A brand is more than a logo and a corporate color scheme. A brand is a set of values, ideas, experiences – and even a personality.

A brand is all about perception, and as frustrating as it might be, you don’t always have control over how potential clients or the public sees you.  However, with the right focus, strategy and consistency, you can certainly influence how your personal brand is PERCEIVED. Pay attention to what you are putting out there – everything from how you dress, how you communicate, what activities you participate in and who you choose to work and socialize with, contribute to your overall BRAND IMAGE.

Cultivating your brand means investing time, effort and eventually money into determining what you want to communicate and how you want to communicate it. Once you have clarity, content and a plan of action, you will be well-prepared to implement it.

Here are four important steps you must follow when determining your personal brand strategy:

• Determine your BRAND ATTRIBUTES
  (What best describes you)
• Determine your BRAND IDENTITY
  (Visual presentation and style)
• Determine your BRAND DEFINITION
  (Clearly define what you do and how you can help others)
• Determine your BRAND MESSAGE
  (Be CONSISTENT!)

<<<BRAND KING QUESTION>>>

Define your PERSONAL BRAND in 1 sentence.

“With recording revenue plunging, bands must draw fans to their live shows in order to make a living. The common wisdom today dictates that musicians need a personal connection with their fans. They must blog, tweet, maintain their MySpace and Facebook profiles, and generally act like your next door neighbor who’s always pestering you to see his band. There’s a word for receiving “personal” messages from your favorite 100 bands–it’s called “spam.” Eventually, this cloud of self-promotional noise will dissipate, and will be replaced by old-fashioned word of mouth. Only acts that put on a great show–not just singing and playing songs, but entertaining in the old-fashioned sense of the word, with video and stagecraft and humor and spectacle–will cut through the noise. Bonus points for the first act that somehow integrates an audience-accessible game console into their act.”

Here are 10 Predictions (I made 2 years ago when performing research on “Artist Branding” at Georgia Tech) that analysts believe will dictate the FUTURE OF MUSIC:

• Songs instead of albums
• Streams instead of downloads
• In the cloud rather than on hard drives
• Fidelity rather than file size
• Extras become standard
• Production rather than consumption
• Suggestions rather than searches
• Festivals rather than big concerts
• Spectacle rather than personality
• Retro takes on a new meaning

READ 10 music-tech trends that will shape the next decade

<<<BRAND KING QUESTION>>>

What Are YOUR Predictions for The Future of Music?

The Votes are in….Toyota and Lexus take BEST BRANDS!!!

Kelly Blue Book had voted Toyota Best Brand and Lexus Best Luxury Brand based on Re-Sale Value.  Most consumers take a huge hit within the first five years of purchasing a new vehicle.  However, KBB found that the TOYOTA BRAND retains their value for a longer period of time.

Is Japanese QUALITY still KING?

READ 2010 Best Resale Value Awards – Kelley Blue Book.

<<<BRAND KING QUESTION>>>

Tell us your Good, Bad or Ugly story about loosing value after purchasing a car….

If Social Media isn’t on top of your 2010 “To-Do” list – it’s time to make a new list….

Both CORPORATIONS and SMALL BUSINESS have pushed social media to the forefront of their marketing campaigns and made them MUST HAVE tools for 2010.  Consumers are now utilizing LOCATION BASED APPLICATIONS to share information with friends – giving advertisers an opportunity to target them at the RIGHT PLACE and at the RIGHT TIME.

With the emergence of these POWERFUL BRANDING TOOLS, marketing executives have been forced to allocate EXPERIMENTAL BUDGETS to stay ahead of competitors in the Social Networking arena.  These investments are slowly blurring the lines between VIRTUAL and REAL WORLD marketing programs.  Social Media has also created new SALES CHANNELS for businesses to survey their customers and deliver laser-precision PROMOTIONS.

READ 5 Social Media Implications for Brands in 2010.

<<<BRAND KING QUESTION>>>

What is your company’s SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN for 2010? What tools are you using?

IAM BrandKing Blog is owned and operated by iamOne Brand Agency. Our goal is to provide Corporate Marketing Managers, Sports & Entertainment Professionals and SMB Entrepreneurs with a UNIQUE insight on how to BUILD and MANAGE your BRAND.

This Blog provides Information, Tools, Contacts, Links and other Valuable Resources to help capture the Elusive Sale. We are Specialists and Translators – connecting the right People with the right Opportunities.

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The Time Is NOW.

IAM Brand King