I read some interesting posts on Hugh MacLeod’s ‘Gaping Void‘, including these:
And thought through what little I know and understand about ‘branding’.
There are brands that stand for one thing.
- ‘Coke‘ is a brown caffeinated sugary soft drink, a cola.
- ‘Microsoft’ is a producer of micro-processor software.
- ‘Gillette‘ is a manufacturer of shaving material.
There are ‘human’ brands too that stand for one thing.
- ‘Martha Stewart’ is about good living.
- ‘George Soros’ is about money market investing.
- ‘Chris Brogan’ is about social media.
And then there are ‘human’ brands that are global, popular, but not very clear or specific in one thing they stand for.
- ‘Seth Godin’ is a business consultant, author, entrepreneur, blogger.
- ‘Guy Kawasaki’ is a venture capitalist, blogger, evangelist, speaker.
- ‘Donald Trump’ is a real estate developer, TV show producer, coach.
Yet their brands are strong.
Why?
I wonder if it’s because of ‘conversations’ around the ‘brand’.
That they are even possible.
There’s something to talk about there. And enough people want to.
Then, I started thinking about my personal brand. Is it too a ‘global microbrand’?
‘Dr.Mani‘ is a heart surgeon for kids, an infopreneur, social entrepreneur.
So it sure isn’t focused on the one over-arching thing I once wanted it to - helping kids with congenital heart defects.
Consciously, I expanded it from being about heart birth defects to something a bit more diverse and varied - because only then would it spark off enough ‘conversations’.
If we could go back to 1997, when I launched “Heart Disease Online“, my entire focus was on spreading CHD awareness. Later, it shifted to helping people in other ways - always guided subtly by the need/desire to recruit them, along the way, as spokespersons for CHD awareness.
As a strategy, it worked. With unexpected fringe benefits. An online business that’s profitable enough to contribute to the core mission of helping children get expensive heart surgery.
The key - conversations. They happen today around the different facets of my online activity.
And like Donald Trump’s underlying theme is ‘BIG’, and Seth Godin’s is ‘remarkable’ and Guy Kawasaki’s is ‘changing the world’, my personal brand was developed along the theme of ‘being different’ - unconventional, unique, different.
- How many other heart surgeons blog so extensively?
- How many other online business owners also manage non-profit foundations?
- How many other entrepreneurs measure ROI in terms of volunteer support for spreading a message?
Not too many. And especially, not in my part of the world. And not when I started a decade ago.
Questions, then, that bother me:
1. Is my personal brand too diffuse, dilute, unfocused?
2. What else can I do to strengthen the personal brand?
3. How to measure how strong or effective the brand is?
4. Is some component that makes up the brand in conflict (and adversely impacting) the others (or the whole)?
5. How to tell if I’m doing things right or not?
Any branding experts want to take a shot at some of them?
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5 comments ↓
Hi Dr. Mani,
As usual, a very thought-provoking and well thought-out post.
I’m also glad you asked, because I think you’ve done an amazing job of branding. Why? Because you truly “get” that branding is not “what you look like” but it starts with “who you are.”
By being the brand with openness and integrity, you ‘grease the skids’ and make it a lot easier to get people to join the conversation of your brand.
I believe your branding strategy is pre-disposed to success because 1) it’s different 2) because, for some reason, authenticity is hard to come by (but betting more common, in my view).
I also believe that, in order to reach a larger audience and more passionate audience — to “get to the next level” so to speak — your brand platform needs to be tightened up.
In my opinion, it is, indeed too dispursed for a one man show. It’s really, *really,* difficult for any company to maintain more than one brand.
If you look at the multinational consumer brands, you’ll see an amazing support infrastructure for every brand they own.
Of course, the world of branding is changing and, through the interconnectedness of the Internet, it’s a lot easier to build a brand — but, it’s still hard to split the focus of an organization between multiple brands.
Now, add to it that you have a significant presence in two very different markets. In fact that is one of the key elements of your brand — being a heart surgeon who is also an infopreneur.
I also see multiple brands within your IM niche. They are all unified by the Dr. Mani brand, and you’ve done an admirable job of knitting them together, but it doesn’t look like a unified whole.
Most of this is, I’m sure, nothing new to you. I’m also sure you have a vision for your brand that you are working toward. Great brands evolve, and your’s certainly is.
So, my advice:
* Hone the ‘point’ of your brand to a single very sharp focus
>>> There’s no reason your vision of CHD awareness can’t be the driving force behind your business, but you might look for ways to separate the CHD brand and the IM brand.
>>> IMHO a ‘product’ brand is much stronger and commercially viable than a ‘personal/guru’ brand. The person should always be there, but it’s the difference between blogging as the CEO/Visionary behind XYZ product/brand or blogging as an individual. They are both effective ways to go, but it’s hard to do both.
* Again, IMHO, but I think it is very, very, difficult to grow a single organization that serves the needs of two very diverse audiences. So, the more separation (in terms of the organization and brand) you can get between the CHD foundation and your Infopreneur-focused business, the better.
In any case, I have no doubt that you will continue to be different (remarkable, yes.) and authentic. I’ve learned a lot by just observing what you do.
Doug
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Dear Dr Mani, to answer your question (and we’ve corresponded recently so I have further proof of your integrity) yes, you are a global micro brand and, yes, your brand (you) is focussed: it (you) stands for caring and integrity — in all you do and that’s a GREAT brand value to have. You ARE the brand, the brand IS you. After all we all want to have a relationship (preferably long-lasting and mutually profitable — and profitable does NOT always have to mean in terms of money) with a PERSON not an organisation. IMHO you can have 2 totally different fields of activity which are united by common values: yours. So, I (partly) disagree with Doug’s thoughtful post. (I’ve been studying branding intensively for the last 6 months as its is the key to lasting success for my clients and students.) All the best to you.
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