Me-branding is something we all do. We use, buy, support this or that brand to show the world that we and our values are in line with the products’ or services’ brand values. We wear clothing with logo X, or we only eat food, imported by a certain fair trade label… We’ve been doing this for a long time, but now, more and more, people are me-branding over the internet.
Brands you are a fan of on facebook. Blogs you regularly comment on. Youtube videos you like… all these things are a part of the values you wish to add to your online image. Is it any surprise that the Obama-brand has more than 7 million supporters on facebook? Or that Nike has more than 1 million fans? Is it because of a genius social media campaign? Partially (for Obama obviously), the answer is yes. But the main reason is me-branding.
Just make sure you brand is present and clear on the net, so that people can have the opportunity to me-brand with this brand. And no, this brand does not constitute of words or a logo, but of actions.
A brand’s value is merely the sum total of how much extra people will pay, or how often they choose, the expectations, memories, stories and relationships of one brand over the alternatives. A brand used to be something else. It used to be a logo or a design or a wrapper. Today, that’s a shadow of the brand, something that might mark the brand’s existence. But just as it takes more than a hat to be a cowboy, it takes more than a designer prattling on about texture to make a brand. If you’ve never heard of it, if you wouldn’t choose it, if you don’t recommend it, then there is no brand, at least not for you.
Becoming a fan, recommending, retweeting, supporting, liking, ‘favoriting’, and maybe even buying, are all actions that make the me-brand online. Because everything is shared and so everything is seen by the community you are in.
