Personal Branding: Bring the Hurt!
When it comes to mitigating damage on the corporate level, you typically hire a risk analyst. In some ways, we all are risk analysts and seek help from our friends in troubled times, even if we don’t adhere to any suggestions. However, when it comes to personal branding, avoiding damaging reputations is reasonably controllable. However, the real question in practice often becomes whether it is advantageous to avoid the “damage” at all.
Similar idea, but not exactly the right story
The crux of the issue comes down to the differences between fame and notoriety. While one may be more desirable, they both achieve similar goals. As gamers can tell you, EA is often perceived as a draconian publisher that destroys the gaming market. But what they don’t tell you is their undeniable hit vs failure rate, competitive management/market strategies, and typically sound fiscal practices. The wiki page has a decent broad recount of their history and practices http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Arts They are a business through and through, not a niche art group related to an art business. While the firm may be notorious for it’s policies, it is a company that understands the market, and makes a solid position in buyer’s minds. No gamer who looks at company labels does not recognize the EA brand, even if they don’t like the name.
Another good example to demonstrate this point is celebrities. There is a saying, “there is no such thing as bad publicity.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Times_Co._v._Sullivan The industry is plagued with scandals, affairs, drugs, and politics. But it’s often the thing that keeps a strong fan base as well. Celebrities looking for quick fame often relied upon released sex tapes to draw attention to them as a brand, such as Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson, ect. While the assumption might be that proto-Christian America (~70% of the population) would be opposed to this idea, it was quite the contrary! It has became a huge fad, since in reality sex sells.
Although I hate to reference him, Dick Masterson of http://www.menarebetterthanwomen.com/ also demonstrates how notoriety benefits image. This guy promotes chauvinism in this age; thus, he has obtained quite a poor reputation among many. Still, he commands an audience and is recognized, even if it is in protest to his ideas. Getting on shows like Dr. Phil have advanced his notoriety further.
However, this does not always work out well. A good example of this is Tiger Woods and his variety of scandals over time: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20091228/sc_livescience/tigerwoodsaffairscostbillionsinstockmarket/ However, I believe that this is the exception rather than the rule. Politicians run on the fact that name recognition is the essential component to winning any election. Although these scandals may affect the success of a particular entity for the moment, they tend to have lasting effects on name recognition. It seems that people tend to forget the details about a person, instead of the fact that they recognize them.
While negative attention may damage a brand, it can ultimately keep it aloft with name recognition. Brands are constantly reshaping themselves, such as Domino’s new advertisement campaign for a new pizza. Once the name is in someone’s head, it’s easier to change how they feel about it. It seems the change is easier then getting the name there in the first place.
Catherine Rodriguez
on January 26th, 2010
As an objective observer on the sideline, I can tell you that I personally love the EA brand. #1. Because I like the Sims 2 product line, and; #2. because my favorite game on my iPod Touch is EA’s Scrabble. So from these two games I might go on to think that EA makes great, quality games. Interesting to hear the other side of that.
And maybe that also holds true for Tiger Woods. As a brand, he really was (and is)indispensible to the game of golf. And I probably am less likely to watch The Masters in April if Tiger is not one of the top 3 golfers on Sunday. But did his actions hurt golf? Or did it hurt Tiger? My personal opinion is that golf as a sport will take a pretty big financial hit this year without Tiger. However, I think that Woods will come back and people will rally behind him. The masses love a comeback story.
Drew
on January 26th, 2010
Hey Daryl, you have an interesting perspective. Most of us are aware of what we make public about our selves, including what we say on public forums. I believe in that regard as long as we are sensitive to our image one can use notoriety to their advantage to form a “brand recognition” for their name- as I believe you were suggesting.
Drew