Distinct Brand Identity vs Personal Branding
There are so many industries, and so many ways to distinguish between various sectors in each one. For this brief blogpost we will be focusing on big picture divides between three distinct industries I have worked with and discussing their unique marketing differences. Musicians, Sites as a Service, and Restaurants. These are the three genres of business we will be referring to today as they cover a broad field of marketing with some interesting overlaps.
Musicians, for the most part, market themselves. SaaS market a webservice separate from the author of the site. Restaurants position themselves as somewhere in between, establishing a human feeling for a physical location. With mom n pop restaurants the brand can reflect the owners in an intimate way, while commercial chain restaurants offer a curated atmosphere designed to model the business in an inviting fashion. Likewise a musical performer may put on a stage persona completely separate to who the are at home. In general though these industries are unique in their levels of personal brand attachment. Just as it is possible that some SaaS operator out there may center their site around themselves.
In general though these three industries offer a range from highly personable to corporately constructed in an easy to conceive manner. Your common pop-star is closely associated with their brand image, a restaurant owner in a small town is perceived along with their physical establishment, and a SaaS company is most often completely detached from the person who started it. Freedom from the founder of a business opens up many more marketing opportunities, while attachment to an individual gives a credible feeling that can’t be mimicked.
Musicians market their voice by shining the spotlight on themselves. Doing so they become the brand that represents them and all of their actions impact the opinions of their audience heavily. It is a volatile way to market with every tweet and instagram post building the narrative of who they are as an artist, effecting the turnout on their next in person performance. They themselves are in essence the product that they are trying to sell. This concept can be expanded into other industries like the freelancer work I do, where I am selling my services and the brand is an extension of what I offer, similar to how a painter markets their pieces of art.
One step further removed from the spotlight is the restaurant owner. They can be heavily involved with the atmosphere of their eatery or they can be completely detached, letting the restaurant market itself. Somewhere in there is a pleasant balance of the owner styling the establishment around their taste while giving it room to breath as its own space. Conceptually you can expand the restaurant metaphor into other businesses with physical retail spaces. A small stationary store can heavily reflect its shop keeper or a tourist gift shop could be positioned to mirror the attitude of its city. It is important as a company owner to establish how closely tied to the brand your personal image should be and to embody it accordingly.
Our last example, Sites as a Service, are a good representation of when your brand is completely isolated from the staff. Sites like Canva, Shopify, and Netflix are brands separate from any individual. They are services that position themselves as such, but they still use their marketing to feel human. By detaching from their author the brands can focus on the individuals in their audience to set their tone of voice. For example: Canva is a tool for writing copy and presentations, they market their voice as an inspired artist with bright colors and young actors. Netflix tones themselves as a gathering place for family movie night, seeping with the smell of buttered popcorn. These are both corporate images, closer related to a franchise like Olive Garden in terms of marketing than an individually owned coffee shop.
In summary, the brand voice for a company can be the same as your personal brand image or it could be completely its own thing. As a CEO, CMO, or company founder it is up to you to determine how your company positions itself. What industry are you in? What do consumers expect out of brands like yours? Does your brand benefit from being a separate entity from its employees? These are questions you can ask yourself, or if you want to hear my opinion feel free to schedule a call! If we keep it under 30min then my advice is completely free! So ask away!
