What People Forget About Brand

Look yourself in the mirror and utter three words that you think would best describe you. Now open your social media account and try to find what your network of friends have posted which describe who you are. Lastly, sit down in a cafe, have a drink, and think what other people are thinking when they are looking at you.

From that little exercise, do you find a match or a resemblance between what you think of yourself and what other people think of you? Is it three out of three, or two out of three, or one out of three, or no resemblance whatsoever?

If there is a resemblance, congratulation because whether you meant it or not, you have successfully done a form of branding. If there is no resemblance and you are essentially a lone wolf, then it’s alright because that won’t bother you. However, if you are up at night thinking why don’t other people think of you as you think of yourselves, perhaps you might want to start considering a little bit of brand strategy for your life.

Indonesia Is Outpacing the World in Trust

Amid hoax scare and political noise which have been occupying Indonesians’ recent everyday life, an optimistic and scientific view arise showing that Indonesia is outpacing the world in trust. This data comes from Edelman 2017 Trust Barometer survey which sees the Index being announced for the 17^th year, since it started in 2001. While the main finding of the survey show that there is a global decline, and perhaps even crisis of trust in 28 countries they surveyed, the data shows Indonesia becoming the anomaly as it sees high improvement of trust toward Government, media, business, and NGOs.

In the word of Edelman Indonesia CEO himself, Raymond Siva, Indonesia 2017 Trust Barometer result is an “enigma”. As while Global Trust Index declined by three percent, Indonesia saw a seven percent increase in average trust compared to 2016. Looking that number by the sector, there is 13 percent increase of trust towards the Government, which is the highest performance in the Index, putting Indonesia at the fourth place with the score of 71. Trust in media sees a four percent increase, again the highest performance in the Index, putting Indonesia at number one with the score of 67. Trust in NGOs sees a seven percent increase, only tied by India, putting Indonesia at number three with the score of 64. Lastly, trust in business sees a five percent increase, again only equalled by India, putting Indonesia at number one with the score of 76.

Are Brand Consultants Safe From Robot Replacements?

Right off the bat I am telling you the conclusion of this article is that we cannot know for sure whether brand consultants are safe from robot replacement or from automation. This conclusion comes from part factual observation, part science-fiction imagination of what a robotic future would look like.

Robot replacing humans in workplace has long become a comic book and science-fiction movie premise that captivates audience. Look at Wall-E movie, where human becomes lazy and their body overweight due to robots taking care of everything for them in the spaceship, even for the simplest task of walking. Now life begins imitating art as one can read in Martin Ford’s analytical book of “Rise of The Robots: Technology and The Threat of A Jobless Future”.

The Age of Browsing Dangerously In Indonesia

Certainly, the hoax or fake news phenomena in social media is not exclusive nor new in Indonesia. But when it comes to nationwide impact of those hoaxes, they are. This piece argues that recent hoax with nationwide impact have brought Indonesia to an age of browsing dangerously.

The fresh memory of smear campaign utilizing hoax flying around social media in Indonesia during the 2014 presidential election would be prime example. Since those smear campaign often provokes horizontal conflicts such as race division and intolerance. Topics that go against Indonesia’s proud value of unity in diversity (Bhinneka Tunggal Ika).

State of Hoax Emergency

After the 2014 election is over, one expected the smear campaign through hoaxes to stop. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Indonesia. Even more unfortunate is those hoaxes have evolve being more creative and compelling in their presentation and narrative.

But make no mistake, they are still hoax, meaning they are false and often preposterous. We learn from the Indonesia Ministry of Communication and Informatics data, there are at least 800.000 Indonesian websites participating in disseminating hoax. It should be noted that not all those websites have ill intention. 

Fulfilling Millennials Craving for Personal Branding

As Millennials (Gen Y) more and more becomes the dominant generation, personal branding would be elevated into a whole new height. It would not be just for the use of public figures, or aspiring public figures, neither for people wanting to get a job. Personal branding would be some sort of basic need which brands should accommodate for the common Millennials. A generation that many have called wanting to be the center of attention, glorify being under the lime light, or the main star in the “hit show” that is his/her personal life.

In the last 5 years, we at LM Brand Strategist have done and encountered many requests to engage in personal branding projects for various public figures in various sectors. The main ingredient is quite simple that is being genuine or being yourself. An ingredient that most brand consultants we believe would agree. In a more practical level, that ingredient of being genuine can be divided into three areas. First, one’s track record. Second, one’s idea or vision. Third, one’s personalities. Also in a technical level, how would those three areas can be conveyed through the way one talk, act, dress, etc? All being combined and communicated to achieve that desired positioning in the minds of target audience (yes even personal branding need target audience) of “A specific topic = A Person”. For example ask yourself who does the term “Consultant” remind you of? Or the term “Mechanic”? The name of the person that pops out in your head when hearing those terms mean that person, intentional or not, has done a pretty good personal branding with you as the target audience.

The Return to Communication Innocence

We now live in an era where communications are crowded, over populated even. Brands and advertising can be seen anywhere and anytime, from the time we wake up until we go to sleep. Marketing campaigns are happening all the time and everywhere, from public spaces like stores to personal spaces such as personal phones and email. Public Relations (PR) campaigns and methods are being used frequently to ensure that the intended messages would be interesting enough to be quoted in news articles. The over population of promises and messages in today’s era has made companies or institutions to step up their search for a clutter breaking communication, which implies innovation of methods and what many called out-of-the-box ways in communicating.

Like knights in shining armors come the communication professionals or experts or agencies to the rescue. In the midst of increasing competition and institutions’ necessity to acquire stakeholders undivided attention, these knights swoop institutions off their feet with big, and supposedly original, ideas. Good results lead to more and bigger business while bad ones lead to more search of other knights who would be capable of solving an institution’s communication problem.