Brand, Unbrand and Rebrand to Remain Relevant in the Digital World
INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR. M. S. RAO, Ph.D
International Leadership Guru
“You must brand, unbrand and rebrand to remain relevant and stay successful in this digital world.” ― Professor M.S. Rao.
When look at inspiring personalities including Arianna Huffington, Richard Branson, Janine Allis, Michelle Obama and Sheryl Sandberg, they built their personal brands successfully. In fact, failure is not an end of the road, but it is a bend for betterment and prosperity when you take feedback and learn lessons. Failure teaches many lessons in life provided you want to learn and improve yourself. When your brand hits all time low, don’t get panic. Instead, be cool and composed. Explore the tools to unbrand and rebrand to remain relevant. Find out the reasons for the failure, learn lessons and move forward with energy and enthusiasm. Remember, neither success is permanent, not failure is permanent. So is the case of branding.
What is Branding?
Branding is about how you want to be recalled and respected when you are not available. It is to be known for your principles, philosophies, values, ethics and etiquette. It helps others understand your personality, attitude, and behavior. It helps others value your expertise and experience, and the contribution that you have made. As an individual, people respect you for your character, content, commitment and charisma. As a brand, people respect you for your knowledge, skills, abilities, expertise and experience. Seth Godin remarked, “A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”
Reasons to Rebrand
Branding helps you and your organization stand out from others. Taking feedback regularly and following up promptly helps you strengthen your brand. If you feel that there is no positive response, you must unbrand and rebrand to remain relevant and successful in this digital world. There are several reasons to build your brand. Here are some of them. When you want to add value to others, you need authenticity to be taken seriously. It is possible when you have a strong brand. When you want an employment, you must have your online brand to grab employment offers easily. When you want to excel as a thought leader, you must have credibility on social media. When you want to strike rich, you must brand yourself. When you want to earn income passively, building your brand helps greatly. When you want to avail speaking opportunities or sell your books, your branding helps. Above all, branding helps when you want to make a difference to the world and provide meaning to your life.
Bollywood Star Amitabh Bachchan’s Rebranding
According to Martin Lindstrom, there are three steps to create a powerful personal brand ― Attention, Bridging and Re-Invention. If you are consistent and persistent, you can build your brand quickly. But what happens when you lose your consistency due to failure in your ventures or endeavors. You will have to unbrand and rebrand which is more challenging. But there are people who reinvented their brands after failures and evolved as inspiring brands. When you look at India’s Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, he failed in politics and business but he rebranded with his new incarnation as a television host. He unbranded as an ‘angry young man’ and branded as an ‘humble old man’. He is undoubtedly an inspiring brand. Hence, we can take leaves from such inspiring personalities the way they re-built their brands by adapting to the changing times and technologies.
Build Your Brand Brick by Brick
If you want to ensure longevity of your brand, you must not deviate from your core values, principles and philosophies. Your content must be king and queen. It must be relevant and consistent. There are people who kick up controversies to hit limelight and build their brands. Such endeavors give temporary fame but end up in a permanent infamy. Controversies adversely affect brand image in the long run. Hence, explore innovative tools and techniques to build your brand brick by brick with a long-term vision rather than to build your brand quickly with short-term temptations.
Brand, Unbrand and Rebrand
Avoid kicking up controversies to elevate your brand because it boomerangs. Controversies are like steroids that ruin your brand in the long run. Your brand must not be like a flash in the pan. Instead, your brand must reflect your content, character and commitment. You must live by it by standing on your principles and philosophies irrespective of pulls and pressures.
Life is an endeavor. It is full of peaks and valleys. You must learn to balance them to contribute your best to grow personally, professionally and socially. When faced with crisis, bounce back with resilience and tenacity to rebuild your brand. As businesses turnaround you can turnaround your brand when done right. To conclude, bounce back from your failures to unbrand and rebrand to remain relevant and successful in the digital world.
Author Bio:
Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D.
International Leadership Guru
Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D. is the Father of “Soft Leadership” and Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants, India. He is an International Leadership Guru with 37 years of experience and the author of 37 books including the award-winning ‘21 Success Sutras for CEOs’.
URL: http://www.amazon.com/21-Success-Sutras-Ceos-Rao/dp/162865290X.
He is a C-Suite advisor and a sought-after keynote speaker globally. He is passionate about serving and making a difference in the lives of others. He shares his leadership wisdom freely with the world on his four blogs. His vision is to build one million students as global leaders by 2030.
URL: http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.in/2014/12/professor-m-s-raos-vision-2030-one_31.html.
He is a dynamic, energetic and inspirational leadership speaker. He can be reached at: msrlctrg@gmail.com.