Building Your Brand (and Keeping Your Job)

Hello fellow branders-

I stumbled upon a great article in the July 30, 2010 issue of Fortune called Building Your Brand (and keeping your job). As personal branding increases in popularity, it is possible that your employer may feel threatened or taken advantage of as you develop your personal brand in a work environment.  The article focuses on Scott Monty, who as Global Digital and Multimedia Communications Manager at Ford Motor Company, was recruited to the manufacturer after establishing himself as a expert at the intersection of marketing, advertising, and PR.  Monty is truly an expert in personal branding techniques, bringing 3500 Twitter followers with him to Ford. 

But establishing your personal brand in the context of your company's can be a tricky business.  While certainly great for your resume, corporations may wonder why and what you are typing all day.  As Monty says, "With personal branding, there's a constant debate about who benefits more- the company or the individual."  Scott has obviously navigated this path with great success, but others have not. 

The article presents five case studies where social media experts have been both lauded and fired by companies for working to grow the corporate brand. Some of the issues are corporate culture. A corporation may have trouble seeing the value you are creating for them when you are extending your brand at the same time as theirs (and at their expense).  It falls on you to sell your corporation on this concept so that is the proverbial win/win.   The article gives you four tips on how to successfully traverse this slippery slope.

Excellent reading for anyone interested in personal branding in today's corporate environment.

Thanks for reading!

SH