Building a Brand: Personal vs. Business
October 16, 2024 2024-10-16 8:35Building a Brand: Personal vs. Business
Recall the last time you purchased shoes, books, a gadget, or a coffee. What made you decide on that brand? Is it the experience, reputation, comfort, or the quality?
Now, envision yourself five or ten years down the lane. You are either driving your startup or aspiring to be in a top leadership role like CXO, VP, or CEO. What will be the story of your brand? Is it going to be a personal brand that mirrors your true self, or is it the business brand representing the company you are part of?
Businesses are no longer about the products or services but the experience they provide and the feelings they evoke. Personal and business branding are related but have different burdens to bear. Whether you want to be the next Bill Gates or build the capitalist version of Nike or OpenAI, these differences will influence your self-narrative and value offering from within.
Understanding the Foundation of Branding
Let’s say you are entering a room full of people. How would you want others to think about your personality? You may call this personal branding in its simplest form. On the other side, think of a business you respect. What draws you to it? This is the power of strategic business branding.
Branding is not just for big companies—it’s for anyone who wants to build a legacy. A combination of factors creates this perception, from the visual elements and design to messaging to how you actually interact with others.
Anyone associated with Rushford Business School has the ideal surroundings to establish their brand as different disciplines, like marketing, supply chain management, agribusiness, or IBM, meet there.
Whether you are in college, an MBA aspirant, or the next-generation entrepreneur-in-making, everybody should equally grasp these finer points of personal and business branding.
What is Personal Branding?
You might think, “But I’m only a student, or I am at my job right now, or my startup is only at the vision stage. What brand do you think I have?” The truth is, you already do.
The best ambassadors for your brand are those you meet, from friends and professors to colleagues. The question is whether you intentionally create that impression or if it happens by chance.
A real-life example of Oprah Winfrey will help you to understand it more clearly. She started as a news anchor and was not an exceptionally well-known name, but she had something more powerful.
She openly shared her experiences in a way that connected with people wherever they were watching. It made her the voice of solidarity, which translated into many business ventures for her, and the rest is history.
This is personal branding—your story. It’s your window into who you are, your values, and how you see the world.
How Can I Build My Personal Brand?
- Self-Reflection: It begins with identifying your point of differentiation or unique value proposition. Do you hope to drive innovation, social impact, or business development?
So how do you want people to describe you when they hear your name, just like empathy and personal growth are Oprah’s things?
- Authenticity: Every social media or in-person engagement makes people see and experience you. Hence, every action you take matters.
Would you have believed Oprah to be authentic and credible if she had appeared one way on her TV show but presented another in interviews?
- Visibility: Personal branding also includes how you show up in meetings, write emails, and even chat with coworkers. It refers to interacting and sharing your vision without restricting yourself to Instagram or LinkedIn, although these make space for you among general people to the top 1%.
For example, let’s say you are an aspiring marketer with a command over copywriting or creating attractive designs. When you present your skills through social media and personal websites, you offer potential employers or clients reasons why they should notice and connect with you.
What is Business Branding?
Let’s try to understand this with Apple. Apple is a tech-product company that also makes its consumers feel premium. Their products are synonymous with innovation, simplicity, and user-friendly design; you have the same experience every time you pick one up.
Or take Nike, for example. Have you ever noticed how Nike ads never sell a shoe, just the feeling of courage and breaking through obstacles of the person in it?
While personal branding is all about you personally, business branding is your company’s singularity, which lives on through others beyond your service in perpetuity.
You will be taught how to build such a brand as you learn from the range of domain-specific state-of-the-art programs at Rushford Business School, which can be spent across any applicable business practice.
Key Steps to Build a Business Brand
- Define Your Mission and Vision: Your business needs a clear purpose. What problem are you solving? Nike isn’t just selling shoes; it’s selling inspiration, and its slogan, “Just Do It,” is an extension of its brand philosophy.
If you are starting out in agribusiness, are you working toward sustainable farming solutions? Or, if you work in the supply chain sector, are you striving for efficiency and transparency? Make your mission clear.
- Brand Identity: A logo, color scheme, and overall design aesthetic help give your brand life and create a sense of cohesion across its elements. These visual elements combine to create a memorable brand image.
That being said, branding is more than just aesthetics; it’s also about purpose and narrative. For example, if you’re launching an eco-friendly backpack line, share the story of how you came up with the idea while hiking in the mountains.
This allows you to connect emotionally with your audience and make them feel part of something bigger than just a product.
- Consistent Experiences: Trust is built by providing a similar experience at every touchpoint the customer has with your brand. Think of it this way: When you walk into a Starbucks, you already expect a premium experience, even before sipping your latte.
- Digital Platforms: Today, a brand can’t afford to ignore its online presence. All aspects of your website, social media channels, brand flagship platforms, and customer emails must resonate with the same voice and values. This does not mean you should be present everywhere, but wherever you are, be there with purpose.
For example, a supply chain consultancy might use LinkedIn for thought leadership posts. On the other hand, an agribusiness startup may focus on Instagram, along with LinkedIn, to share video and image-led stories about sustainable farming.
Personal vs. Business Branding – Which One Should You Focus On?
One thing you can be sure about is that Elon Musk has a powerful personal brand that is identifiable for innovation and taking on all ships, which directly impacts Tesla, SpaceX, and his other ventures. His personal narrative and business brands are so intertwined that one benefits from the other.
It is exactly the same, no matter what level of business owner you are. For most people, whether you are an entrepreneur, a startup owner, or rising the corporate ladder, your personal and professional brands overlap and affect each other.
But which should you focus on? Both, depending on the stage you are at.
- Personal branding is essential early in your career. Even if you intend to start a business eventually, developing your personal brand ahead of time pays off because people will trust what you can deliver.
- Business Branding becomes a requirement as your company expands. Once it starts growing, its identity should be able to stand on its own without you in the room.
The Power of Brand Flagship Platforms
Brand flagship platforms are like your business headquarters on the internet, where you release regular content to engage with your audience. You might have heard about some good cases, like Nike Run Club or Adidas Runtastic.
So, how do you differentiate your brand’s flagship platform? One way is to use crowdsourcing and referral marketing.
What is Crowdsourcing?
Crowdsourcing is basically using your audience’s collective opinion to enhance brand positioning. Remember when Coca-Cola wanted people to design bottles or name new flavors?
This is a very important tool for businesses to generate community ownership around their brand merely by calling on followers. This means you can learn from your audience and involve them in the early stages of creating user-centered products or services.
- Example: Suppose you work in agribusiness. You could ask farmers about their biggest challenges in sustainable farming and design solutions based on their input. This would create a sense of ownership and engagement with your brand.
What is Referral Marketing?
Referral marketing, on the other hand, involves turning your audience into brand ambassadors. Dropbox, for example, grew by offering users extra storage for referring a friend. They relied on customers to spread the word rather than expensive ads.
- Example: If you have started a media or supply chain consultancy, you could incentivize clients to refer your services to their partners or peers. It’s a low-cost, effective way to grow.
Your Brand, Your Story
So, there you have it! Whether you are building a personal or business brand, it’s all about telling a story that resonates with potential employers, customers, investors, or partners.
At Rushford Business School, our students are well-prepared with solid academic learning, collaborative projects, and industry-focused events to build their brand holistically. These experiences lay the groundwork for their future stories and success.
The decisions you make today shape your legacy tomorrow. Start sharing your story and watch your influence grow!