Personal versus Corporate Branding

There are two types of brands: Personal and Corporate. Selecting the right one for your company requires asking some questions, getting objective answers and some future considerations. A Personal Brand is based on a person, just like it sounds. Oprah, Martha Stewart, Tony Robbins, etc. These brands can be applied to any number of products or services that can reasonably be affiliated with the celebrity such as Oprah’s Magazine “O” and Martha Stewart’s many lines of home décor. The brand carries the values, talents and notoriety of the person for whom the brand is named. Corporate Brands are not based on any one person, but rather a concept, idea or industry of focus. Sometimes, the brand name is nonsensical, like Google or Trivago, which makes them catchy, but it costs a lot to advertise and build catchy-ness in a funny word. Corporate Brands are more flexible in that, it matters less who is at the helm of the brand, allowing corporate brands to be bought, sold and expand easily into many industries. Example: Microsoft, Apple, and Starbucks. While the CEOs of these companies can rise to high levels of fame, just like with Personal Brands, that person can also be replaced without the brand completely losing its value. Example: Steve Job’s passing and subsequent appointment of Tim Cook as CEO of Apple. Apple is worth more now than when Steve Jobs was CEO. Are you looking for a corporate branding strategy that could help raise awareness of your company? Businesses from diverse sectors such as hospitality, finance, and even the automotive industry have found that printing their logo onto bottled water can be a simple yet efficient way to promote their products and services in a subtle way. Bottled water can easily be sold or given away for free in hotels, offices, and even at trade shows and exhibitions, so if you are tempted to give branded bottled water a try, head to the Custom Water website for all the information you need to get started.

So… Personal or Corporate? How do you know which one is right for you?

Questions:

1. Will customers buy from anyone selling the products or services you make?
   1. YES: Corpoate
   2. No: Personal
2. Is having you in the sale critical to making the sale happen?
   1. YES: Personal
   2. No: Corporate
3. Is your type of product or service specific to you as a creative, innovator or inventor?
   1. Yes: Personal
   2. No: Corporate
4. If you were taken out of your business for 6-months, would it negatively affect the sales of your company?
   1. Yes: Personal
   2. No: Corporate
5. Do you want to be able to sell your business in the future?
   1. Yes: Corporate
   2. No: Personal

Now that you know what kind of brand you need, the next step is to work with a brand design agency to develop the logo design, messaging, design style, color palette, typography and guildelines that will ensure consistency wherever your brand appears.

For a consultation about your brand design, contact Deal Design.