Get a Brand Over – Part 1
We were pleased to have John Tantillo, The Marketing Doctor, as our guest on The Bigg Success Show today. John has over twenty years experience in the marketing industry and is the President of Marketing Department of America. He’s also a behavioral research psychologist who you may have seen on Fox News, Fox Business News or heard on a radio station somewhere around the country. Let’s get to the conversation …
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John, your mantra is “Go Brand Yourself” using the principles that companies use to create your personal brand. So many people today are trying to do that. What are some of the tips you give them?
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First and foremost, you have to be yourself. I just dislike this concept of a makeover. I believe in brand-overs. With a makeover, you conform yourself to what others think you should be. A brand-over is finding out who you are, what your strengths are, and then promoting the heck out of that. Go brand yourself! That’s really the secret. I guess that’s the psychologist in me.
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When you were talking about that, I immediately started thinking about Susan Boyle. She’s had a huge makeover. What do you think about that?
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It’s obvious that it was a makeover and not a brand-over. All the handlers were telling her to do this and do that. That’s the worst case scenario. I’ll give you a good example of this. When I first went on Neil Cavuto’s show about two years ago, the geniuses were telling me that I couldn’t wear a bow tie. You can’t wear a hat. You have to make a decision between wearing a bow tie and a hat. I looked at them and said, “You’re crazy. You’re all nuts. That’s my signature, That’s my brand! Those are my brand characteristics.” So fast forward two years to a week ago, I met Neil Cavuto in the hall. He said, “We have to get you back on the show.” I said, “Sure, Neil, anything you say.” Here’s the point: I get back to my office and I get a call from The Strategy Room where I appear regularly at Fox. They were telling me that people from Neil Cavuto’s show had called wanting to know about the guy who wears the bow tie and the hat! But that’s me. Now if somebody would suggest to you, George, that you wear a bow tie and a hat, you might not feel comfortable. That would be a makeover. It wouldn’t be sincere. Figure out what you want to communicate and then promote the heck out of it.
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Come to think of it, John, I could use a complete brand-over! So how do you find your brand?
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If you wanted to do what I call a brand-over, George, you would ask Mary-Lynn, “What do you think my brand is? What are my positive attributes?” Then you go to the next ring – your friends. You ask them what they think your brand is. The last group is your colleagues. Based on that data, you begin to shape your brand. Is there any discrepancy between the brand others see you as and the brand you see yourself as. If there is, do you want to make the change if you’re not being successful with your present brand?
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It seems pretty simple, but it’s not.
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No, it’s not, because sometimes we don’t want to hear what people are going to tell us. But it’s the best way to make yourself a better professional. It’s not just listening. It’s also evaluating whether they are realistic and whether you can integrate their suggestions into your brand.
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Please join us next time when we continue our discussion with John. Among other things, he’ll tell us the advantage individuals have over institutions today.
Thanks so much for the gift of your time today. Until next time, here’s to your bigg success!
