Reading branding yourself

Reading branding yourself

Branding yourself

You know what advertising is, right? Paying to communicate a message, especially to sell something, with text and/or images. For instance, a brand logo in an arena or on a sport team's shirts, an image paid for by Amnesty International, a giant poster in a field beside the highway, or a jingle on the radio are all examples of advertisements. Advertising can appear in various media: newspapers and magazines, radio and television, and on the Internet.

Before the late nineteenth century, advertising mainly involved flyers and newspaper inserts, largely in text, calling attention to products, sometimes with product endorsements from members of the upper class. Beginning in the 1870s, not only did advertising begin to use more emotion-laden terms, but it also employed more visual imagery. Newspapers and magazines became filled with more advertising around 1900 as part of the conversion to a true mass press. Soon, radio and other outlets provided new means of advertising, as well. Early techniques started to spread globally.

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As they were in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, newspapers and magazines remain a crucial component of advertising, targeting consumers in various markets. However, changing technologies and modes of transportation continue to allow advertisements new outlets: billboards and bumper stickers, posters on subways, and animated advertisements that are geared specifically toward Internet users.

Brand names continue to thrive as the key way to differentiate between sometimes indistinguishable products. No sooner does a popular brand-name product come out with a high-profile product than it moves to capture the market. Like clothing, few are the products that lack a brand name or logo prominently emblazoned upon them. Advertisers also have capitalized on the integrity of word-of-mouth endorsements from friends by using "viral marketing," an approach that compensates otherwise ordinary consumers for promoting brands via conversations, clothing, or other signals.

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Advertising expenditures constitute a significant component of the cost of branded products, and advertising now pervades (and to varying degrees, defines popular culture. So pervasive is advertising that authors, artists, and advocacy groups have considered the potentially damaging impact of advertising on quality of life and on children. Seldom do these critics examine the ways they, too, use advertising to promote their own causes.

Today's artists and wannabe entrepreneurs may not be able to afford to pay for advertising in the classic sense. However, the changing landscape of communication and technology means that they may be able to do some of their own strategic marketing. As an entrepreneur with a fledgling company, one of your main products is yourself. Never in recent memory have there been so many start-up companies or people going out on their own. Fortunately, the Internet and social media allow you to attract the attention of potential investors and customers with minimal expense and manageable effort.

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So, how can you create a favorable impression? Start by building your personal brand through your online presence. Use social media to network. Produce a blog with content to attract attention in much the same way companies sponsored programs in the early days of television. When you build an audience for your content, they may buy your product or service. In addition, you are making important contacts and building your reputation. Increasing your visibility while demonstrating value without being too boastful can be a challenge, but a low-key approach at the beginning may help. If you also promote others in your social network, they will be more likely to help you. Creating an extensive supportive network will allow you to maximize the effectiveness of your message.

Multiple Choice

In the nineteenth century, advertising was mostly on newspapers and magazines

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

With changes in transportation, new forms of advertising, including bumper stickers and subway posters, appeared

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

One way to tell similar products apart is through the use of brand names

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Strategic marketing compensates ordinary consumers for promoting products by word of mouth

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

If you want to start your own business, you should build your personal brand through an online presence

• True

• False