Levers of Personal Branding to Optimize Success

Anabel Ternès¹, Anna Rostomyan², Francesca Gursch¹, Giulia Gursch¹
(1. SRH Berlin International Management University, Germany; 2. Yerevan State University, Armenia)

Abstract: Nowadays there are many publications on employer and product branding. Companies are driven by the aim to be more attractive for the customer with respect to their competitors. Personal branding is often not mentioned in this framework, even though employers and each company take advantage of branding through individuals. In this respect, the concept of trust is more and more becoming the core value of a brand and it is less possible to achieve success through the products only by themselves as products are even more and more getting exchangeable. The present paper outlines certain ways how the concepts of current corporate and product branding strategies can be transferred to individuals. They are used for a corporate strategy or for an individual strategy. An individual personal branding is increasing the likeliness of working in the right environment for personal growth which can bring more satisfaction and success. We identified 102 successful people worldwide, who meet the criteria of corporate or product brand. A qualitative survey has been carried out on their behaviour and activities to develop and strengthen their brand. The leading question was: how do you strengthen your brand? We compared the results with the criteria in secondary literature on how to become a corporate and product brand. The results suggest new directions to continue the research on personal, corporate and product branding. They can be used for self-branding strategies as well as for improving the corporate and product strategies specifically.

Key words: personal brands; branding; trust; communications; values

JEL code: M3