Personal Branding and Social Media Literature review

Personal Branding and Social Media - Literature review Example ‘A personal brand is a perception in the minds of others’ which the brand owner creates and controls, and sends the message that nobody else exists in the marketplace who is quite like you (Vitberg, 2009, p. 10). While the brand is a perception, however, this does not mean that the perception is a contrived or false one (Banet-Weiser, 2012). Every person has his or her good and bad qualities; like any brand for a good or service, the personal brand highlights the best attributes of a person (Reddick, 2012a & 2012b) which must be grounded in truth (Canada, 2012; Madden & Smith, 2010; Millman, 2010). Necessity of personal branding Like Arruda, Rampersad (2008) does not see personal branding as an alternative, but as a vital asset in today’s ‘online, virtual and individual age’ (p. 34). He observed that the common misconception is that popular and successful people like Tiger Woods and Oprah Winfrey are those who can lay claim to having a personal brand. In truth, everyone has a personal brand, but because they are not aware of it, they are unable to use their personal brands strategically (Shepherd, 2005). Rampersad proposes the personal branding model which is shown below: Authentic personal branding model (Rampersad, 2008, p. 35) Rampersad’s model, though it may appear complicated, is built on what he describes as a four-step evolutionary and organic process: (1) Define and formulate your personal ambition; (2) Define and formulate your personal brand on the basis of your personal SWOT; (3) Formulate your personal balanced scorecard, which is the action plan into which your personal ambition and personal brand are translated; and (4) Implement and cultivate your personal ambition, personal brand, and personal balance scorecard (Rampersad, 2008). A personal brand is of little use, however, unless it is communicated to the target market (Martin, 2009). Jerry Wilson, senior vice-president of the Coca-Cola Company and preside nt of the Global McDonald’s Division, concurs that personal branding is crucial, and proposes that if one finds himself stuck in a certain job or position, that he/she should try to rebrand or reinvent himself (Jacques, 2009). This does not mean that people should make themselves into somebody else (Chase, 2011), but they may change their image and how people perceive them by highlighting those qualities they possess which have not been given much attention to (Colmerauer, 2012). This may be achieved by doing a brand audit, an assessment of where one is and what one has to offer. Wilson calls these attributes ‘transferable equities’ (Jacques, 2009, p 32) that a person may put forward to redefine him/herself. Personal branding and authenticity The key to success is having ‘an organic, holistic, and authentic personal branding model’ (Rampersad, 2008, p. 35). Arruda also perceives people as having the wrong view that personal branding is made up and ar tificial (Martin, 2009), and stresses that it must be honest and authentic. Morton (2012) likewise emphasizes the importance of authenticity, observing that a personal brand grows over time. This is significant, because if a personal brand is not solidly rooted in authenticity, then the