Threshold Consulting: It's Your Life, Own It!

Yes, Your Brand Really Is About the Conversation

In my last post, I wrote about how my interview with my friend Carol Ross led to my insight that conversation drives brand evolution. My thinking in that post followed a certain logic; specifically: In uncovering our personal brands we work to synthesize introspective knowledge with feedback from others to arrive at our uniques promise for value; we then determine core messages to express our brand, with evolution coming as conversation drives fresh perspectives on our brand value. I’m now thinking, while others can provide fresh insights that are a catalyst for evolution, conversations continually drive our brands.

So, what’s changed?

First, at about the time I published my last post, I also wrote an Amazon book reviw of for Shel Israel’s  Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods. In that review, I noted Charlene Li, founder of Altimeter Group, alluded to The Cluetrain Manifesto and the Conversation Era ushered in by the internet and social media tools when she defined Twitter as a conversation. I also referenced Shel Israel’s notion of Twitter as a community. I now think of Twitter as a community comprised of multiple conversations. As such, it is fertile ground for connecting with the clients, colleagues, and key influencers that make up our brand communities.

Then, just today, I learned about a LiveWorld seminar, Social Media Everywhere 2010 - How Do Brands Cope?, being conducted by Jeremiah Owyang, well-know social media analyst, now with the Altimeter Group. Upon reading the opening paragraph of the registration page, I was struck by the pervasiveness of conversation in driving brand perceptions and loyalty. It said, “Content on corporate websites is becoming less relevant to customers. Instead they are immersing themselves in conversations about your brand all over the web.  These conversations flow across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and a myriad of other sites – and even on your own brand website, perhaps managed by you or perhaps brought there by consumers themselves with tools like Google Sidewiki.” The next paragraph raised this question: “Does your company have a strategy for managing your brand when conversations are everywhere?”

In my last post, I concluded, “Clearly, our brands develop and become stronger as we engage others.” I’d now add this: with the power of the social web, your brand is as much about the conversations as it is about your client deliverables.

Conversation and Brand Evolution

Recently, I was interviewed by my friend Carol Ross, founder of Carol Ross & Associates, and prolific blogger at A Bigger Voice, and Ordinary Life, Extraordinary Living. The interview, done for members of her Networking Naturally community, focused on my experience in making powerful in-person connections as a result of online networking. Specifically, Carol wanted to explore more deeply some of my learnings as I went face to face with Twitterville.

It was a fun interview! Sure, it’s true that I always enjoy chatting with Carol. Yet, for this inteview, she did several things to make the experience even more engaing and powerful. Prior to the interview, she prepared and sent me a thoughtful and orderly series of questions – questions that helped me think more deeply about what I planned to say. During the interview, she drove the conversation forward with periodic summaries of her understanding, and she asked on-the-spot questions that made the information more nuanced and useful to the audience.

When we debriefed the interview, I shared with Carol that an unexpected result was how she had pushed my own thinking to a new level. My expectation had been to have a great time simply sharing my experiences for the benefit of the audience. Yet, our chat clearly generated new learning for me – including fresh perspectives on  the brand value I offer to others.

Yet, there’s an additional outcome: my heightened awareness of brand evolution. As a Personal Branding Strategist, I’m always focusing on the clarity, consistency, and constancy of messages that clients  deliver. And while I tell clients that brands evolve, I haven’t been particularly focused on what drives that evolution. It’s conversation. If brands rely on brand communities to exist, it’s the ongoing engagement of that community that helps refine and differentiate value. Clearly, our brands develop and become stronger as we engage others. So, who are you talking to? 

Cross-posted at The Personal Branding Blog.