If you work in marketing, creating a personal passion brand can be a great wonderful of fulfilment and learning. It’s a great opportunity to try out your own principles & tools (and check they work!). Here are some favourite examples from my own life and what I’ve learnt.
I worked with Anne-Marie Taylor to launch her head hunting and talent coaching consultancy PERSONAL FUTURES, back when we lived in Paris in the late 1990s. This was taken over and has gone on to great things under the leadership Béatrice Socco, who has the fantastic job description of Talentologue!
Next came the brandgm. This brand has come to life through the brand growth consultancy I run with David Nichols and also our 8 books, 1,600 blog posts, 20 annual research papers and the brandgym Academy online training platform.
During lockdown, I helped Anne-Marie create Dance for Good. This wonderful social enterprise harnesses the power of dance to help people feel more energised, motivated and happy. Fees from dance breaks for companies fund dance activities for charities.
Most recently, Anne-Marie and I have launched a new passion project called The TRIP {COLLECTION}. This travel inspiration platform features a collection of 30 curated trips to beautiful places. It has no revenue but creates a lot of joy! We also have an Instagram page with short, visual bursts of travel inspiration.
Here are some learnings from these personal passion brand launches:
1. BE the consumer: immersive insight is easy to get if you ARE the consumer, as I posted on here. Solve a problem you yourself are passionate about!
2. Define a clear PURPOSE & POSITIONING: this really does inspire you and keep you on track.
3. Be DISTINCTIVE: create distinctive brand assets to stand out, including names, design elements and visual imagery.
4. Have a memorable NAME: maximum 4-5 syllables, try to encapsulate the essence of what you do (e.g. Dance for Good) and/or how you do it (e.g. the brandgym) and/or what you offer (e.g. The TRIP {COLLECTION} ).
5. Use an inspiring “PEER GROUP”: don’t just look at direct competitors, look at inspiring brands with a similar positioning.
In conclusion, my personal passion brand projects have been a great source of fulfilment and learning. Do you have one you’ve launched or are working on? If so, please let me know!
Wesbsites
