EmployER Branding vs. EmployEE Branding

June 24, 2009

Tweet Sometimes the distinctions between terms are irrelevant; they don’t make much of a difference. Not so with the distinction between employEE branding and EmployER branding. Just the switch of one letter, and the switch of the organization’s focus, makes all the difference. EmployER Branding EmployER branding is all about creating a sense of place. […]

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Defend Your Personal Brand. Barbara Boxer shows how.

June 19, 2009

Tweet What can we learn from Senator Barbara Boxer and her interaction with Brigadier General Michael Walsh? 1. Defend your personal brand. 2. Ask to be treated in a way that reflects who you are, what you have accomplished, and what you stand for. 3. To do anything else is to allow your personal brand […]

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How are Brandividuals special?

June 17, 2009

Tweet What is it that makes Brandividuals a ‘special’ kind of organizational representative or spokesperson? It seems to be all in the balance that brandividuals strike between displaying ‘who they are’ and advocating for ‘what the organization wants’. More than "Spokesmodels" Brandividuals do all kinds of important stakeholder contact, communication and problem resolution work. In […]

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Why We Want Brandividuals on Social Media

June 11, 2009

Tweet Brandividuals are an important tactic for representing an organization online. Yes, I know, the term “Brandividual” is kind of funky, and maybe even has an annoying buzz, but as a concept it’s here to stay. Why? Because brandividuals are the most transparent, authentic and ultimately effective way of representing an organization in an online […]

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Don’t Let Personal Branding Stifle your Authentic Voice

June 9, 2009

Tweet There is a battle brewing between the concepts of Personal Brand and Authentic Voice. If you’ve been paying attention at all (and I’m sure you have) you’ve seen the articles and the individuals touting personal branding. Everyone from Tom Peters to Seth Godin to Dan Scwabel is online telling you how to create your […]

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When Employee Branding Hurts

June 8, 2009

Tweet Employee Branding, done well, can be a great tool for the organization. The organization gets employees to behave in ways that are aligned with the organization’s desired brand message, and employees get a sense of connection to the brand and what it stands for, as well as a little bit of empowerment for making […]

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What’s your *personal* ROI as a Brandividual?

June 3, 2009

Tweet I’m not a wholehearted fan of personal branding. Some elements of applying a construct designed to sell products to the activity of selling oneself are a little questionable (as I argue in my Employee Branding research),  because personal branding can lead to an overly commercial understanding of the self. Quite simply, personal branding can […]

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Brandividual In Action: Follow @cbarger to watch General Motors transform

June 2, 2009

Tweet Here’s your chance to see someone in the brandividual role taking action, over time, in the face of a big challenge. When I gave my talk about The Rise of Brandividuals at last week’s Corporate Reputation Conference, I used the example (well-known in social media circles) of @scottmonty of Ford Motor Company to illustrate […]

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Attack of the TPS Report

May 21, 2009

Tweet From Time Magazine’s photo essay on workplace hijinks. Attack of the TPS Report There’s gotta be some flair in there, somewhere.

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What’s a Brandividual?

May 20, 2009

Tweet When I read that David Armano had “invented” the term “Brandividual” a few months ago, I muttered choice words from an array of Continental languages and berated myself for not having TM’d the word myself. Back when I started researching the practices of employee branding and ‘wearing the brand’, I’d toyed with the idea […]

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