The BRAND called YOU

Session 3: The BRAND called YOU

By Tanya Labrador

The August 6 session was mostly about the basic concepts of Branding, of which discussions revolved around the presentations made by the first 5 groups. Coach and the class critiqued the presentations and reporters based on the 13 Steps to Powerful Presentation and gave additional input to topics discussed by each group for a more insightful discussion.

On branding equity and value, coach shared and reiterated the difference between the two.

Brand equity is the "symbol/ representation that tells you all that". For example, a question posed to the class was "Why do we go to McDonald's?" Reasons vary, such as, "it's something that we trust" or "something that we have connection with".

e.g "Ateneo" brand adds equity to you.

Equity answers the question to "if you put a brand to something, how much will it cost?" This now contributes to the value of a brand.

However, brand equity doesn't just mean having a good and positive brand. Decreasing brand equity can mean having a negative brand as well especially if there's bad association with the brand.

Brand value, on the other hand, is "something more to the total of the brand". It's what people actually are willing to pay for your company and is determined by the market.

Why do we put brands? - It's what makes you "different" to minds of consumers

This "difference" is very much related to the assignment for next week (August 13) which is creating our very own brand as the most important brand mentioned by coach is "YOU".

Assignment 1: The Brand Called "YOU".

Objective of the assignment is building equity on "your name/s" by making full use of personal brand through creating your niche in the Internet.

Tasks:

1.     Create an account/ profile at Linkedin.com.

2.     Make a marketing oriented Linkedin profile.

3.     Put "desirable" things about you that prospective customers/ employers/ companies would be interested to find out about you.  

  

Elements of a good Linkedin profile:

1.     Photo: Has recent, professional, smiling, colored picture (wearing business attire)

* Avoid posting photos of you being with someone in the pic

* Not college or highschool photo please

 

2.     Connections: Should have strong connections (more professional connections/ contacts the better)

3.     Recommendations: Get at least 3 recommendations from connections/ people you have worked with 

* What people say about you adds value to you

* Shows perspective of where recommendation is coming from            

 

4.     Elevator Speech: Summary

* Put in summary part a short description of what your work is all about for brand positioning

Additional tasks/ reminders:

1.     Decide what industry you are in and how you will make yourself relevant to the market that has demand for someone like you.

2.     Customize URL to easily direct others to your profile.

3.     Put title and company in work history/ employment background (this will project and give value to your brand).

4.     Put measurable tasks/ achievements.

5.     Description of tasks and responsibilities should be in present tense for your present company.

6.     And previous companies should be in past tense (action-oriented).

7.     Post customized URL (personal linkedin link) to FB Discussion Board under Linkedin Profiles after a short summary about you.

Example:

20 years Creating Breakthrough Hypermakerting Solutions for Companies and Individuals


http://ph.linkedin.com/in/josephdeungria

IMPORTANT REMINDER: No need to do individual chapter homework for next week (Q&A Presentation)! Reporting for this will be move to the following week after August 13 but still read assigned chapters of the book.

 

Assignment 2: Plan for the MARKETING FORUM

Instead of submitting an individual Marketing Plan, we will have a live application wherein we will organize a Marketing Forum as a class.

The marketing forum will happen on August 27/ September 3 (already), between 6pm – 8:30 pm so planning is a critical task for everyone.

On August 13, the class will have a planning workshop for the forum so each group is assigned to submit the following before the class:

1.     Determine 2 speakers (most likely will be available on those dates)

a.    Include position/ title

b.    Company

c.     Experiences

2.     Theme of the forum (based on speakers)

3.     How do we promote the event (promotional materials)?

Post group answers in FB (coach will create topic for this) but individual suggestions (in the above format) are welcomed as well.

 

 

 

 

Tanya