What Is Branding?
Branding is the marketing equivalent of the 'killer app'. To quote business management guru Tom Peters: "Brands are everything." But what is a brand? "Brand" is derived from the English "torch", a trademark or mark identifying a product or manufacturer. In practice, branding involves the communication of a set of expectations, or a selling proposition. Kellogg on Branding author and marketing professor Tim Calkins notes that the fundamental aspect of a brand is the set of associations linked to it. In the marketplace, your brand is your reputation.

Who Needs A Strong Brand?
What used to be the purvey of consumer packaged goods companies and CEOs has become broadly applicable. Be it on grocery shelves, in the C-suite, in cubicles or on the front line, a powerful brand is a critical differentiator. Although the volume of buzz has increased dramatically in the last year or two, personal branding is not a new concept. In 1997, Tom Peters' article "The Brand Called You" was a Fast Company cover story. His position was that we should perceive ourselves as brands and manage perceptions accordingly.

A recent Google search on the topic of "personal branding" returned over 200,000 results. Technorati tagged over 750 references to "personal branding" in multiple languages, including "¿Eres un profesional 'commodity'?" As author Thomas Friedman documented in The World is Flat, technology has eliminated geographic constraints, creating a global talent pool. Given current market dynamics, the supply and demand equation favors the employer. Personal branding has ceased to be an executive luxury. In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, it's a matter of survival - regardless of rank.

Distilling Your Brand
Development of a strong brand involves an understanding of yourself, your environment and your competition. According to personal branding guru William Arruda, the essence of branding is distilling your "unique promise of value." It's a process of discovering your core values, passions and competencies. To quote Naked in the Boardroom? author Robin Wolaner, "You will succeed because of, not in spite of, your personal traits. The trick is to make your aptitude and flair work for you in a style that is uniquely yours." While it is essential to document your accomplishments, the fact is that companies don't make buying decisions based on performance metrics. In an ultra-competitive marketplace, competency is a given. Indeed, it's the lowest common denominator. What distinguishes the winner from an also-ran is emotion.

Whether you're conscious of it or not, you have a brand and people are making decisions that impact you professionally based on their perception of your brand. For a reality check, obtain anonymous (critical for objectivity) feedback from both internal and external constituents using a tool such as 360°Reach (http://www.reachcc.com/360reach). Being proactive is essential; it's better to know what your colleagues and clients really think of you while you can still impact their perceptions.

Positioning Statements & Taglines - What's What?
Given that brands impact perceived value, shaping your market perception is an essential aspect of career management. Influencing opinions requires that you be able to articulate your differentiating value in clear and compelling terms. A common source of confusion is how to sort through the various communications surrounding a brand. In brief, your positioning statement is internally focused, whereas a brand statement or tagline addresses your target audience. Start with your positioning statement or purpose. This is the macro view: an internally-focused expression of who you are, what you do and where you fit in the marketplace, from your target audience's perspective. What you derive from this statement is your value proposition or unique promise of value.

Your tagline is externally focused; it's a translation of your positioning statement into words that will resonate with your target audience. This is more of a micro view in that you may have different taglines for different market segments. Although the language and method of communication may differ, all personal brand references - positioning statements, taglines and brand statements - should be consistent.

Taking Your Brand On The Road
Once you have your brand dialed in, it's time to take it on the road. Factors to consider in developing a communications plan include your objective(s), your target audience, your message, and appropriate media. You may have multiple, related objectives. For example, prior to launching my marketing practice, my priorities were career search, brand visibility and brand value. My target audience and message (my tagline or unique promise of value) was the same over all three objectives. Your choice of a communications medium should reflect your interests, expertise and support achievement of your objectives. To increase your impact, emphasize a medium (or media) that reinforces your brand. For example, it's strategic for a woman in the technology industry to maintain an online presence. This can run the gambit from participation in online networking sites (LinkedIn) and industry-oriented web sites (WITI) to various discussion forums and e-publication options, a personal web site or blog - or some combination thereof.

Differentiate or Perish
Macroeconomic factors have profoundly changed the career game. The global marketplace is an intensely competitive environment where, as Tom Peters phrases it, companies discard employees like used Kleenex. The imperative for individuals is no different than that of brand managers: differentiate or perish. In order to counter the trend toward commoditization and to break through the clutter, individuals must actively cultivate and market a compelling personal brand. To quote Tim Calkins: "Perceptions matter most"; effective branding is critical to career success.

What is your point of view? Please post your thoughts on the discussion board.

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