Architecting & Measuring a Human Brand
Build a brand by living your purpose, setting goals, working hard and proving it. Then measure its success.
“I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.”
Beating a buzzword to death
Like many truly useful concepts before it, the discussion around personal branding has, in effect, diminished its relevance to normal humans entirely. It has gone from being a hot topic to a buzzword to an overused buzzword to a misused buzzword to being “so 2011" in surprisingly short order.
A quick Google search materializes the websites and “thought leadership” of self-proclaimed personal branding “experts” who somehow missed the memos on Comic Sans, Papyrus and claiming to be an expert on something that’s been in the public lexicon for 5 minutes.
Unfortunately, this has led to personal brands to be mocked, misunderstood and the topic has become so twisted that people think having any sort of online presence constitutes a “brand.”
This has to stop.
Personal brands are real.
They can be useful. They can be powerful. They can be great for business.
Like the commercial brands of corporations, small businesses, teams, cities and other established entities, personal brands have the power to deter or intrigue humans. To motivate them. Inspire them. The change their behavior.
Like other brands, a personal brand can be defined in many ways. Some view it as a relationship. Others see it as a promise. Others (incorrectly) view it as a logo and some design elements.
To me, a personal brand must be:
- Rooted in purpose
- Fueled by goals
- Supported through (habitual) action
- Proven with evidence
My story
During my sophomore year of college and after more than a year of exploring the possibilities for a career in advertising, I realized my professional destiny was in brand strategy. I began to live it, breathe it, study it and explore it. At the time, everyone constantly told me I wouldn’t be able to legitimately pursue a career in the field without first paying my dues in account management, media planning or in an expensive master’s program.
It was discouraging, confusing and — quite honestly — annoying.
At that time, I made a promise to myself (and to my parents) that I would successfully obtain employment as a brand strategist by the time I graduated in May 2014. Aside from wanting to do what I loved without more schooling (right away), I wanted to prove I could be remarkable.
After spending that year leading an advertising team at the University of Illinois and the following summer at an internship in Consumer Insights & Social Media at McDonald’s Corporation, I realized I needed to bring my aspirations, accomplishments and professional self to life.
To this point, I had an increasingly impressive (for my age) resumé with a LinkedIn profile to match it.
But that wasn’t enough.
If I wanted to do something that people constantly told me I needed a $90,000 master’s degree to do, I‘d have to get crafty. Bullet points explaining alleged accomplishments weren’t enough. A 30-second elevator pitch at a career fair wouldn’t allow for legitimacy to be proven.
I needed a brand.
(The above components of my definition of a personal brand — purpose, goals, action and proof — were not clearly defined as I built my brand, but were later identified as the cornerstones of the process I used to get there.)
I had already defined my purpose:
I’m a brand strategist with a permanent residence at the intersection of consumers, creativity and commerce.
I already had goals:
I need to gain experience through strategy internships at creative agencies and eventually full-time strategy roles after graduation. Sans grad school.
I was already habitually participating in meaningful action through my heavy involvement in advertising activities, the College of Media and official/unofficial advertising studies. Knowing I couldn’t get too comfortable, I pursued a new challenge by writing a weekly opinions column for The Daily Illini. It forced me to think always, write habitually and form sharp, informed opinions (just like strategy).
All I needed was some proof.
Showing is better than telling
I created a website that featured my brand work, writing and personality via Tumblr, Instagram, my personal story and social links:
I created a logo:
I’ve Tweeted more meaningfully and more often:
…while keeping my personality in plain sight:
I perfected the art of updating LinkedIn and writing a mean resumé.
Most importantly, though, I’ve continued to live my purpose, pursue my goals, work hard and prove it along the way.
Measuring success
Like any modern brand, the success of my own personal brand can be judged through public perception and success metrics. I can’t speak for others, but numbers talk.
Since it launched October 18th, 2012:
JohnBuysse.com has seen 3,996 unique users (with 2,934 returning) from 85 countries and 48 states in the U.S. They viewed 27,957 pages and had an average visit time of 4 minutes and 12 seconds.
I’ve also earned…
550+ Twitter followers
600+ Instagram followers
500+ LinkedIn connections
5,257+ Medium article views and 2,239+ article reads
It’s more than vanity metrics
I’ve included the above metrics to show how an online presence can lead to effective engagement with hundreds (and even thousands) of people who may not have ever discovered you or your work previously.
Depending on the context, the above numbers may be considered vanity metrics that don’t prove the true effectiveness of a person’s “brand.”
Luckily for us, human brands with a professional purpose have one key metric to which everything can be judged against: employment.
My brand has thrived in this area as I’ve been hired for strategy internships at Leo Burnett and GSD&M.
Most recently, I was hired to serve as a Junior Planner at Ogilvy & Mather in Chicago (sans masters degree).
Nothing included above has been shared to brag or toot my own horn. Instead, I want to prove that personal brands can be architected, measured and exist without being belittled as a delusion or form of shallow self-promotion.
I’m not an expert, but to me, personal branding is a fluid approach to realizing ambitions through purpose, goals, actions and proof.
It’s only a theory, but it has worked for me.
John Buysse is a Junior Planner at Ogilvy & Mather Chicago.
Reach out on Twitter, LinkedIn or at www.JohnBuys.se.
