Self aware branding in the digital age

A new breed of brands

Have brands always been self aware? And if not, when did Wendys & Old Spice cognitively develop an ability to call upon the powers of meta-cognition? Clearly Wendys and Old Spice were early adopters of the phenomenon.

Wendys, with its tweet “How many retweets for a year of free chicken sandwiches?” and Old Spice with its unforgettable “Smell like a man, man” campaign? I would argue that these brands achieved the self aware marketing style well before the rest of us. They understood their place in society, they knew that we know about them, and they knew what we wanted from them.

What’s more meta than: “knowing about knowing?”

Self aware branding maintains your authenticity

Almost everything starts as a joke. In that same vein, then, self branding in the digital age is often as much a joke as it is an actual statement or declaration or mission statement about oneself. As a brand, one would hope that the person behind the brand will be self aware and self reflective. We can maintain authentic self branding by relying on our own self awareness.

Encourage and acknowledge the fact that intentional self branding will feel odd at first. Millenials are all about authenticity and that’s why, in my opinion, many corporate brands have shifted their branding tone to self aware & meta cognition jokes.

We’re all branding

Another salve to becoming accommodated to the strangeness of self branding is the realization that your brand is always on display, regardless if you’re aware of it or not.

For example: I was at a business dinner week and we were talking about our interests. I mentioned my new job at VMware, my plans to visit Mexico, my mentoring work and how if I’d been born 10 years earlier, I’d most likely be a graphic designer.

My new friend then went on to talk about himself, his interests etc. All of that was branding to the rest of the people at the table. He opened up about his history in sales, how he had to push himself into situations where he wasn’t comfortable. 3 years later he was a top performer. Opening up and sharing is a form of branding.

The point is: You’re always selling a version of yourself, even if you’re not aware of it. We self brand with every move we make.