What's there in a Brand

This was the first time I picked up a different magazine other than my routine Business Today and Business World. The magazine in question is Money Today(December 28,2006 edition).

After going through the Table Of Contents, I found the magazine very interesting. There were many articles worth reading and one article which caught my eye was on Page 78("What's in a Brand" under "Career as Asset" column).

In our day to day life, we come across who are better than us (either technically/non technically/some other way).But every such person is not a Brand and this is what this article deals about. How can a person create a brand name for himself/herself or is every person a brand in himself/herself.
To get an answer to all these questions read the excerpts of the article from Money Today.

UNDERSTAND YOUR GOALS
First, you must visit your strategic career plan. Understanding your career plans will help you develop your strengths, talent and focus on opportunities that wil take you towards your career goal.

Your job designation is not your brand. Look beyond the fancy title that describes your profile in the organization. What is it that you want to accomplish? What impact do you want to have on others? Components to consider for your personal brand include: your leadership abilities; strengths; achievements; your personality traits; and your distinction qualities.Do some outside the box thinking to create a brand that doesn’t mirror anyone else's.

CREATE YOUR USP
Tackle a situation as a specialist would do and voila you have created an identity that is different from your colleagues. Narrow your focus at work. You cannot be good with people, good with customer service, good with presentations and simultaneously good at tackling a crisis.

In other words, good is everything. Aspire to become a specialist in what you do which would lead to an increase in your worth. Package yourself well. Every brand needs packaging and if you get your image right, everything else will follow.
As you revisit your goal, you can focus on the niche areas that are crucial for your career growth thus helping you create your USP.

MAKE YOUR BRAND
Promote your strengths to get value out of your brand. One way to push yourself is to create a website, which provides resources about your subjects of interest.
Robert Scoble, the author of Scobelizer, the 23rd most highly read blog in the world according to technorati, is a case in point. As a sales support manager for NEC Mobile Solutions, his job was to answer phone calls and emails with support requests. He started using blogs to provide tech support. His blog got noticed by Microsoft's Vic Gundotra and Scoble was offered a job. He joined Microsoft in 2003, where he produced videos that showcased employees and products of the software giant.

So he tried to be different from others and that is how he tried to make a brand for himself.

DEVELOP A PORTFOLIO
Effective brand portfolio management starts by creating a fact base about the equity in each brand and the brand's economic contribution.
Also, plan upgrading your skills, acquiring new degrees or taking up new specialization courses. Since, brands are intangible assets that can be leveraged to build value, do take the time to develop and customize your portfolio according to the new assignment.

EVALUATE AND EVOLVE
To be able to aware of the developments taking place in your career field and being open to changes enhances your brand equity.
Mohandas Pai (the ex CFO and now the Head-HR of Infosys) reinforces the fact that a brand is built on fundamental sustained behaviour.Since you are the brand; you have to lead by example. While staying focused should be your core strength, don’t remain transfixed to one idea only. Never lost sight of what makes your talent special, promote your strengths and grow a brand that builds on them.
As you move up the corporate ladder, you can evolve your USP further to include more skills.Since,brand building is all about creating a positive image about a product, in the same manner, your personal brand will present you as an employee who is an asset to the organization.

FINAL VERDICT

It's this BRAND factor that would give the edge over the other's.