It's A Good Thing To Be Called A "Brand Influence"

Trends in our culture are changing at rapid speed and it took me until three weeks ago to take a step back and think, “Who influences these trends?” This semester I am taking a Personal Branding course through the Advertising department in the School of Media and Communication. This course has opened my eyes to the other side of an individual’s or company’s brand; where the brand influence came from. In terms of effecting brands, an influencer is someone who thinks and expresses himself or herself differently. Jay Z to TED Talks are both examples of a “brand influence.” These influencers are who helps create and end trends, as well as assist others in creating their own.

As public relations professionals it is important to identify your personal brand and who influences you. Public relations is a field where you have to be up to date on the latest cultural trends and be confident in what makes you stand out from other practitioners. An individual’s personal brand is what can separate someone from the rest. In class, a personal brand was described as a unique promise of value. Having a stable personal brand with a core group of influencers, can not only be beneficial to one’s personal life, but can positively reflect in their career.

Embracing social media is something public relations professionals must do. Following different blog sites and social media platforms are a great way to start paying attention to brand influencers. Blogs are a way to keep up, city to city, on what the next big trend might be and how it evolved. This will expose you to new ideas and a creative world that can translate through your professional development.

Personal branding in the past has always been presented to me in strictly a professional light. I think it is important to view a brand in a deeper way and analyze how it evolved over time and who influenced it. The video below is a short film about “brand influence.” I encourage you to watch it and get a glimpse of recent influencers and their impact on society. http://www.influencersfilm.com/#/Film 

This guest blog post was written by PRowl staff member Gabrielle Lacherza.