Creating brand ‘You’

Any new product in the market needs to create a place for itself among its competitors. Similarly, a professional needs to create a place for him/ her in the organization one works in. When you see a certain brand of product you can automatically identify the various features and characteristics of that product. Similarly, in the work place it is very essential for people to know you, not just by your name and department, but also by your skills, your attitude and your work.

Branding yourself is extremely important regardless of your age, your experience, position or your business. How does one transform oneself from an ordinary employee to someone who has a brand value? “An individual can create a brand value for himself by a) making themselves invincible in the organization, b) gathering knowledge about their role & the overall business and c) by being well informed about the matters that would directly or indirectly relate to the business. All of us have to create a brand value for ourselves. I was into Client Servicing in my previous organisation. I made sure that the clients handled by me would be given such service that every time they would come to office, they would ask for me. Many clients used to confirm on the phone, whether I would be in office at a particular time & then they would come. While working on brand ‘me’ one should understand one’s role properly. They should learn to work efficiently and find out new ways of doing things. One should also try & help others - you never know when you would need their help”, advices a young professional from a small sector organization.

“According to me, one’s innovative work approach would be the key to build a brand value in an organization.If you tackle a situation differently than your peers, you will shine in everybody’s eyes. Brand value is also created by one’s friendly and helping attitude with the people you work with. You also need to identify your strengths- like if you are good with presentations or making reports or giving innovative ideas and executing it. Packaging is the most important part of branding. If you don’t package yourself nicely, you will definitely be lost among the crowd. You must be having all the skills of a good professional but strengthening and focussing on one or two should be the key point”, suggests an HR executive.

Brand value has a lot of advantages- one gets to be in the good books of one’s seniors, people recognize you in your organization, helps in building trust and you might even get recommendation for your work from your peers and seniors and it might also lead to speedy promotions. It is never too late to start building a brand value of your own and start promoting your strengths.

- Ekta Bhatnagar (views expressed in the article are that of the author)