Developing YOUR Brand: The FIRST steps

As I wrote in an earlier blog, our "Brand" is the sum of the images and feelings that our Name and Presence evoke in others. Our "Brand" can be an "accidental" brand or a "deliberate" brand.

I suggest we work on the latter. And why not? Why should we leave it to others to define to the world who we are and what we stand for?

Here are the three (3) steps in a Personal/Professional Brand-building process which I developed for myself and for my friends.

Step 1: Decide - what are the three (3) most important characteristics you want the world to ascribe to you? These are called your BRAND ATTRIBUTES.

Step 2: Plan - what tools and activities would you use so the world can experience these ATTRIBUTES and remember and associate them with you? These are the major elements of your BRANDING STRATEGY.

Step 3: Calendar - when do you intend to do use these tools and implement the activities in your Branding strategy? This is your BRANDING PROGRAM.

Let me share first how I did my Step 1.

Discovering our potential BRAND ATTRIBUTES can actually be fun and could lead to making our ties with friends, families and associates even stronger. I began by asking them casually and informally what "VALUE" I add to their lives. "VALUE" represents the positive changes and improvements they experience because of my presence in their lives.

Here were some of the answers (among the many) to the question, what "VALUE" do I add to their lives :

1. They learn new skills, new approaches, new ways of doing things
2. They learn to like themselves, overcome fear and poor self-esteem
3. They experience the loyalty of a friend

After reflecting for some time on the feedback they gave me, I made a decision to focus on three areas that I believe are the strongest positive attributes that the world associate with me:

One, COACH
Two, COUNSELLOR
Three, COMRADE

Those are the three (3) major, primary BRAND ATTRIBUTES which I decided the world should know and remember me by. They represent the three best ways by which I can "add value" to the lives of others and help them in their own journeys.

On Tuesday, July 13, I will share with you the tools and activities I am using so my three BRAND ATTRIBUTES are known, experienced and remembered by the world.

We all have a "brand"

Not only companies and products have "brands". We all do.

"Brand" is not just a name and logo. It is what image immediately comes to people's mind or the emotion that they feel when they come across the name and the logo. Or come across OUR name and picture.

People buy products or patronize a company not just because of the logo and name, but because of the image and the emotion associated with them. Same goes for all of us: we are hired, consulted, promoted because of the image and emotion associated with our face and name.

Most of us have "accidental" brands. Some have a "delibate" brand - meaning, something they decided on, invested in and painstakingly built. They did not leave to chance how they want others to see and feel aboout them.

Most of us rely on our "accidental" brand - images and emotions ascribed to us by those who observe and follow our lives and careers. Some of us can be "lucky" and end up with positive "accidental" brands. Most, however, end up with a brand that do not mirror their real person. It is tragic when good people in government end up with the negative brands simply because they did not handle their interaction with the public through media well.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro faces that risk today: a good man in government with a negative brand. Decades before him, a similar fate befell another good man in government - President Cory's transportation secretary, Reinerio Reyes.

However, there are "positively branded" people in the President Noynoy Aquino government.

One stands out: Transportation Secretary Jose "Ping" de Jesus.

In the industry and circles where he moves, Secretary Ping is known as a man of sterling credibility and integrity who "fast tracks" major infrastructure projects in a manner that is devoid of controversy and anomaly.

Building that brand began in 1990 after Luzon was struck by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that devasted large parts of Northern Luzon. President Cory tapped Secretary Ping to head the Task Forec to bring Northern Luzon back on its feet with a whopping P10 billion fund for reconstruction and rehabilitation.

As the task began, rumors started to spread through media that there were instances of gross misuse of the funds and of ghost projects. Some columnists planted insinuations that Secretary Ping could be involved in the anomaly. Unfair treatment for a man whose sole mission was to serve his President and countrymen well.

But Secretary Ping had a clear understanding of his role and mission and knew that the troubling insinuations could impact negatively on the reconstruction program. Therefore, though shy and self-effacing by nature, he decided to assume a high-profile role. He decided on what the "brand" of the Task Force would be - the watchdog of the P10 billion fund. As head, he would make sure that every centavo would go to the intended legal purpose.

Secretary Ping spent a great deal of time personally inspecting projects, listening to affected families, and updating the public through media on how the funds are being used. More important, he tapped the help of media to air warnings agains those who would misuse or abuse the funds. He also exposed ghost and substandard projects oftentimes incurring the ire of corrupt local government officials and contractors.

But Secretary Ping had Media on his side. Nope, he did not have good techniques on how to "handle media". He was not "savvy". He merely kept himself available, spoke to the people through media with candor and sincerity, and, most important, he never displayed anger or rudeness in their presence.

He finished the job with no PR crisis. No controversy. Just a new and refreshing "Ping de Jesus" brand.

The brand provided more than sufficient reason for him to eventually become Public Works Secretary under President Cory and Presiden Ramos. He moved on to pilot PLDT's zero-backlog program and to give the country one of its finest expressways - the North Luzon Tollways.

President Noynoy made a wise choice in tapping the "Ping de Jesus" brand for the Transportation and Communications Department. That brand will add much value to the goodwill of the Noynoy Presidency.

The "Ping de Jesus" brand is not accidental. It was painstakingly built and nurtured. I should know.