Are You Your Brand? Can A Public Face Affect Marketing?

A golden rule for many businesses for any employee with a public-facing role is that their behaviour reflects on the brand and reputation of the company.

For small businesses, in particular, this advice can be reduced to just four simple words; “you are your brand”.

Most people have heard this from branding agencies in varying contexts, but to what extent is this true outside of explicitly personal brands and how does being a public face for a business affect how it brands and markets itself?

It is probably the easiest and most rewarding way to establish a unique identity in the marketplace; as much as this can sound more like an inspirational affirmation than marketing advice, there really is only one version of you and that is something you can take full advantage of.

Of course, tying brand and personal identities together is a double-edged sword, and it means that the success and appeal of a brand are closely connected o the appeal of an individual.

Ted Baker

The downfall of Ted Baker from one of the most desirable brands on the high street to effectively going out of business in the span of just five years is one of the most bewildering retail downfalls in recent years, but a large part of it is down to the downfall of its founder.

Ted Baker was the alter ego of Ray Kelvin, designed to be the playboy action man he wanted to be, and whilst the brand expanded far beyond simply making James Bond-esque suits for men, it was closely tied to Ted Baker the character and by extension Ray Kelvin the man.

This caused a major problem when Mr Kelvin was forced to resign amid allegations of misconduct, with allegations of forced hugging and other inappropriate activities with members of staff, which led to questions that the company culture was one of unchallenged harassment of female members of staff.

Whilst this was far from the only problem with Ted Baker, the poor reputation of the brand meant that when much bigger issues started to emerge within the business, it did not have the vision to adapt. Mr Kelvin returned as an advisor within a year of being forced to resign, but by that point, the die had been cast.

Tesla

Elon Musk did not found Tesla, but after taking over the company he has become the individual most closely associated with it, which has gone from being a vital asset to a commercial liability.

Mr Musk puts himself front and centre of a lot of the companies he runs, which creates a unified brand identity that lives and dies on his personal brand value.

Whilst this tactic succeeded when he was personally seen as a man who made electric cars desirable and had ambitions of colonising Mars, when his personal brand value started to slip due to a barrage of personal and professional controversies, it hurt the brand.

Most notably, supporting anti-environmental causes as the most public-facing figure in the electric vehicle industry hurt Tesla considerably, which can be seen in the reception of the Cybertruck from its unveiling to its disastrous launch.

With the EV market catching up to Tesla, these constant blunders have arrived at perhaps the worst time.