Brand Aid: Tips For Developing Your Brand

Want Zoella’s salary and Alexa’s street cred? Make yourself a brand with a little help from the people behind the UK’s biggest names.

- Ed Dyson and Catriona Innes

When Victoria Beckham proclaimed she wanted to be “more famous than Persil Automatic” everyone rolled their eyes (c’mon, you did too). Why was she, a human, trying to become a brand? Because she’s smart, that’s why. You see, in the age of the individual you need to do everything you can to stand out. You have to be CEO of your own life and market yourself to everyone. How do you do that? By taking notes from the individuals who created the world’s most iconic brands.

1 Curate your story

What’s your story? Every strong brand has one. They use it to make customers trust and believe in their product. It could be historical (think Chanel constantly referencing their legacy); or more ideological, such as Nike reinforcing the message that if you buy their shoes, you’re a go-getter.

“The parts of these brands’ histories we see have been carefully selected,” says Dr Tim Hill, lecturer in marketing and branding at the University of Bath. “They asked who their audience was and what they wanted to hear, then worked out a story that matched it.”

The Spice Girls? We hate to break it to you, but that was all personal branding – picking parts of their own back stories and personalities to create a memorable group. Seriously, no one is that sporty.

Do it! Work backwards. Write down your ‘history’ and how you got to the position you’re in today. Then pick out the parts most relevant and exciting to a new audience, be it employers or clients.

2 Be believable