By Michael Oriedo
These days, watching TV leaves one with the feeling that marketing and advertising agencies are at war.
Their guns are blazing as they repackage commodities and create memorable catch phrases that urge us to identify with the products.
Expression like, "… Now kills four times faster." Or …brightens and whitens instantly," are all too familiar.
Some of the advertisements we are being bombarded with are of products that have been in the market as long as we remember.
So why the re-branding when the product is part of our lifestyle? Many factors like competition come to play.
Just like goods, human beings are brands that also need to be packaged well for different reasons.
These can be for our careers, our benevolence, our friendliness or our compassion.
On the contrary, it can be our indolence, unreliability, inconsistency or lack of commitment in anything we do.
Building reputation
Over time, these traits shape our lives and give us an identity. They make others appreciate us. They also repel people from us.
For instance in an organisation, everybody would want to associate and give work to a hardworking and meticulous person. Such people are a brand that appeals to others.
On the other hand, people will shun and detest a lazy person like a plague.
Thus, like products, we too need re-branding to make ourselves more compelling, authentic and acceptable to friends, colleagues or employers.
It does not matter whether we have a good or bad reputation. Re-branding gives us a new lease of life. It boasts our image and makes others see us differently.
As the year nears the end, perhaps we can grab this opportunity to drop some bad habits or make new friends as we quest for the best.
And since we do not want to end up with an inferior brand than what we are, this calls for sacrifice and hard decisions.
To start with, we need to find out what people think about us. Re-branding is about us –– the product, and the target audience, for instance, our colleagues.
Packaging ourselves
So knowing how others perceive us is important. We may see ourselves as resourceful yet others think we are busybodies.
The next stage involves isolating negative and positive things in our environment or those we possess that may hinder or help us fruitfully to re-brand.
It may be our humility, our finances, our friends or our fear. Once we are done, we can then progress to the execution part.
This phase needs determination and devotion. Take for instance someone who is an alcoholic and wants to quit the habit as part of re-branding.
They may need to change their company. Yes, it is difficult to dismiss friends we have spent many years with.
In such circumstances our dedication counts. Inform your friends of your wish to change so that your transition is smooth and does not affect them. This will help you to build trust.
Another course we can take to rebrand ourselves is by going back to school.
Adding a feather in our knowledge cap boasts our career growth. It makes us more confident and skilful especially at work places.
But as we re-brand ourselves, it is imperative to uphold the new image.
Once they re-brand a product, marketers do not revert to the old brand. Such a move would make consumers lose confidence and faith in the commodity.
Keeping our promises
Likewise, going back to our old ways would make us look unprincipled and lose the lustre that comes with rebranding.
And while re-branding, we should build on our strengths and make ourselves unique. Do not do it because somebody else is doing, this may turn out a fruitless and frustrating exercise.
It should be genuine and consistent so that the move increases our value –– the way it does to a product.
Take the plunge. Make yourself a better person.
—Mycoriedo@yahoo.com
