I had the following thought after reading The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding.  You are a brand....

The most important aspect of a brand is its single-mindedness.

A brand is basically a singular idea or concept that you own inside the mind of the prospect. It’s as simple or as difficult as that.  It is singularity that helps a brand perform its most important function in society.  Basically, it is a proper noun that can be used in place of a common word:

• Instead of an imported beer you ask for a Heineken

• Instead of an expensive Swiss watch you ask for a Rolex

• Instead of thick spaghetti sauce you ask for Prego

Look at branding like this………..

• When you want a luxury prestige car Mercedes comes to mind.

• When you want the Ultimate Driving Experience you buy a BMW.

• When you want a safe car Volvo comes to mind.

• When you want a reliable, well built car Toyota comes to mind.

• When you want a well engineered car Honda comes to mind.

• What does Ford stand for?  How about Chevy?

Now, take the above comments and apply the thought process to yourself…….

What is your individual brand?

Hard working? Partier? ladies man? Fat, lazy, mediocre, outgoing, introverted, humorous, control freak, manipulative…..

Does it vary from person to person? What one word do people label you after meeting you the first time?

Think about this…..

The Law of Change: Brands can be changed, but only infrequently and only very carefully.

Nothing is absolute and there are exceptions to every rule. There are three situations where changing your brand is feasible: When your brand is weak or non-existent in the mind, when you want to move your brand down the food chain to a lower price and perception point, or when your brand is in a slow-moving field and the change is going to take place over an extended period of time. Remember, changing your brand is a long and difficult process.

Change at your own risk!

Brand changing does not occur inside a company.  It occurs inside the mind of the consumer or, as an individual, the mind of the targeted person or group of people.  

If you are in the mind and if you have a unique and distinct perception, then change your brand at your own risk.  It is going to be a long, difficult, expensive and perhaps impossible process.

Would you think of Coke as the “new hip cola” if they spent $10 billion on advertising?….probably not…..they are the real thing………..and have spent billions of $$$ pounding it into our heads over the years…..

Customers (people) are never wrong.  That’s one of the many human traits that is so endearing and yet so frustrating from a branding point of view.  When you try to tell customers that your brand is different than it used to be, they will reject your message.

Now apply the above thought process to you, the brand:

The above comments should help us better appreciate why 1^st appearances / images matter dramatically on a personal & corporate basis.  

• What image do you project? 

• Have you tried to alter that image at all? 

• Are you portraying multiple images to the same people?  

• When you meet people what is the one word they associate with you?

Think of it like this………..many people have to put one word on a person after their first meeting……..It might be physical (good looking, slim, athletic, fat)…..it may be intellectual (smart, dumb)….it might be work based (hard working, partier, lazy)…..after working with a person for some time people tend to label their co-workers and customers with specific attributes such as (outgoing, introverted, dickhead, political, manipulative, etc)

• When you walk into a room do you know the relative position that an individual holds within a company?  

• Do you know their behaviors / history?  

• Do you know the way they "label" people?

If you know how the person might react it may help you in “making a connection” and creating the association you desire with that person.