Personal versus corporate brands

I read a thought-provoking article by Jeremiah Owyang today titled “How Companies Respond to the Risks of Personal Brands.”

I recommend reading his thoughts and the comments posted on his blog on this topic.

It’s inevitable in this time — when corporations are forced to cut their workforce to stay profitable, and when individuals are seeking the best employment opportunities — that those individuals will have their own unique brand.

Traditionally this brand extended to those who interacted with and knew the individual. It was more of an industry and/or geographic awareness of the person.

Today, with social media tools, the individual has at his or her fingertips everything large corporations have typically paid for, which when you boil it down is publicity.

An individual can build a brand using social media in the same way corporations have built brands using advertising, marketing and public relations skill sets.

It will be an interesting challenge for companies to manage employees and their individual reputations so as not to have the employee’s brand outshine the company’s.

I suspect we’ll see almost as many approaches to this dilemma as there are companies.