Mad 4 Blog

Last week we talked about whether one person – not just a business – can be considered a brand. That’s absolutely true, whether you’re a self-employed, one-man company or part of a giant, international corporation. By creating a constructive, consistent reputation in terms of your skills, work ethic and values, you can establish a brand that works for any form of employment – and can even help you land that next great gig.

If you’re just getting started, here are a few tips that can help you build a personal brand:

1. Discover your personal brand. Before you can get started, you have to come to terms with the type of characteristics you want to associate with. As we discussed last week, these shouldn’t be vague or idealistic descriptions. These should be honest assessments of your strengths and skills. Figure out your most positive and relevant traits that are true to you – but have to do with the product or service you’re selling. Remember to stay away from vague terminology or buzz words, as well as anything too technical and industry-specific. Ask your friends and co-workers what words they would use to describe you; they will often have an honest and objective opinion. Whatever they see as an outsider will most likely be what someone else sees in you when they meet you, and it’s important for you to know how you read off the bat. Then you just need to refine and enforce the messages you put out into the world when you’re creating a personal brand.

2. Define your personal brand. Choose three key characteristics and one strong message for yourself. For example, if you’re a clown for children’s birthday parties, your key characteristics might be reliable, entertaining and great with children. Your message might be along the lines of: “Kids never stop smiling.” You can incorporate similar imagery throughout your advertising, such as smiling kids and fun parties. If you simplify your brand down to a few definite terms, they’re easier to remember and share with others. You can elaborate on your skills and experience in other places, such as on the About Me page of your personal website. But the superficial messages that you want to filtrate through people’s consciousness when they think of you should be immediate, simple and consistent.

Check back next week for Part 2 – with even more tips on how to create a personal brand.

Anyone can easily be a brand, even if there’s no office full of employees or official letterhead to back it up. You also don’t need to be a celebrity to feel like you need a personal brand. When one individual is marketing himself or herself, defining an image is key. But so is living up to that image. With just one person standing for an enterprise, everything from appearance to acquaintances can suddenly be important to investors and clients. You want to think about what kind of message you’re trying to give off and then make choices that consistently back up your image.

Being your own brand is also important for those who aren’t yet employed. What you’re putting into the world during your job search can impact the course and longevity of your career. This says that you know who you are and what you bring to the table. Your potential employer can rely on you to consistently fulfill that role.

The best way to define your personal brand, first of all, is to be honest with yourself about who you are. Surely, everyone wants to radiate a presence that they’re better than that person they are at 10 a.m. on a Saturday in their pajamas, which is fair. You don’t have to broadcast your personal life or your vices into the world. But trying to be a perfect specimen at all times can become tiresome and superficial. So first, think about how you actually identify and how that can translate to the positive messages you want to carry over into your professional life. If you’re typically laid-back person who likes to trust instincts, trying to project a brand as a polished go-getter will ultimately backfire on you.

In fact, if you think about it, every person is a brand. You may work for a large international company, and it’s important to represent them accurately. But you’re first and foremost an individual. Whether you’re chatting on social networking sites or out in the world, everything you say and do is a reflection of your own independent brand. Even if you’re in a lax atmosphere now, it’s important to remember that your brand of today can be carried over into all of your future business endeavors. What you put out into the world can affect your future standing and how others will perceive you.

Check back next week for more tips on how to build your personal brand.

Last week, we reported that the Feb. 5 Super Bowl pulled in 111.3 million users, but Madonna’s halftime show pulled in 117.7 sets of eyes. And 114 million were tuned in for the last half-hour, watching as the Giants came back to shut down the Patriots.

Aside from the small screen, there were also an additional 2.11 million viewers watching the game online via live-streaming hosted on NBC. And an estimated 98 million fans used an app on their mobile devices at some point or another to check on the game, reports USA Today. The same article states that users increasingly checked their phones during the first three quarters of the game, but then were more likely to watch the fourth quarter and halftime on their television sets. With so many people likely checking the score online or on their mobile device, those broadened the spectrum for advertisers to reach Super Bowl audiences without the millions of dollars necessary for a television commercial.

And the TV commercials themselves have garnered quite an interest online; in fact, for the second year in a row, Hulu has dedicated an entire channel to viewing the ads. Yes, people are actually logging online just to watch commercials. The art form has certainly come a long way. An estimated 73% of Super Bowl viewers today consider the commercials a part of the night’s entertainment, according to a BIGinsight survey. However, only 16.9% say they feel they come away from watching these pieces with expanded brand awareness.

Then again, numbers can’t tell us everything. Although we mentioned last week that the Skechers ad was a critical favorite, USA Today article tells us that Flurry considers commercials the strongest where people looked up from their phones toward the TV: This happened primarily for the Elton John Diet Pepsi spot. But those rating commercials on Hulu have the Volkswagen ad eking by sheerly on terms of popularity. And the Hulu critic’s pick was an out-of-the-box baby-in-a-sling Doritos ad. (Neilsen reports have this as the most memorable ad days after the fact, as well.)

Which Super Bowl commercials were your favorite, and why?

Super Bowl 2012 boasted the largest viewership in the championship’s history, with 111.3 million tuned in to their TVs (a rise of 0.3 over the previous record from last year). Naturally, that’s going to mean it’s “super” important which commercials showed and what trends advertisers were using to promote those expensively promoted brands.

Many of the ads we saw this year were derivatives of success stories from former years. Top contenders were Budweiser, E*Trade, GoDaddy, Volkswagen and Doritos. No major brands made a surprise appearance during what would have been a smash year to debut.

Another trend was the introduction of dogs – perhaps a cheeky reference to the day’s other big televised event, the Puppy Bowl? Canines were featured in commercials for Volkswagen, Skechers, Doritos and Bud Light:

• Volkswagen showed a dog getting in shape to chase the new Beetle. But at the end, it cuts to a surprise scene calling back to last year’s Darth Vader triumph, a smart little wink to audiences.
• Skechers highlighted a French bulldog named Mr. Quiggly who wins a race by running in the brand’s sneakers. (This ad was picked as the best overall by the Michigan State University Department of Advertising, which has been rating the event’s commercials for 15 years.)
• Doritos showed a Great Dane bringing his owner chips in order to stay quiet about the neighborhood’s missing cat.
• Bud Light featured a rescue dog trained to fetch beers, and the commercial ended by informing viewers how they can also connect with pets in need.

One viewer favorite was a Honda CRV commercial featuring Matthew Broderick spoofing cult classic “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Another hit was David Beckham’s latest underwear advertisements for H&M, which prove to the world that the aging athlete’s still got it. Elton John’s Diet Pepsi spot caused a lot of controversy in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, as he panned Madonna’s upcoming halftime performance and touted his own appearance (the ad also highlighted Fox’s “The X-Factor”). M&Ms once again toed the line between risqué and humorous as red character stripped out of his candy shell, confusing the brown female character for being naked.

Check back next week for a by-the-numbers look at how these ads performed.