Mini case study: Personal brand positioning

Here is the question:

A friend of mine had this bit on his mind. You see, he is a football aficionado and as a result has done a bit of sports journalism. He often serves as a sport’s analyst on TV and radio shows. However, he had developed interests in brands and branding and has begun building a career for himself as a brand strategist. Yet he finds that he is more recognized as a sport’s analyst than a brand strategist. In a sense he has come to occupy a position in the collective consciousness of his audience as an analyst.

Posted on my wardrobe door in my room is a quote by a Peruvian economist, Hernando de Soto. He wrote “It is always easier to remember a difficult concept in one of its tangible forms than in its essence”. This brings two things to mind:

1. 1. It is imperative to articulate the essence of an idea beyond its tangible forms and

2. 2. Most people may find it easier to remember the tangible representations than the essence of an idea.

And so while in branding one works from the brand concept or values (essence) to the brand collaterals (tangible representations), the audience appreciates it from the other way round. it is the same way one appreciates a work of art from the brush strokes to its prevailing mood.

Back to my friend: now he is an energetic chap with a bit of an infectious personality. So how about that for essence. But then like we observed, his audience wont necessarily experience his “energy” without the tangible representations. In this case, his talent as a sport’s analyst. And as such they are more likely to remember this.

So for instance, if he builds his brand on the essence of “energy”, he would have to craft his collaterals in a form his audience would be familiar with and recognize. To fail at this might lead to him confusing his audience and diluting his brand in his bid to extend it.

What I think is, he could grow his interests in sports branding. That would marry sports and branding suitably in the mind of his audience. And then he could extend to branding across other industries while maintaining his position as a sports analyst.

Or what do you think?