The Personal Branding Blog by Rob Cuesta

Interesting blog layout

I recently stumbled across an interesting site. It's not so much the content I want you to look at - although I enjoyed the site even though my Italian is a little rusty, and it's over 10 years since I lived in Copenhagen! - but rather the layout.

What is marketing?

OK, it's been a while since I posted. I've been busy with a major branding project overseas and I have some professional exams coming up which need my attention too. I'm also in the middle of setting up a couple of new joint ventures. Add in the need for some R&R after a very busy last two years for the business and it was about time I took a break.

But now I'm back, and I was asking myself, just what IS marketing? What are we, as marketers (and everyone is a marketer, whether they call themselves that or not) trying to achieve exactly?

Living the connected life

For as long as I can remember, we have been promised "mobile working" or the "virtual office" - the ability to work anywhere, any time -, but somehow it never quite took shape. At last, though, technology seems to be catching up with the promises.

Taking a break

It's been a while since my last post. Unfortunately, I've had a bit of an IT disaster. My trusty laptop - or rather the new one I got 6 months ago - has completely died. I can't get any data off it - which is worrying as it's been a while since I last backed up.

I'm also out of the country so I can't get to my backups.

What have I learnt from this?

1. always carry two laptops if you're going to be away from home for a long time (I actually learnt that a while ago, and bought a backup PC for exactly that reason - I just wish I'd kept files synchronised across both machines)
2. it's time I invested in online backup. I would have been able to log on and restore my data even from abroad. I'll be checking out the various options available. If anyone wants to know what conclusions I reached let me know

To quote the BBC when I was growing up: "Normal service will be resumed as quickly as possible"

Karl marx and the rise of branding

"All that is solid melts into air"

The line comes from the Communist Manifesto, and it is often quoted as evidence that Marx was keenly aware of the changes that industrialism was creating in the world even in his time.

Hulu hullabaloo - a branding cautionary tale

It's hard to come up with a really good name for a brand. In the case of NBC/News Corporation's youtube killer, it took precisely 5 months.

Reach for your personal brand

I've just been watching an old John Wayne film, "The Sons of Katie Elder". I hadn't seen it for a few years and, as I watched, the thing that struck me was that THE FILM IS ALL ABOUT PERSONAL BRANDING.

What were they thinking?

Several years ago, Gerald Ratner - a famous UK entrepreneur - virtually destroyed his successful high street jewellery chain by boasting on national television that his products were basically cheap and nasty but that if you market it the right way people will buy almost anything. Needless to say the customers proved him wrong.

A few years later, the CEO of Volkswagen came close to 'doing a Ratner' (the expression has ended up in the language as a euphemism for a very public marketing gaffe) when he boasted that Audi A6s, Passats and the latest Skodas all shared many common parts and technologies, and were even made on the same production line. It was something car buyers knew, deep down, but they didn't want it made quite so public.

Now Lurpak, the Danish butter manufacturer, is running a new advertising campaign and you have to wonder what their marketing director was thinking.

Branding quote of the week

'Customers must recognize that you stand for something.' - Howard Schultz, Starbucks

Branding quote of the week

"Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand." - David Ogilvy