A brand new world

I had the opportunity to visit my family in Australia recently. The highlight of my trip was in fact connecting again with my eight-month old Aussie granddaughter. And yes I also climbed trees with Kaola’s and hopped with kangaroo’s, indulging in the odd ‘roo burger .... Great country, great people – I always enjoy the splendid times ‘downunder’! And indeed I also managed to engage with corporate Australia, presenting my NeuroSurge wellness, performance and leadership application.

And all too soon it was over and I was winding my way back to Africa on one of those long haul fourteen hour flights. I elected to travel back in ‘cattle-class’ since the South African Rand to the Aussie Dollar is at ten to one and saving a buck or two takes the sting out of things. On finishing my meal on the plane, I elected to watch one movie, pop my sleeping tab and wake up in Johannesburg as fresh as a daisy! No chance of that. On reclining my seat backwards I suddenly encountered frantic protests from the lady sitting behind me, crying out that my seat was crushing her knees! So we entered into high level negotiations about a compromise in my reclining, which would spare her knees and allow me to become a little more horizontal.

Then there was the movie. It’s about a doctor (yes you guessed it, a neurosurgeon – you need one of these in all medical movies to really enhance the effect!) who experiences an encounter with the quantum physics world and evolves mentally and psychically. However in true Hollywood style, he repeatedly returns to his OR where he continues to gaze into the gorgeous blue eyes of his assistant who from time to time performs CPR on him. Wow it’s been a long time since I gazed into the gorgeous eyes of an assistant .... Anyway it’s not recommended viewing.

So I popped my sleeping tab and managed to squeeze out a good two hours of sleep! As you can see, things were not playing out as I expected. In effect therefore I was left to read and cogitate for about nine hours, with one hour used for eating, peeing and walking around the cabin.

As it happens, that cogitation time was very purposeful and had been precipitated by a communication that I had received just prior to boarding. It had to do with this thing called BRANDING. Now I’ve steered clear of this concept, simply because I’m no expert in the field. It has been dealt with and articulated comprehensively on these very hallowed pages by many an erudite individual. Let me therefore just share two common definitions of branding which I would propose are very simple and generic in their wording:

Branding is the process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers' mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.

Branding is all of the ways you establish an image of your company in your customers' eyes.

Now the communication which I received just prior to boarding my plane was a manuscript sent to me confidentially by a senior and highly recognized executive coach. This individual portrays himself as an ‘expert’ in personal branding and re-branding (re-establishing meaning and purpose in people who’ve run aground in an existential career crisis). This individual also subtely wears a ‘neuroscience mantle' as part of his own branding. But this is no neuroscientist. This is a coach who has attained accreditation by doing my NeuroSurge course!! This individual had approached me to review the neuroscience section of his manuscript prior to submission for publication as an authoritative text on branding!

And so, sitting in the departure lounge, I began reading. And suddenly without warning, my pair of amygdalae were instantaneously fired up into near rage. This ‘expert’ had stated in his manuscript, in the ‘neuroscience’ section, that he was currently working with me in researching neuroplasticity. What followed was a description of my neuro attributes. The truth of the matter is that this individual is not engaged in any research with me and nor has he ever been. It was a case of secondarily cloaking himself in the other’s qualifications to support his ‘neuroscience mantle’ as the author of a text on branding!!! Is he so deluded that he believed that on requesting me to review the neuroscience of his manuscript, I would go along with the glaring untruth so as to boost his neuro standing?

And so to the discussion and debate on the subject of branding I share this definition as my contribution:

A brand is the essence of one’s own unique story. This is true for personal branding as it is for business branding. The key, though, is reaching down and pulling out the authentic, unique “you”. Otherwise, your brand will just be a facade. - Paul Biederman

Indeed, the critical element for me in branding, is authenticity. It is the authenticity of the person, of the product and subsequently the authenticity of the engagement.

(Graphic designed by Fabio Sasso at Abduzeedo)