Cyberbranding

Social Media: Your Brand in Four Words or Less

, , , , , , , , , , , , , 3

As a follow up to my post on PR and Cyberbranding post, I wanted to touch on the personal brand as it will be a part of my presentation at the University of Sacred Heart in Puerto Rico.

It used to be the thirty 30 second elevator pitch that would tell someone everything they needed to know about a brand in a quick conscise statement.  With social media….how many characters do we have? Is it 140 on Twitter?  Or, is it a set number of words?  I remember reading that you should be able to say what your brand stands for in 4 words or less.  Maybe that’s true.  I also believe that you should be able to look at someone’s Twitter profile or an individual’s facebook profile and fan page, and identify in less then a minute the following: a person’s interests, what he/she likes to talk about, and something that stands out with respect to his/her personality.

I conducted an experiment with the head of our accounting office the other day.  She is a part of my company, but not involved in the communications, or social media programs or any type branding efforts that we create.  I asked her to look at my Twitter page and in less than 30 seconds, give me the first four words that popped into her head.  She said:

  • PR
  • Books
  • Communications
  • Education

It didn’t take her long at all.  I asked her to do the same thing with my Facebook fan page and the first four words out of her mouth (in the same amount of time) were:

  • Author
  • PR
  • Communications
  • Professor

Now, you may say that she is a member of my company and knows who I am. So, I’m going to try the same test with individuals who are unrelated to me and not members of my company (to see if they come up with similar are different answers).  To sum up my brand, although the words social media and business weren’t mentioned in my little experiment, I would say that my accounting person did a good job.

Try this little exercise on your own and it may prove a few things.  First, it could reveal that you are headed in the right direction; building the brand that you want to be.  However, it could let you know that what you talk about and how you visually represent yourself is not the brand you want to create.  But, hurry, because social media travels quickly and once a brand is embedded in the minds of an audience, it’s difficult to get them to change how they see you, and how they want to interact with you.  Let me know how you do!

PR & Cyberbranding: Is This Evolution or Revolution?

, , , , , , , , , , , , , 0

I’m preparing for my trip to Puerto Rico to speak at the University of Sacred Heart and then at the Puerto Rico Public Relations Association.  I was pleasantly surprised when my friends at the University asked me to discuss the topic of Cyberbranding at their 25th Anniversary celebration.  I wrote my book, Cyberbranding: Brand Building in the Digital Economy, almost 10 years ago. Today, the principles of branding on the Internet or in the social sphere are still very important to communications professional worldwide.

Back in 2001, I was concentrating on topics that included the myths of Cyberbranding and the best principles of branding on the Internet to build relationships.  Today, the brand is paramount, yet the brand voice has changed to meet the demanding needs of today’s social consumer.  Below is a chart that I put together to show a comparison between what consumers expected in 2000 vs. what they want in 2010.

Source: Deirdre Breakenridge, Cyberbranding and the Social Consumer, September 2010

If you notice, all of the consumer requirements are similar.  In early 2000, I was writing about how consumers wanted to drive and control information and how they wanted to be in charge of their relationships.  Years ago, they required personalization and customization, as well as the feeling that there were humans behind the brand moniker.   Increased interaction, direct answers and easy access were a must.  And, just like today, they wanted to trust the people behind the brand.  However, the major difference is that today’s consumers are able to create and participate in socialized media, which further empowers them to demand their information a certain way, and from only the media sources that they choose.

What’s interesting to note is that as you review the requirements in the chart, it appears that the shift in consumer behavior from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 hasn’t altered that much. Yet, it feels like an incredible shift in the market.  Perhaps, for those brands that were paying attention to their consumer base back in 2000, the shift to social media was a little easier as they were already complying with the demanding consumer.  For those brands that didn’t pay attention to the needs back then, it’s a monumental shift and very difficult to play catch up with the 21st century empowered consumer.

In public relations, part of our responsibility is to make sure that our brands are listening to the public and being responsive to their needs. How have you helped your brand(s) to move forward to accommodate the needs of the social consumer?  Was the shift from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 a gradual evolution for your brand or does it feel more like a revolution?