Personal brands are wild. They can help you thrive in all aspects of life. Ra's al Ghul, the very man who branded Batman, said it best, "Your training is nothing. The will is everything. If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote your life to becoming fully branded, you become something else entirely." I want you to think about the most branded person you know right now. Got it? Now, forget who you were thinking about and listen to me, Robesman, the guy paid to write this article on personal branding. The most branded person you know is your dad. Historically, dads have been the most branded people to ever exist for a multitude of reasons.
First, they have to raise and support your dumb ass, which makes them busy as fuck. Busy people must be decisive. Just look at billionaire playboy Steve Jobs who was too busy counting money to change out of that black mock turtle. Busy people no longer have time for things like alphets or footwear variety. They don't waste time deciding what to order for lunch. They already know what they want. A dad's brain is (hopefully) fully focused on making money and caring for his loved ones. This hyper focus allows his brand to naturally develop and flourish.
Second, dads are older than you. They are set in their ways. Their very habits are branded. Time is moving relatively faster for people older than you, allowing them to scoff at fleeting trends with ease. My dad is 2,000 miles away right now, but I guarantee he is wearing Gap khakis shorts, a brown leather belt, a tucked in Brooks Brothers polo and penny loafers. He has been rocking a signature mustache and glasses for 35 years straight.
Third, dads imprint their brand on you when your brain is literal mush. Mad Men taught me that advertisers are always trying to capture the youth market in order to gain customers for life. Also, have you ever thought about how bad Don Draper's breath must have been? All homie does is nap, booze, whore and smoke. Regardless, dads, provided they don't bounce on you (smfh), capture your market when you are zero years old. The old man's signature catch phrases, patented moves in restaurants, signature scents and specific looks are all fully manifested before you even exist.
In 2014, when we think of personal brands, we instantly think of how someone is portrayed online and specifically on social media, but I'd argue that there is much to be learned from the real world branding of dads. What if I deleted your Twitter or Instagram right now (I'm laced)? Would your personal brand still exist? See, that's why I'm here. I want to help you expand your mind and strengthen your brand.
Let me start by telling you my story aka furthering my own personal brand because I am selfish. I work in music full-time. Time and time again, I've watched talented, developing artists make great music and then expect a record label to do the rest of the work to get them heard. When the label comes up short, it becomes frustrating trying to focus the artist's attention on building their brand because they either don't want to do the work or don;t understand that a powerful brand commands an audience. So, on January 1, 2013, I decided to take Ra's al Ghul's advice and completely turn myself in to a brand as a social experiment/way to connect with my artists/attempt to live forever.
Full disclosure, my brand isn't that tight. I have made many a missteps on the way. I also have very little discernible talent. But it's gotten me here, so I want to impart some lessons I've learned and examples of branding techniques that definitely work:
1. Analyze Your Strengths, Realize You Suck
There are 7 billion people in the world, all pretty much the same. You are not a unique and beautiful snowflake. No one outside your immediate family really gives a shit about you. You will probably die alone. God isn't real. This article got dark very fast lmao. These facts shouldn't sadden you, though. No, they should free you to go out and try things and make mistakes knowing no one is really watching you that closely. Like me, you probably aren't that talented because a super talented person wouldn't be reading this article if we're being completely honest. But maybe there is one thing you do well. Focus on that. Twitter was born in 2006 and Kim Kardashian's sex tape came out in 2007. It is way too late to get famous off a sex tape so don't tell me that having sex on camera is your strength. If you really believe this to be true, hit me with a link and I'll be the judge.
2. Don't Fake It, Or Do Fake It
Don't buy followers on social media. Or do. Brands have come up both ways. If you fake it, you can probably fool some naive people in to thinking your brand is popping, but you risk alienating a number of savvy brand connoisseurs. Plenty of brands have come up on "acting as if"/faking it 'til they make it, but a problem arises when a brand starts to get high off its own supply. Don't buy into your own hype. The reality of faking it vs. not sort of lies in a grey area. You know Drake exaggerated things, but now he got it like that. Artists will sell 3/4 of an arena then paper the rest to make the show look sold out. Hypebeast brands will falsely limit their supply to increase demand. Apple made me wait in a line to get my iPhone 6+.
3. Vision Boards???
My homegirl who works at Alexander Wang is always talking about fucking vision boards. She literally made a vision board for Coachella. But, Alexander Wang is worth, like, hella money. You do the math. Print out anything you've ever commented with "#goals" on social media and put that on your vision board. #Goals are stepping stones to your final destination, your vision.
4. Don't Over Promote, Don't Under Promote
Promotion is a tricky beast. Too much promotion and people tune out. Too little promotion and no one had any idea your new mixtape just dropped on Datpiff. Get creative with promotion. Repetition is crucial to building your brand, but you must be creative in your delivery.
5. Collaborate And Give Back
Going back to the fact that you probably aren't that good, collaborate with people better than you. Record labels are vertically integrated for a reason. They leverage their larger artists to help the smaller ones. Reach out, be nice, expect to hear "no" a lot and keep trying anyway. What you give and provide is way more important than what you get. Whether you're trying to make music, make people laugh, design clothes, create art or just become a better person, you should be focused on what you can give.
Follow these simple steps and you'll be trapping out the personal brando in no time. Or don't. Again, no one cares either way.
Robesman is a brand living in Los Angeles. He apologizes if this article made you miss your dad. You can follow him on Twitter here.
