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Look after your personal brand

September, 2022

  
These days your personal brand can be just as important as an organisation’s, according to Rachel Knight, Director at Tunbridge Wells-based PR, marketing and public affairs agency Maxim.    

As I write this, Liz Truss has just been officially appointed as the new Prime Minister [Edit: didn't think this would date so quickly!] and is busy trying to make a good impression in her first week in a new job – something I’m sure we can all relate to. 

For the last few days, social media channels have been awash with content relating to the leadership contest, analysing everything the final two candidates have said and done, and even what they were wearing. I’ve read entire articles about Truss’s navy blue dress and seen many clips of her exclaiming ‘pork markets’ to a confused audience, and then getting lost when she left the stage. It’s not a great look for the new PM but when so much of your life is photographed and recorded, there are bound to be some unflattering clips out there.

Picture by Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street.

These days your personal brand can be just as important as an organisation’s, whether you’re a national figure or simply a business person trying to get on with an everyday job. Most of us don’t have to put up with the same personal scrutiny as politicians, but that’s nothing new. When I was young Spitting Image was incredibly popular – in fact, the rubber-faced puppets taught me the basics of politics, as well as satire. 

Just a few hours after Rishi Sunak discovered he would not be the new PM, a recruitment company had splashed his face across mobile billboards in London with the caption ‘Didn't get the job? Find one that works for you’. I saw a mixed response online with a lot of people finding it very funny but a few saying it was too soon, and it wasn’t fair to him.

My view is that if you’re in politics, you should expect a certain amount of criticism and that may extend to a little ridicule. It wasn’t a personal attack as such, and the recruitment company took quick action to gain widespread exposure for their brand. 

In the week following the Lionesses’ historic win at Wembley, ITV News Meridian interviewed me about Maidstone-born Alessia Russo’s personal brand. I’m sure it will be the first and last time I’ll ever be asked to comment on a story relating to football but I did get quite into the Women’s Euros. 

A few weeks beforehand I’d never heard of Alessia Russo but after winning the Goal of the Tournament for her backheel shot, her name was on the tip of everyone’s tongues. I’m sure she – along with the rest of the team – was offered all kinds of opportunities but I like the fact they haven’t been overexposed since winning the championship. They’ve done so much for women’s football but I hope they’re being well-advised on which sponsorship opportunities to take advantage of and which brands to align themselves with. 

A screenshot from my interview with ITV News Meridian - with some not so subtle messages about what we do in the background.

There are plenty of would-be influencers around who would love to have the world’s eyes on them but fortunately, it’s something most of us don’t need to worry about. That’s not to say you should always ‘act like nobody’s watching’ as most business people will have clients and colleagues to consider. 

I think it’s important to have a personality both on and offline, and I can’t help a little of mine creeping into the company brand. That said, I’m relatively careful about how I conduct myself, even on personal accounts, as I know I can be easily linked to Maxim. I also know my parents may well be reading, which is always a reason to be on best behaviour. 

This article originally appeared in Kent Director in October 2022.

Rachel Knight - Director

Rachel Knight

Maxim / Director

posted in: media relations, reputation management,

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