About the Idea of a Personal Brand – There’s No Such Thing

I could write at least 200 pages with explanations, sources, etc. about this “problem”, but there’s no point in that. So, I will give you some points:

1. A personal brand does not exist; it is just a phantasmagoria invented by those who believe that anything can become a brand. We could speak about someone’s own personality, if we are talking about people. If some choose to call this a personal brand, it’s their business, but they are wrong in doing so. Brands are perceptions created to sell products and services, inanimate “things”, without any personality. The brand gives them a certain personality to become identifiable, recognisable and closer to us humans.

2. Personal branding only exists when the person begins to act in a concerted strategy to improve or change their public perception. In which case, they consider, in fact, that their personality does not correspond to specific goals.

3. If a random person, public figure, artist, politician, etc. already has a so-called “personal brand” it means that they have already started to lie and build a “facade” that is not related to the reality of their personality or is a beautifier meant to promote a different perception than what is authentic, what their personality truly embodies.

4. A person who has a “personal brand”, psychologically speaking, is prepared to sacrifice their personality and their own values, partially or totally, depending on the case, in order to forge a convenient mask. Or they don’t have a very well-defined personality to begin with and then it’s easy for them to change it according to their needs.
5. If a person has a “personal brand” it means that they have specific goals that can only be achieved by modifying, improving or changing their public image.

6. The best, real and long-term “personal brand strategy” is the one that supports and highlights that person’s personality, values and real actions. Anything added over that becomes artificial, and other people, ironically, have the ability to detect false pretences.

7. Sooner or later, the added “masks” will reveal the true character of the person trying to be perceived in a different way than they really are.

8. Some consider that they can be “personal brand consultants” if they invent a graphic signature for a person and advise them what to wear, when to wear it and give them other “tips” like these.

9. The difference between a “personal brand” and one’s own personality is that the first one is the result of a concerted strategy, built according to a well-defined purpose, and the second one is the result of one’s life experience, education, studies, entourage and real values and beliefs.

10. Seminars, conferences and the like, all dealing with the subject of “personal branding”, knowingly avoid speaking of the use of artificial construction according to a strategy.

11. If I were to advise someone for their “personal brand” I would either come together in a way that would highlight their real qualities and imperfections, beliefs, values and personality, or they would fire me.