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Personality not included
Book

Personality not included

Why Companies Lose Their Authenticity – And How Great Brands Get it Back

Rohit Bhargava
McGraw-Hill, 2008
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Recommendation

Author Rohit Bhargava pushes for companies to use social media and an array of other marketing tools to develop sales-boosting corporate or brand personalities and regain their “authenticity.” He presents a step-by-step plan for creating a distinctive, compelling corporate personality, from friendly employees to a unique brand identity. Some of his case studies of exemplary corporate personalities could be stronger and more unified, but Bhargava is well-informed and encouraging. He splits the book into two sections. The longer first section explains various approaches to distinctive branding. The second outlines 10 marketing tactics, and provides a “guides and tools” implementation appendix for each chapter. getAbstract welcomes this useful battle plan for marketers who want to give their products consumer-friendly personalities – not just for promotion, but for sales appeal.

Summary

Developing a Great Personality

To make your brands well-liked and respected, your company needs to develop its personality. It needs a public face that shows its real values, a persona that marketing can convey in stories that create empathy and move consumers to buy. Developing a brand personality requires paying attention to every detail of marketing, from packaging to product design to customer interactions. Your goal is to create a unique, authentic personality that attracts buzz and spreads easily by word of mouth.

Apple extended its unique brand in 2005 when it launched the iPod shuffle, its smallest iPod. Because the shuffle resembles a stick of chewing gum, Apple put a warning label on U.S. shuffles reading: “Do Not Eat iPod.” In the U.K., the label said, “Do Not Chew iPod.” These labels created a flurry of blog posts and plenty of word-of-mouth buzz that reinforced the quirky personality of the Apple brand. Most companies lack Apple’s flare and insouciance. Corporations are far more likely to be faceless and to elicit no consumer emotions at all. Faceless brands are ordinary, but brands with personality can be loveable and recognizable. Consumers who like ...

About the Author

Rohit Bhargava is senior vice president of Digital Strategy, a marketing consulting company, and a founding member of the 360 Digital Influence group at Ogilvy Public Relations. He writes the Influential Marketing blog.

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