Becoming less than human.
Posted on August 4, 2008
There, I said it. I know, some people will deride me for not accepting, not cherishing my personal brand, but know this: I am not a brand. I am me, Chris Cavallari. What I do is operate cameras, create art, make media. Who I am is so much more complicated than just the moniker “Chris Cavs,” by which most online people know me.
A brand is simple. A brand is an un-complex representation of a simple product. According to Wikipedia, “A brand is a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer; more specifically, it refers to the concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme.”
Yes, I have a name. Yes, I have a logo, a slogan, and a design scheme. I have business cards, a tax ID number, and equipment. If I didn’t have a company name, I’d be going by Chris Cavs or Chris Cavallari. But I would not be a brand. I am not a logo, a name, a design. I am me.
Why am I getting riled up about this? In a time where more and more people complain about customer service (or lack thereof), when our phone calls are answered by recordings, when customers get treated like herded cattle, I want some damn personal interaction. By introducing the concept of personal branding (a concept that is by no means new), we wander dangerously close to the line between interactions with real people and conducting our lives as drones in a mechanized, anti-septic, impersonal world. So while we all complain that the cable company never listens to our complaints, we encourage their behavior by making ourselves into something less than people.
“It’s one of those terms that I deem as a necessary evil,” says Rob Blatt, a professional podcast producer. “I don’t want to talk about ‘my brand’ to people because it’s important to me that I’m always a person first.” Yet, Blatt explains, he doesn’t want to create the illusion that there is more than one person running the show. “I’m one man who does many things and I hope I do them well. I’m not some giant company that manages a brand with an agency behind me.”
The next step, then, is to continue to make ourselves known without being impersonal. The challenge, of course, occurs when we become overwhelmed with our popularity. Gary Vaynerchuck, of Wine Library TV, has had a difficult time keeping up with all his emails, and so has an autoresponder with a link to a video explaining his problem while also plugging his new book. A man who has built his name on being so personal has become too big for himself. And people have taken notice.
What do you think can be done to conduct business, have an online presence, but not lose that personal touch?
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Well said Chris, I think by being overwhelmed by of the mechanics of modern living and with so many consumed(literally) by the rapture of their digital, lives it is easy to lose a sense of their humaness as well as our own. Sort of ironic really when all this technology is looking to give us more and different ways to get and stay connected to one another, don’t you think?
I like this one Chris.
I’m definitely not Jordache.
Those I’ve connected to the most are the people who are not selling me on themselves, but are just being themselves (warts, rashes, pimples and all).
An excellent post. I am thankful to you for articulating what I’ve been feeling for quite some time.
It seems that some pro marketers think that their bombastic and authoritative gonzo marketing style should apply to all of us.
I think not. We are all individuals with different personalities and approaches. We also have different goals for our lives and our online activities.
Thanks again for putting a voice to what many of us are feeling.
Nice blog btw!
Hurray!
That overload issue pops its ugly little head yet again.
I think Rob has captured the key problem. We’ve all tried to take on the same level of work as a corp with an agency, while remaining only one person, and in most cases - myself included - we don’t have the experience or skills of the corp or the agency.
I’ve certainly learned some new skills in this whole experience, but I’m still just the one guy.
I work hard to make sure that most of the people I deal with in my SocNet world are people I’ve met, people with whom I can talk. Lately, I’ll admit that I’ve gotten worried that I may be angering some listeners or tweeple by ignoring the unsolicited invites from people I’ve never actually met… but then I read stories like this, and realize that it’s really only fair to me and the people with whom I interact to keep my group small.
I am just that small group guy.
Unless some agency out there wants to represent me. Have your people call… well… me…
I seriously hope we can step away from posts and panel discussions and talks about “Managing your personal brand”. How about this instead “Be an awesome person and people will think you’re awesome.” Can we have that talk at “camps” instead?
Thank you! Let’s keep this growing. People are not brands. It’s good to protect your good name, and by that I mean reputation. You do that by being a good person, being helpful, being polite- all those things mommy taught you. That’s not the same thing as protecting a brand.
That’s why I chose to do business under Pixel Currents, rather than my own name. I’m not a commodity.
[...] Cavs interviewed me for a blog post about personal branding last week. Much like all topics internet related, I had an opinion on the use of the term [...]
You basically put into words what I’ve been thinking the last few weeks, as you know. I’ve been bitching about this “branding” thing lately. I’m not a brand, I’m a person. I’m not Kleenex or Xerox or Apple.
Everyone should read this blog post.
You know, Mike, part of why I wrote this post is because of what you’ve been saying. Thanks for the inspiration.
[...] at Social Media Camp NYC about how quality matters nearly as much as content. Chris’ post is Becoming Less Than Human and speaks about having a personal brand. This is something that inspired the post [...]