Ontario, Canada is a little over a week away and depending on which poll you believe anyone of the three main parties could end up winning. But if it came down to backyard barbecue invitations instead of votes, National Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath would be the winner with 37% of respondents to an IPSOS Reid poll saying they would prefer to have her there. This compares with 32% for Progresive Conservative leader Tim Hudak and 31% for Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty. The reason...........? LIKEABILITY. With all three leaders so closely matched it's this emotional attribute of Horwath that makes her more appealing than the others. If you had asked in the same poll, what words people would use to describe each leader, the chances are a few would come up for all three words such as; Leader like Confident Ambitious Honest .... (well on second thoughts!) If all three posess the same words, then these are what we term rational attributes - … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Executive Branding, Strong Brands Attract and Repel Tagged With: , , ,

Kate Middleton and Britain: how a personal brand fits into a national brand

May 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

""Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire', a quote from St Catherine of Siena, whose day it is today." These were the opening words from the Bishop of London in his address to the congregation after William and Katherine’s marriage ceremony, which couldn’t be a more appropriate mantra for today’s Royal couple. As I write this, the Royal wedding party is safely back in Buckingham Palace "doing the photos", prior to the much anticipated appearance on the balcony. Mounted police have sedately escorted hundreds of thousands of people down the Mall to the front of the Palace, BBC commentators are marking time with light-hearted commentary and the Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster Bomber of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, along with some modern jets, are positioning themselves for the flyover ... I wrote those impressions as I sat glued to the TV, brimming with patriotic pride. Our future King's wedding was conducted with a wonderful blend of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Current Affairs Tagged With: , , , ,

Strong Brands Attract and Repel

October 26, 2009 by 4 Comments

I saw this brandchannel.com article about upcoming episode where Oprah will interview Sarah Palin. It reminds me of something I say in almost every keynote I deliver: Strong brands often repel as many people as they attract. Brands are frequently polarizing – think Donald Trump, Madonna and Michael Bloomberg. Personal branding is not about being all things to all people or trying to please all of the people all of time, it’s about taking a stand and being comfortable knowing that some will not agree with your point-of-view. Of course, this does not mean being contrary for the sake of it, either. You must be clear about what you believe and willing to express those beliefs.As for Sarah Palin and Oprah, I am looking forward to this battle of the brands – but knowing Oprah, I think it will not be a confrontational interview. I think both their brands will benefit. What do you think? William Arruda is the founder of Reach Personal Branding, the global leader in personal branding and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Current Affairs, Discovering Your Brand, Everything is a Brand, Strong Brands Attract and Repel, Strong Personal Brands, Television, Weblogs Tagged With: , , , , ,

Death of Three Personal Brands

June 26, 2009 by 1 Comment

This week marked the death of three personal brands, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon.What do you remember about each? Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was one of the all-time chart-toppers and had a short resurgence from the movie, "13 Going on 30" with Jennifer Garner. Farrah ranked No. 1 in TV Guide's "TV's All-Time Sexiest Women" - based on her "Charlie's Angles" series and that 1976 swimsuit poster (12 million sold!). And Ed McMahon, the most famous "second banana" for his long-running role on the "Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.What will people remember about you? What would you like them to remember?When watching the tributes this week, it was sad to see McMahon's final ending with financial troubles and Jackson's varied image issues.Overall though, what do you remember most? All three were big personal brands.Coaching Challenge: Now, think about what you'd like people to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Current Affairs, Discovering Your Brand, Everything is a Brand, Expressing Your Brand, Exuding Your Brand, Personal Branding for Careers, Personal Branding For Entrepreneurs, Personal Branding Quick Tips