I was lucky enough to have a father that loved movies. I grew up watching films like Ben-Hur, The Bicycle Thief, and Cool Hand Luke. My father’s love of movies has been passed onto me and I currently own over 950 DVDs. Much to my sadness I saw on TV this week end that Paul Newman lost his battle with cancer.
Paul Newman was a great actor, he came from the school of thought known as Character Acting, where an actor truly becomes the person they are trying to emulate. Your onscreen persona hasn’t showered in two weeks, you don’t shower for two weeks, it’s that simple.
I could talk for hours about Mr. Newman’s acting but I am here to talk about his brand. Anyone who followed his career knew one thing about him, he was honest. He wasn’t one of those actors in Hollywood that pandered his image or even cared about it, if you like Paul you liked Paul, really wasn’t much of a concern to him.
If you asked him about something Mr. Newman would tell you what he thought, but he never preached; he never came out and said you were wrong simply because you didn’t share his beliefs. When Mr. Newman’s son died of a drug overdose he dedicated millions to starting a charity to help people with substance abuse problems.
As the story goes one summer night Paul and a friend of his were joshing around saying that Paul should market his oil and vinegar mix; as a joke he did. His salad dressing was soon flying off the shelves and his salad dressing was now making money, the he certainly didn’t need, so what did Mr. Newman do? He gave all the profits from his branded products to charity.
Every cent of profit that Newman’s Own branded products went to support charities. Mr. Newman began expanding his brand to a host of other products. As a consumer I was certain of two things when I saw the Newman’s Own brand: Quality and helping a good cause.
That was the power of Mr. Newman’s brand, at some point he could have been selling me tires and I would have believed that they were good tires for a good cause. Can you think of anyone else out there that has that kind of brand equity? Any other celebrity that could simply add his or her name to something and have it sail? Let me know.
Met with a potential new client yesterday for dinner, and ran through a quick bout of education that I seem to run through with anyone who is familair with more traditional media but have only recently become aware of social media. Everyone has heard of MySpace and FaceBook, and many believe if they use only those channels they’ve got thier bases covered as far as social media goes.
For the sake of this conversation we will not discuss how to correctly leverage those networks nor will we discuss the arguement of a continuosly fragmenting marketplace.
The quick and easy comparision is to relate each social network to a particular broadcast channel or genre. A common misconception is that by using one social network you are reaching the majority of the social media market. It’s just like buying TV spots, if you have network spots on NBC or CBS you’re reaching a lot of viewers, if you’re on a cable channel you’re reaching a more niche audience. In no case are you touching 100% of TV watchers or radio listeners.
Social media is the same way, consider FaceBook the social media equivilent to NBC, and MySpace as… oh I don’t know… Fox. Their your larger networks and have a larger user base. But then you have your more focused niche communities, LinkedIn for example, would be more akin to your CNNMoney.
Just as with traditional media you can focus your marketing to reach your target demographic - pick the right channels, content, copy and creative and let ‘er rip.
I have an interesting problem when it comes to marketing my personal life is my professional life. That is not to say everything I do is work, but instead that everything I say reflects my work. When presenting a social media/interactive marketing package to a client my being involved with social media is as important as me knowing about social media.
On a professional level this creates problems. While out with friends having a good time I have to be careful what I tweet or who’s wall I post to on Facebook. While I am not embarrassed of my personal life, I just have to be aware of the fact that many people out there wouldn’t understand it. I don’t do anything odd but I was a sailor in the United States Navy so some of my sailor and marine friends are a bit rough around the edges.
On the personal side some of my relationships can become convoluted by the mixing of personal and professional lives. Relationships that I am trying to keep professional can become too personal quickly because I make my personal life so easy to access. On the other side of the coin, personal friends of mine become confused when I am setting up lunches and dinners with professional contacts through Facebook and twitter.
I love using social media as a tool for creating connections, staying in touch, and marketing ideas to the public. I have stream live video of my life, and tweet about business and personal facts in tandem. I honestly doubt that my life will ever go back to a “non-social” way again. My hope is that other people begin to see that modern day business is a holistic view of the people you work with.
As I continue to brand myself using social media I feel the problem is going to keep resurfacing. I think it is important that potential clients know who I am and how I work. I think the best way for them to see this is by exploring my life through social media. Do you have any examples of social media blurring the lines of professional and social life? Let me know.
I was at Quiznos the other day and I sat down to eat my sandwich and noticed the plate. It was not just an ordinary plate, it was in shape of a Q. I thought to myself how clever this was and how powerful it was as a marketing tool. It was impossible to eat the sandwich and not think of the brand whenever I looked down.
This may be a useful idea for a place like Potbelly. They could stretch their marketing budget a little bit and create their baskets out of half of a potbelly stove. That way the customer gets good food, but also ties it to the brand. Quiznos is competing with other sandwich franchises and they market themselves as having better quality food, yet not being as expensive as an eatery like Panera Bread. The plate idea only emphasizes their clever attempts to delve further into the sandwich market and to really make a name for themselves.
Whereas Potbelly serves their sandwiches in normal baskets, they have their brand recognized by the atmosphere. You cannot find a Potbelly everywhere, but the experience in the antique environment is not replaced by any other. I think that creating a basket in the shape of a half potbelly stove would increase brand recognition. Rebranding could help Potbelly get their icon and their name out there. What are some other ideas for rebranding?
Entering the professional world makes me think more about how I am presenting myself. Job interviews are notorious places to portray yourself the way you want your prospective boss to perceive you. However, with the relevantly new idea of social networking and social media, posting your entire life on Facebook may not be the best idea. Coming out of college kids are unaware that their potential bosses not only look at the resumes and materials they present, but they are also using the Internet to find a little more about them.
Social media is definitely an easy way to mess up your professional life. The idea that your social networks are only for your friends and the sense of having a personal life on the Internet is utterly ridiculous. Everything you do and document is a way of looking deeper into your life. What you do in your free time is your business but once you post it on the Internet, you open yourself up to judgment.
Caution must be taken when creating any sort of online profile. That false sense of security because your profile is private is greatly misleading. Brian Solis talks about the issue of socializing your life on the Internet and having it open to detection by any and all. This is an issue that many are aware of, yet still many are denied positions in the professional world because of how they display themselves on the web.
