Tweet

What the Super Bowl Teaches Us About Successful Branding

Guest post by: Bud Bilanich

Article Overview: Successful people create positive personal impact. Developing and nurturing your unique personal brand is the first step in building your brand. Brand building takes work, but it is simple conceptually. Do two things. First, decide how you want people to think of you. Then do whatever it takes to get them to think of you that way. Your brand is important and, just like the NFL, you should do everything you can to protect it and build it.

What the Super Bowl Teaches Us About Successful Branding

Did you watch the Super Bowl on Sunday? About 100 million people did. The game was entertaining and fun to watch. New Orleans won 31-17. Drew Brees, the Saints quarterback was the Most Valuable Player, and he endeared himself to the country by bringing his little boy -- who was wearing noise reduction headphones -- on to the field and carrying him around after the game.

I bring up the Super Bowl because you can learn a lot about branding from it. If you notice in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, big box retailers suggest you buy a new, better TV to watch the "big game." Super markets and delis promote their party trays for the "big game." That's because the Super Bowl is the crown jewel in the NFL's brand; so much so that they've trademarked it. If you want to use the words "Super Bowl" in your ads, you have to pay a fee to the NFL. Coors Light did. That's why you saw so many Super Bowl themed Coors Light commercials these past few weeks. Interestingly, Coors Light didn't run one ad during the game. M&Ms paid the royalty fee too. I loved their ads with the M&M running on the conveyor belt in the super market.

The NFL works hard to protect their Super Bowl brand. You should work hard to nurture, promote and protect your personal brand too. Developing and nurturing your unique personal brand is the first step in creating positive personal impact.

I'm sure you know who I mean when I say Shaq, Madonna and Bono. These are people who are powerful brands. However, personal brands aren't just for athletes and celebrities. All successful people create and nurture their own unique personal brand. Your brand is how others think of you. It is a combination of a lot of things -- what you stand for, how you act, how you dress, your on line presence. Nature abhors a vacuum. If you don't consciously create your brand, others will do it for you.

As you go about creating your personal brand, remember that a good brand will not appeal to everyone. A brand that appeals to everybody is too vanilla. You want a Cherry Garcia brand, something that is uniquely you. A good brand will appeal to a lot of people, but it will also turn off a certain portion of the population.

Take my "Common Sense Guy" brand. It appeals to a lot of people. However, some people find "common sense" a little too pedestrian and "guy" a little too colloquial. That's OK. Those folks probably aren't real interested in what I have to say, and how I say it anyway.

There are two simple and common sense steps for creating a strong personal brand.

1. Decide how you want people to think of you.

2. Do whatever it takes to get them to think that way.

Once you choose your brand, stay on brand at all times. Be consistent and constant. Do whatever you can to reinforce your brand. For example, all of my websites have the words "common sense" in them. I'm sure you've noticed that I end every one of my articles with a paragraph that begins, "The common sense point here is..." I avoid lengthy, complicated analyses. I work hard to simplify the complex and provide simple, easy to implement advice to my coaching clients. I use humor in my talks -- and frequently pepper them with the words -- "After all, it's just common sense, right?"

I work really hard to consistently and constantly present myself as someone who has common sense answers to everyday career and life success questions.

William Arruda, my friend and author of Career Distinction says it well...

"Be on brand in all that you do. People with a strong personal brand ensure that everything they do and all that surrounds them communicates their brand message."

The common sense point here is simple. Successful people create positive personal impact. Developing and nurturing your unique personal brand is the first step in building your brand. Brand building takes work, but it is simple conceptually. Do two things. First, decide how you want people to think of you. Then do whatever it takes to get them to think of you that way. Your brand is important and, just like the NFL, you should do everything you can to protect it and build it.

Related Articles
  Time for Apple to release a 25th anniversary Mac
  Assumptions Anyone?
  What Does Your Gut Say?
  Super Bowl Ads Super Marketing or Super Waste of $
  Five Personal Branding Lessons from the Grammy Awards
  The New Standard for Superbowl Ads
  What a Little Boy's Clarity of Purpose Teaches Us About Success
  Is Branding Enough?
  Is Personal Branding Really Effective?
  Super Bowl Then and Now - Super Bowl XLV
  The Cost of Creativity
  In Business, You're Either A Necessary Evil Or You're Not Necessary At All
  Teamwork
  How to create better marketing than the world's largest companies
  How to create marketing that is better than Fortune 1000 companies
  Great Sales Management Advice from Football's Greatest
  How to Use Personal Branding for a Competitive Edge
  Don't Just Think PR, Do PR
  Beware the salary sacrifice trap
  Employer's obligations to pay superannuation in Australia

Article Tags: brand building, how you act, how you dress, on line presence, Positive personal impact, unique, what you stand for
Referred by: http://www.jimbouchard.org



Related Forum Posts
Victoria's Secret - Too Sexy? - This will be upsetting for some men. I just heard a report about Victoria's Secret and it was interesting. Their sales were down drastically in the 4th quarter of 2007 and the report was about how they are thinking the company has gotten too far away from the heritage that made it the blockbuster company it is. They are thinking the ads etc have become too sexy and the plan (at the moment) is to make the ads more sophisticated. That would be like the Super Bowl commercial which was very tasteful, but very different from any Victoria's Secret I've seen lately. Who do you all think the current sexy ads are targeting? I think its the men that they hope will buy these items for their female significant others. I hate to give Omarosa any kudos - but most women aren't "sold" on an item by an ad of a near naked sexy woman. Shri
Re: Super Mario Dethroned - You people are crazy. Super Mario will NEVER be dethroned! Vive la Mario & Luigi! I'm sorry, but remembering those days playing Super Maria for Nintendo and wondering when I would finally hit the last level and be able to beat the evil dragon for my perfect princess will never die. Wii is fantastic, but I'd still prefer the rights to Mario - if even for sentimental value.
And the speakers for the Nov 1 event - Inspiring speakers will share their stories of launching, living and dreaming. Speakers include: Kathleen Matthews: Executive Vice President Global Communications and Public Affairs, Marriott International, Inc. and former award-winning producer, reporter and news anchor who covered news in Washington, DC for 25 years Mei Xu: Founder and creator of CHESAPEAKE BAY CANDLE and Blissliving Home Julie Lenzer Kirk: President of Path Forward International and author of The ParentPreneur Edge: What Parenting Teaches About Building a Successful Business Jennifer Buddin: Co-founder of "The Little Black Book for every busy woman" Victoria Colligan: Founder of Ladies Who Launch Frances Crespo and Nicolette Pizzitola: Ladies Who Launch Washington, DC Leaders Educational workshops and information gathering Invaluable exchanges, introductions, business contacts and referrals Exclusive discounts, free consultations and access to original products and services Lunch and spa services An opportunity to become a "Featured Lady" on Ladies Who Launch Valuable GIFT BAG guaranteed with pre-registration
Re: What's 1 word to describe what your business will be in 2012 - Successful.
Books for Women Entrepreneurs - There's a thread for good books in the Resources folder, but it doesn't target books for businesswomen particularly, so I figured I'd start such a thread here. It doesn't matter how successful you are in your business - it's always possible to learn something new. In subsequent posts I give Table of Contents and brief descriptions for various titles - most of them devoted to the businesswoman - and sometimes a review. If anyone else has read a review, or has read the book and found it useful, please comment! 1. The Old Girl's Network 2. Mother's Work 3. The 7 Greatest Truths About Successful Women 4. Pitch Like A Girl 5. Workplace Warrior 6. Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the Modern Consumer 7. Contingency Planning & Disaster Recovery 8. She Wins, You Win 9. Napoleon On Project Management 10. Why Good Girls Dont' Get Ahead, But Gutsy Girls Do 11. Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years 12. The One Minute Millionaire 13. Talking From 9 to 5 14. Soloing: Realizing Your Life's Ambitions 15. 101 Best Home Based Businesses for Women: Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started on the Road To Success 16. Work With Passion: How to Do What You Love for a Living. Revised and Expanded 17. Fail-Proof Your Business: Beat the Odds and be Successful 18. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End 19. Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide 20. Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen 21. Start Small, Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start - and Run - Your Own Successful Business 22. Rewired, Rehired or Retired: A Global Guide for the Experienced Worker 23. The Martha Rules: 10 essentials for achieving success as you start, build or manage a business 24. The Essentials of Entrepreneurship: What it takes to create Successful Enterprises 25. Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy 26. The Promotable Woman 27. Leave The Office Earlier: The Productivity Pro shows you how to do more in less time and feel great about it 28. The Work At Home Balancing Act: The professional resource guide for managing yourself, your work, and your family at home 29. Secrets of Six-Figure Women


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The Pure FUN of Learning & Using NLP

How To Master The Ins and Outs of Google+

Severance and Separation Agreements

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.