“It’s just a brochure”

Posted on January 22, 2016 by brandaudits

“It’s just a brochure”. “It’s just a website”. “It’s just a sign”.

I hear this over and over again when I conduct a brand audit across a range of organisations and a range of business sectors. It seems that “It’s just….” is the excuse for the production of second rate, off-brand, and non-conforming to style guides materials. I don’t ‘get’ it. Every little thing and every ‘touch point’—from a brochure to a website banner to the signage—an organisation produces is a reflection of their attention to detail and therefore their care for their customers.

Caring enough about their customers to ensure that it is easy to park and find the entrance to the business; caring enough to have websites that are easy to navigate; and caring enough that everything the organisation produces looks and feels the same to help the customers with the decision making process.

Every little thing successful brands do is a reflection of their care and commitment towards their customers. To them “It’s not just a brochure”!

So when I hear “It’s just a brochure…”, I know that I have to take my clients on a ‘field trip’. I take them to the Apple Store and show them how “it’s not just a shop” and “it’s not just a brochure”. I take them to Aesop to show them “It’s not just a bottle of moisturiser with a label stuck on” and “It’s not just a sales receipt”. I take them to Louis Vuitton and I show them “It’s not just a window display” and “It’s not just a staff uniform”.

Every little thing successful brands produces, is a reflection of their care and commitment towards their customers. To them “It’s not just a brochure”!

*Christine Moody is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists and the founder brand management consultancy, Brand Audits. With more than 30 years’ professional experience, Christine has helped a diverse client base of local and international brands, including Gold Coast City Council, Hilton Hotels, and Wrigleys USA, to develop, protect and achieve brand differentiation. Her particular interest is personal brand audits to assist executives realise their full potential.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Grace Coddington: Lessons on building a unique, personal brand

Posted on January 21, 2016 by brandaudits

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

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Grace Coddington, the Creative Director of American Vogue has stepped down from her role and has assumed the role of ‘Creative Director at Large‘, to enable her to take up other projects. Coddington is a great example of someone who has built up a strong, person brand and we have much to learn from her on how to develop an authentic personal brand. There are many lessons to learn—her strength in turning something negative into something positive ie, her need to abandon her modelling car as a result of receiving facial injuries in a car accident but turning her inside knowledge of the fashion industry into a career as a stylist for the most famous fashion publication in the world.

If you watched the documentary, The September Issue, you will understand how Coddington stole the show by simply being herself. The star of this behind-the-scenes documentary on the production of the September issue of American Vogue should have been Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour—well at least judging by the amount of screen time with Wintour. But instead Coddington became the stand out star.

What the documentary revealed was Coddington’s natural, strong-willed personality and willingness to go the extra mile. She became the ‘character’ we fell in love with. We fell in love with Coddington’s passion and love of the fickle, fashion industry; we fell in love with the fact that she did not act like a ‘star’ and just went about her job (even if it meant having robust discussions with the Art Director as to why her pages were cut from the issue); and we fell in love with her down-to-earth, uncomplicated, and authentic style.

Coddington started work at Vogue on the same day as Wintour which explain why she seemed to be the only person who was not afraid of Wintour and the only one who could speak up and defend her ideas during the editorial meetings. She truly seems to live and breathe her job with the results being the beautiful photographs seen on the pages of Vogue each month. In the documentary we also see Coddington at home and she is no different than when working with famous models and photographers. She also treats everyone with respect and seems to be able to get the best out of her team—whether advising them on how to deal with Wintour or just survive the difficult world of fashion.

Coddington had been with Vogue for 30 years and although she worked for a well-known brand, she was able to stand out from her peers by doing the best job she could and reach the high standards of this prestigious publication—no matter if she agreed 100% with the direction or not. She made it work within the budget and timetable worked magic within the constraints she was given.

She always immersed herself in the project at hand and always went the extra mile and looked at every detail to ensure photographs captured the story she was trying to tell Vogue’s readers. She was willing to put her point of view across and work with the best models and photographers to capture the story—compromises in quality was not an option. The entire team seemed to love working with Coddington and each member—including the often hard-to-work-with photographers—were able to understand the story she wanted to tell in the layout. And she did not just direct from the sidelines—she worked alongside her team doing everything from buckling models shoes to adjusting an outfit. No task was too menial and it was all hands on deck to achieve the outcome she envisioned.

What surprises me most about Coddington was the fact that she did not dress like you would expect someone who worked at Vogue to dress—with access to free products and samples. While I expected Dior suits and Prada pumps, Coddingington prefers low-key, comfortable, and mainly black outfits—flat shoes and simple, button-up, ‘house-style’ frocks. This simple colour scheme forms a dramatic backdrop for her stand out trademark and her brand’s calling card—her wild red hair. But it is all of these brand elements that come together to create a person who appears very approachable and professional. She obviously does not feel the need to conform to the ‘fashion rules’ and it was these traits that endears her to the millions who have watched the film and purchased her 2012 book, Grace: A Memoir.

Not knowing Coddington personally but studying her career and following her for many years, here are some lessons on Coddington’s personal brand:

> Create your own—and unique—personal brand under the company brand (working for a company does not stop you from creating your personal brand and persona on social media—as long as it is done in a manner that reflects the organisation’s protocols)

> Be the best you can you in your chosen field and if something derails your career path, pick yourself up and use your unique knowledge you have gained, to take a different path (sometimes this can work out much better than the original plan!)

> Be authentic and develop your own voice while at the same time respecting others opinions (listen to others but be prepared to speak up if you have something important and relevant to say)

> Good work will be recognised and rewarded if you continue to do good work (don’t let others standards pull you down)

> Wear clothing that suits you and your job and don’t conform to what you think others will expect you to wear (choose to keep high dress standards and appropriate to the tasks you have to do each day)

> Be interested in the entire organisation and make friends across each business unit as you need to understand the bigger picture and where you fit in (this helps you identify the next role you might like to apply for and who the key decision makers are).

The key to personal branding is aligning your goals and aspirations with everything you do and say. Find your voice and use it in everything from how you dress to what you say on your Linkedin page. You have a unique voice so use it to stand out and achieve your goals.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

The risks of using your name as the brand name

Posted on January 6, 2016 by brandaudits

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

In the whirlwind and excitement of starting your own business, the founder often resorts to using their own name for the company name and the brand name (I know I did when I started!). While it may be easier to register and trademark your own name, doing this is not without risk. If you want a recent example, there is no need to go any further than Dick Smith.

This week Dick Smith (the company and the brand) went into voluntary administration. Dick Smith (the person) sold Dick Smith (the company and Australia’s oldest electronics retailer) to Woolworths in 1982 for $25 million. According to The Sydney Morning Herald article today, “Woolworths then sold it to Anchorage Capital Partners in a deal worth $115 million in 2011 and then floated it with a market capitalisation of $520 million, less than two years later”. The article goes on to quote Dick Smith (the person), “The company’s eponymous founder, entrepreneur Dick Smith, labelled the float price “clearly ridiculous”. This week Dick Smith (the company) halted trading on the Australian Stock Exchange and the share price nosedived (currently AUD$0.355). This is the risk of selling your name with your company—when things are going well it is not a problem but when you sell the company (and your name) you lose control.

This is only one of the risks when your name is linked to your company name. According to Forbes in the article, ‘How having your name on your business limits your options’, there are three reasons to consider alternative names to your own name.

Three main reasons not to name the company after yourself include:

A burden in negotiations—what happens if future generations do not want to be involved in the business; and also might become a burden as the family does not want to sell something with you name on it
An inetricable link to your products—when you name becomes linked to the company that you sell, you can no longer use your own name for future products
Your reputation on the line—especially when the company is public and the company fails—your name is always linked to that company.

When naming your start up or new company, it is best to start with the end in mind and think about the risks from the very beginning rather than during its sale or takeover.

And to end on a positive note, it is also worth saying that there are many successful companies named after their founders—for example, Tata Group, Cadbury, Colgate-Palmolive et al. The main thing to remember is that if you use your name for the name of your company/your brand, and the reputation of that company has been damaged, it is harder to build your reputation back up if your name (the person) has been destroyed by your name (the company/the brand).

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Personal Branding: Finding hidden gems

Posted on December 9, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

Your personal brand is like a gemstone—each one is unique—but you have to find them first!

I am undertaking a small research project titled: “Women Leaders and their Personal Brand”. The 10-question survey included questions on what women leaders understood their personal branding was and how they align it to their career goals and aspirations. I deliberately kept the survey participant numbers low to enable me to ‘tweak’ and change some of the questions as I want to develop a much larger research project on the subject. The outcome is to understand how many women understand the notion of ‘personal brand’ but also to understand how important it is in their career development. The focus is on the visual aspect of the personal brand and how they identify their ‘hidden gems’ that make them unique and leverage this to stand out. While the survey close date is still a few days off, I thought it was worth sharing some findings to date as the data collected so far has been insightful.

Some of the emerging themes are:

Many participants see ‘personal brand’ as the way they present themselves to others or the quality of their work as judged by their peers and their bosses
They see the elements of a personal brand linked to their social media ie, LinkedIn headshot
Many see difficulty in creating a personal brand within the corporate context of their employer’s brand
Every respondent—without exception—saw their personal brand important part of their career advancement
Women leaders and role models the respondents admired are a very diverse group of women—including Ellen DeGeneres, Tara Moss, Julie Bishop, and Sheryl Sandberg
Personal branding was important at all stages of their career development.

One of the most interesting and insightful comments from the research I’d like to share with you was a response to the question, ‘Is there anything you would like to add to the conversation about personal brand?’:

“…if you can find a way to demonstrate that it’s not about self-promotion, and that it’s important for women to undertake this activity, so they can ensure their paths are where they want to go, and for whom they want to support. We have to start thinking about ourselves as inspirational to others, only then will most of us be able to not think about this as self-promotion, but think of it as self-preservation.”

This is the where one of the problems lie in how women present their personal brands. How do women become visible without it being seen an act of self-promotion—and is there anything wrong with being proactive getting your story out there? How do women have a voice without being seen as too ‘loud’ and therefore not listened to? How do women make sure that the work they do is recognised by their peers, their bosses, and their clients? How do we remain true to ourselves but make sure we get heard?

Let me know your thoughts or experiences on this. I expect to have more findings in the next couple of weeks.

Other blogs on this topic can be found on Linkedin.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Want to be Innovative? Hire a Designer!

Posted on December 8, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

With the announcement this week by Australia’s Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, on the government’s $1 billion innovation and science package has not only started the public discussion about the details of the package—especially the amount of money and where it is going to be spent—it has also started the discussion on ‘Innovation’.

Listening to one of the radio station’s talk back session today, reminded me of the fact that many people think innovation is about the next app or the next online offering. In fact innovation is quite simple and many Australian companies are constantly reinventing themselves, their products and services, and their business models every day. Successful companies build it into their organisation’s strategy. Successful companies know that you have to innovate to survive.

Successful companies know that you have to innovate to survive.

Successful companies also employ Designers and Design Specialists as part of their teams. In fact, they believe that innovation is only possible with a diverse team that includes those from business, technology, and design backgrounds. It is the combination of all three where the ‘magic’ of innovation happens. But we only really hear about the business and technology side of things—not about the Design aspect. Designers are an underutilised resource in the innovation space and the smart organisations will be the ones who start employing them to help their organisations create an innovative strategy. There are hundreds of Designers out there—especially being graduation week this week.

In fact yesterday I graduated with nearly 300 other Designers (my degree was Master of Design—Research). These newly-minted Designers represented graduates from all design disciplines including visual, interactive, fashion, architecture , interiors et al. These are the disciplines that make up the Creative Industries at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) which is now one of the most popular faculties within the university. And most students are combining their Creative Industries Degree with a Business Degree. These students are smart, articulate, and ready to go.

Designers think differently and can take complex problems, immerse themselves in it, and solve them in a way that business and technology students cannot. Designers simply see things differently and use visual language to solve the problem—vs a multi-page written report. They are often the ones that don’t settle for solutions that are just ‘okay’ and instead they only settle when they know it is time to settle on the solution—it is their gut feeling and the tingling sensation they feel when they know it is right—ask a Designer and they will tell you!

Designers simply see things differently

Study and research the successful and innovative companies—like I did for the last six years—and you will see what makes up the teams within these organisations such as BMW, P&G, and Apple et al. This is where the innovation happens and this is the time to ensure you have Designers as part of your team. Look out for them, you will find them everywhere if you care to look!

*Christine Moody is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists and the founder brand management consultancy, Brand Audits. With more than 30 years’ professional experience, Christine has helped a diverse client base of local and international brands, including Gold Coast City Council, Hilton Hotels, and Wrigleys USA, to develop, protect and achieve brand differentiation. Her particular interest is personal brand audits to assist executives realise their full potential.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Developing your brand as a Non-Executive Director

Posted on November 26, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

Branding is no longer the domain of companies. Successful executives and entrepreneurs are realising the need to cultivate and manage their personal brands to maximise and increase their business opportunities. Whether you like it or not, each and every one of us has a personal brand. This ‘Brand You’ can be managed in the same way corporate brands are managed—with authenticity, with your unique story, and by highlighting your unique skills.

How you manage your personal brand is particularly relevant to to those of us who wish to pursue a non-executive director roles on boards. Obviously the pre-requisites for board’s consideration are assumed—meeting the selection criteria in the position description for the role—but how do you create a personal brand that ensures that you stand out for consideration for board roles?

According to the Australian Institute of Company Directors, “The board is responsible for ensuring that it has represented on it the skills, knowledge and experience needed to effectively steer the company forward. Directors will be appointed to the board because their specific skills, knowledge and experience will fill particular gaps on the board. It is important to acknowledge that not all directors will possess each necessary skill but the board as a whole must possess them.”

Why a differentiated personal brand important?

Apple is an example of a great brand. Apple—the corporate brand—encompasses every detail or ‘touch point’ that comes in contact with the customer eg, Apple has beautifully designed, customer-centric products presented in purpose-designed packaging and contained in an innovative carry bag. The Apple website is easy to navigate and both the layout and the language align with the Apple ethos of simplicity and creativity.

So, taking the Apple example, we can apply this to understanding the power of great personal brands. When thinking of great personal brands we think of Barack Obama and his ‘presence’ at G20 Brisbane last year—particularly his speech at The University of Queensland—and his brand style eg, the way he walks confidently down the red carpet at events. We can think of Australia’s Gail Kelly (formerly CEO, Westpac Group) and how she presents at corporate events including the tone of her voice, her corporate wardrobe, and the quality of her presentations.

The personal brands of these high-profile leaders are deliberately and purposefully designed to create a brand that is unique, authentic, and at the same time being in line and ‘on brand’ with the organisations they represent. Every single detail is considered and aligned with their desired personal brand.

Personal branding has become even more important with the growth in the use of social media.

Personal branding has become even more important with the growth in the use of social media. Personal branding has become even more important with the growth in the use of social media. Social media is personal by the very nature of the medium—Resume, LinkedIn, Facebook (personal and professional) et al. So these days, everyone has a personal brand and everyone needs to be in control of the management of their brand. It is important to ensure your personal brand message is consistent across each and every 『touch point’. Key to creating a differentiated and consistent personal brand is about delivering the entire brand package so you can carve out a niche and stand out from the crowd in an ever-increasing and competitive professional arena.

Where do you start with your personal brand audit?

If you are serious about board roles you have to be strategic. Firstly you need to audit your personal brand to find out your strengths and how these will fill the gaps on particular boards. Finding and highlighting your unique skills and experience will enable you to target potential board roles. Similar to a corporate brand, you need to find your own personal point of difference and promote this point of difference in everything you say and do. The outcome of your personal brand audit is to translate your brand’s point of difference across all your ‘touch points’—those points in which you present yourself e.g., your business card, linkedin profile, and other social media platforms.

The starting point of the personal brand audit is to ask yourself a series of questions to reveal your point of difference. The idea is to peel back the layers to reveal your unique qualities and then to highlight these to organisations whose boards need your skills the most.

The questions cover four main areas—including your competitive advantage; demonstrating your value; your specialist skills; and what boards would require your skills? The audit questions include:

> what are my unique and specialised skills that I can bring to boards?

> what organisations have boards that would require my particular specialist skills?

> who do I know that has similar skills to mine who are currently on boards that I can talk to?

Once you have completed the questionnaire, you need to apply the finding to your ‘touch points’. Your personal brand includes your qualifications, your work experience, and your career success but also includes the visual aspects of your brand—your personal brand identity. This includes the way you dress and your behaviour and also the 『touch points’ of your brand identity—eg, the layout and quality of your business card and resume. No detail is too small to consider—eg, the style and quality of your photograph on your LinkedIn account.

The systematic approach includes the creation of your personal ‘mood board’—how you see yourself and how this aligns with your current and future brand initiatives. This outcome of this process is to create an authentic visual brand identity that aligns with your targeted industry sector and your skills. This process is time consuming but it is worth the focus and the time. You need to take control of your personal brand and differentiate yourself to stand out. Personal branding is a powerful tool in your professional toolkit.

This article originally appeared 24 November 2015 Directors’ Australia Blog.

*Christine Moody is one of Australia’s leading brand strategists and the founder brand management consultancy, Brand Audits. With more than 30 years’ professional experience, Christine has helped a diverse client base of local and international brands, including Gold Coast City Council, Hilton Hotels, and Wrigleys USA, to develop, protect and achieve brand differentiation. Her particular interest is personal brand audits to assist executives realise their full potential.

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

How a little black wrap dress saved my sanity

Posted on November 2, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

I have always been a self-starter, what people now call an entrepreneur. I was running my own businesses before I even graduated from university. Still, I remember being very nervous about launching my first ‘real’ company the year after I graduated.

My father asked me, “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” When I shrugged my shoulders he answered, “You fail and have to go and work for someone, but think of all the experience you will have!”

That was the start of my journey into the business world.

Over thirty years later, and I am still working away on different and varied projects.

Being an entrepreneur makes life very interesting. Over the years, I have been involved in many varied businesses. I love the thrill the start up and seeing the vision come to life. It’s sort of like having a lab where you can play away without having to answer to anyone!

A couple of years ago, I launched a fashion start up “The Wrap Dress” to distract me during a very stressful time. I wanted to see how far the idea of the wrap dresses could go as a business and in doing so, saved my sanity.

The concept for the start up grew from a corporate sewing group affectionately known as ‘Stitch ’n’ Bitch’! I made my first Wrap Dress in the group as a versatile staple that I could dress up or down for any occasion. I wanted a dress that could get me out the door faster, and still look and feel as fresh and crisp at the end of the day as I did at the start—something that would have me looking and feeling good, wherever my day took me.

I chose the Wrap Dress style for its simplicity and versatility, and something that would perfectly suit the busy, outgoing women in our group. I also chose a stretch fabric that I later discovered was typically used in swimwear.

It turned out that the dress perfectly suited the everyday/everywhere/everybody style of garment. I kept refining the design and make, ending up with a beautiful, comfortable, durable, versatile Wrap Dress. Then a friend wanted one. Then another. Then friends of friends, then people I’d never met. I was wrapped in a great idea and felt it had the potential as a business.

Launching the start up gave me a great opportunity to explore the design and manufacturing processes as well as work collaboratively with textile fabric suppliers, pattern makers, sewers, and logistics. All fields that I knew nothing about. Due to my naivety in the field, I had to ask so many questions and people were so willing to help me and to guide me in the right direction!

While completing my Masters Research thesis last year meant putting the dresses aside for a few months, I am once again onto ‘Project: The Wrap Dress’. I want to see how far I can push this business and to see how much I can learn along the way.

How you can apply innovation to your organisation

When I was at D.School (Stanford University), I spoke to Claudia Kotchka about her time as VP at Procter & Gamble (P&G). I wanted to know how she was able to focus such a large organisation, with thousands of products and thousands of employees, on innovation. Claudia told me, “One product at a time.”

Claudia didn’t try and change everything at P&G at once. Instead, she started slowly and built the organisation’s confidence in innovation. There were several reasons why Claudia was so successful:

> Claudia had direct access to the Executive Chairman and Board

> She created a non-competing innovation group that included other innovative organisations such as 3M

> She started with a product team that understood that they had to change how things were done

> Case studies were presented to the organisation so they could see what the potential for the future.

From my experience, innovation is not a one-off thing, it is a way of thinking and a way of ensuring that your organisation is constantly evolving and innovating. Sometimes things don’t work out, but the ‘learnings’ can be brought to the next project.

What innovative project are going to start working on today?

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Also see TheWrapDress.com.au

Brand Lessons from the Rugby World Cup Final

Posted on November 1, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

My husband was horrified when I told him I was going to write about the Rugby! It’s not because everyone is probably over the commentary on the Rugby World Cup 2015 by now, but it was more to do with the fact that he knows that I am just not ‘into Rugby’. But I am ‘into Brand’ and I am ‘into’ observing and linking so much of what happens on the field (sport) to off the field (business). So my comments on the Rugby game on Saturday (Sunday morning Australian time) are purely from the ‘Brand’ perspective you understand and will leave the technical stuff to those far more qualified. Read ABC News here.

Sporting finals at this level involving Australians, often happen on the other side of the world, which means that we have to set our alarms for 1:30am so we can slide from our beds to the couch in time to cheer on our country’s team. While I was sitting watching the game in the pre-dawn darkness, I observed so many examples of things that happened during the match that are great examples for your team and therefore your brand. And these lessons came from both teams—the victorious All Blacks and the runners-up Wallabies.

I observed so many examples of things that happened during the match that are great examples for your team and therefore your brand

Here are my observations:

> Both teams played their style of Rugby, they played as a team, and stuck together as a team—for example, after each point scored or change of player, the Wallabies’ captain Stephan Moore, rallied the team and lead from the front.

> They kept on going no matter what the other team threw at them—the Wallabies must have felt deflated by the All Blacks scoring the first few points and it looked like they were just going to walk away with the Trophy but the Wallabies pulled themselves up and threw everything at the game and got closer to the All Blacks. Most importantly, the played good rugby to right up to the final, full-time whistle.

> When times got tough, they dug deeper—for example, the Wallabies Coach and Captain talked pre-game about “doing the small things well is what makes the difference”. We sometimes forget that when developing our brand that building a great brand is a long and slow process and it is all about doing the small things well every day and at every opportunity.

> They demonstrated sportsmanship on and off the field—for example, Sonny Bill Williams giving his medal to the young spectator during the All Blacks lap of honour. To that All Blacks player, the tackling of that young boy was unsportsman-like so rather than have a word to the security guy, Sonny demonstrated leadership by taking the boy under his wing and walking him back to the stands and handed over his gold medal! Now that is what leaders do—live your brand’s values by demonstrating them! Read story here.

> The Australian Coach never gave up the dream of the Wallabies winning—even when the score for the All Blacks was growing and the clock was ticking on to full time—he never gave up hope of a win for his team. This I believe is the biggest brand lesson of them all—whether you are a start up or a mature company there is always opportunities to fail and learn great lessons along the way but you must never give up! Read story here.

So go the Wallabies! See you in the finals in Rugby World Cup 2019! For some fantastic on-field Rugby and some great off-field brand lessons!

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

Brand lessons are around every corner

Posted on October 27, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

For those who read my blogs regularly know that I am always on the look out for examples of great brands. By great brands I mean those who align their purpose (the ‘why’) with their brand’s touch points.

A brand’s touch points include online (website and social media etc) and offline (bricks-and-mortar stores and packaging etc) and everything else in between ie, how your staff answer the phone and greet the customers. We recognise many global examples when we think of great brands—think Apple—but great examples are often just around the corner. Examples of great brands can be the local deli or bakery and lessons can be learned from these businesses just as much as visiting the Apple flagship store on Fifth Avenue New York.

Examples of great brands are often just around the corner!

Next time you sit down for your flat white, open your eyes and open your ears and take note of:

> How were you greeted when you arrived?

> How are the products displayed?

> How quickly were you served?

> How clean were the surroundings and the tables?

> What sort of background music is playing?

> What smells are coming from the kitchen?

> What newspapers and magazines are there to read while you have your coffee?

> How are the staff dressed?

> How was your coffee and food presented?

> How clean is the establishment overall?

Every little one of these details is important as each other and until you recognise what makes a great brand, you cannot recognise it in your own!

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.

The Importance of Personal Branding

Posted on October 14, 2015 by brandaudits

Brand + Business x Christine Moody*

A couple of weeks ago I spoke to students in QUT’s Dean’s Scholars Program about ‘The Importance of Personal Branding’. The students are participating in this leadership development program are all outstanding students in the Science and Engineering Faculty and have been identified as future leaders. But these days, intelligience is not enough—you have to be able to stand out from your very smart peers. I spoke to the students about ensuring they develop their profiles while still at university—using LinkedIn et al—and joining professional organisations while they are still students to learn how to network.

…intelligience is not enough—you have to be able to stand out from your very smart peers.

I took them through the process I use for auditing both corporate and personal brands. In the case of these students, the starting point is a ‘personal brand audit’ to evaluate and benchmark their current ‘brand’ and overlaying this with their career aspirations. Next I walked them through the process to identify the gaps and prepare a matrix to fill these gaps. These students will graduate the right ’tools’ in their professional toolkits—a degree and a personal ‘brand’. They will graduate well-prepared for whatever lies ahead!

For more information: chris.moody@brandaudits.com.au or +61 419 888 468.