Whether you think Sarah Palin is the savior of the Western world or you think the clothes have no governor, you have to give her credit as a personal branding superstar. This last week, Sarah Palin has been front and center in the news with her new book, Going Rogue, drawing crowds and news bites wherever she goes.
So, what are the branding lessons we can learn from Sarah? Here’s my shortlist:
Be different
Being different is a cardinal rule of branding. Sarah, though her state’s chief executive, wasn’t afraid to position herself as a just-folks “hockey mom.” Rather than making her appear trivial, this strategy made her identity relevant as a maverick populist and cemented her appeal to the Republican party’s base. Plus, it’s hard not to notice, she looks “hot.” After all, there were fifty governors, but only one that was a middle-age gorgeous hockey mom.
Like Sarah, you too should build your professional identity around your strengths and your authenticity – who you are and what’s different about you. Realize that it’s often smart to go against the popular wisdom. If you define yourself the same way as everyone else, you’re soda not Pepsi.
Create an attractive, identifiable “package”
Brand managers pay a lot of attention to product design and packaging, and it pays off in sales and premium pricing. Sarah may have been blessed with good looks, but she is careful to package herself with her trademark features like rimless glam glasses and up-do hairstyle. An image consultant might have even advised Sarah to ditch the specs for contacts and cut the long hair, but Sarah didn’t listen. And it was smart personal branding. Once Tina Fey put on the rimless eyeglasses and copied the hairstyle, she was well on her way to her Emmy nomination. You betcha.
Like Sarah, you need to have your own look and get noticed. Have the courage to find our own style. Create a signature color, accessory or whatever fits you.
Make a good first impression
Like it or not, first impressions are powerful and tend to stick to the roof of our consciousness. That’s why marketers put most of their big money behind the brand launch. Sarah is obviously good at creating a fabulous first impression. She bowled over John McCain who offered her the vice presidency after knowing her for a whole 45 minutes, She made a splash at the Republican convention with her speech cementing her base and putting lipstick on the Republican ticket. Even hip Saturday Night Live was wowed in its first meeting with Sarah. Senior producer, Marci Klein, gushed, “She’s the most confidant person I ever met.”
Like Sarah, we must learn to seize the opportunity to create a strong first impression. It may sound obvious but if it’s not in your consciousness, you might not do it. Have your thirty-second personal commercial, your “elevator speech” ready. And be prepared to use it at a moment’s notice. After all, it’s not just in networking events or job interviews where you need to make a great first impression, you’re being “interviewed” all the time in company meetings.
Keep your story current
Marketers develop brand stories that wrap myth and a narrative around their brands. Sarah has shown a certain genius for keeping her story alive and kicking through news stories, airtime and cyber blogs. It’s hard to pin down her story because it keeps changing. Is she the frontier governor? Is she the hockey mom? Is she the up-and-coming Republican star? Even the “bad” parts of her story – the ethics charges, the campaign and family rumors, her poor performance in interviews – only create more excitement and narrative twists and turns. Now, she’s broken the conventional mode by resigning as governor and writing a book, creating a juicy cliffhanger about what she will do next.
Like Sarah, you need to tap into the power of story. What’s your narrative? Having one will make you more successful in pitching yourself for a promotion or a lateral move, or closing the sale with a client. Don’t rely on last year’s accomplishments, keep creating new images of yourself to get you where you want to be. Story is also a powerful tool in presenting business ideas and recommendations. Learn to craft it.
Customers who identify with a brand emotionally are its lifeblood. That’s why at its core, branding is emotion, and emotion is branding. After all, people buy brands that they like and connect with, not necessarily the brands that they have analyzed and decided are better. Sarah is a master of emotional branding. Pit bull Sarah was careful in her speech at the Republican convention to emphasize emotion over policy. She connected with her audience emotionally, and later attracted throngs of fans who love her and feel an affinity with her brand. Note that in her book tour, Palin is concentrating not on big cities like most book tours but in small towns in B and C counties where her biggest supporters live.
Like Sarah, you need to touch the emotions of your “customers” – your boss, colleagues, clients and business associates. Tuning into emotions is something that women are great at. Figure out how to connect and make them love you.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on Sarah’s branding lessons, and hear what you’ve tried and what works for you.
