Personal and Organisational Branding

Just how much of personal branding is 'personal' and how much of it is intertwined with the organisation you are with?

My thoughts are - your personal attributes are a part of your personal brand. They create other peoples' impression about you. This is an image built on your expertise, or your charisma (for celebrities, particularly, but not always), or your character - as in reliable, friendly, non-judgemental, kind and so on.

Organisational/product brands are purposefully created to reinforce a certain image (positioning?) that the company wants to reinforce so that target customers buy/continue to buy their product. As in Britannia biscuits brands, or a restaurant brand like Chaayos. Their characteristics are related to that product/service and (hopefully) differentiated from others.

Sometimes, these two intersect, with a founder or long-serving CEO, whose image kind of merges with that of his organisation. In the first couple of decades of Infosys' growth, Narayana Murthy became the brand ambassador and his persona merged with that of Infosys. Virgin Atlantic's founder Richard Branson, and Vijay Mallya (King of Good Times) also come to mind.

However, with people who work for many different organisations during their lifetime and contribute in each, their personal brand may be stronger than a particular organisation's. Some IAS/IPS officers who serve in different roles leave an impression for their personal qualities such as integrity or efficiency. So do a few in social sectors, not just corporate roles. Or in journalism. Or education, for that matter.