In Search Of Your Brand

Positioning & Branding in Career Search

Rick Steinbrenner

The “Problem” Job Seekers Face Today The “Great Recession” negatively impacted the “top-lines” (sales) of many multi-national

corporations.

This resulted in the loss of 7.5MM jobs pushing the unemployment rate to 10%.

The people who weren’t downsized were asked to “do more with less”…sometimes doing the job of two people. Working harder than ever before.

End Result: Most competitive job seeker market ever – making it an employers’ market.

Companies are now focused less on transferrable skills outside their industry to industry specific experience.

Moreover, employees are working harder than ever to become/remain visible in the marketplace.

- Source: Execunet

Therefore, it’s more important now than ever to focus more on differentiation vs. time and grade in former positions.

Question is: how does one effectively do this?

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The Solution – You MUST Differentiate

You must identify your sustainable competitive advantage:

a) Learn how to assess and position yourself in the marketplace vs. other products/candidates.

b) Translate the competitive advantage into a positioning statement which makes you standout vs. other product/candidates.

What is a sustainable competitive advantage/positioning (SCA)?

In short, it’s something that: You exclusively have Your competition doesn’t (or don’t realize they have it) Your customers/employers want it You need ALL 3 to have one

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Positioning/BrandingWhat it is and What it is not

Branding is not….. Branding is…..

Great advertising Is about their consumer/customer needs

Consumer awareness About solving their problems

Promotions or pricing Product relevancy

Marketplace distribution Product differentiation vs. competition and/or other adjacent alternatives?

Slogans or taglines Creating marketplace character

Features or good/better/best Long lasting and memorable

# of years experience It’s about your uniqueness in the market

• It’s all about differentiation.

• The brand has to be relevant in the consumer’s mind – not necessarily yours.

• Result is Brand Equity” – as important as any financial item on a balance sheet.

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What Exactly Is Positioning?It’s psychological bond you want to create with your consumer/customer/employer.

“Positioning is not as much what you do to the product as what you do to the mind”.- Trout & Ries, “Fathers of Positioning”

“A particular subjective consumer/customer meaning that a company tries to build into the product idea”.- Phil Kotler, “Father of Marketing”

“People don’t buy products, they buy solutions to problems”.- Ted Levitt, Competitive Strategy - HBS

Competitors

Identify “Need Gaps”

Address Barriers Features/Benefits

Marketplace

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Why Is Positioning Important?

Product positioning is as real as any physical feature or attribute!!

It’s the cornerstone of the marketing/brand strategy and precedes all other strategies

It should not be changed often. Change only if the environment/product changes

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Positioning Statement Template

To: target market, X is a brandin the frame of reference having a

benefit/point of difference.

Support/Reasons Why: #1 #2 #3 etc.

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What is A Target Market? Those consumer/customers having highest predeposition to buy your product.

Can be defined a number of ways: Demographically (age, income, education, sex, segments) Psychographically (meaning personalities, values, lifestyles) Behaviorally (meaning how they behave) Attitudinally (meaning how they think)

Examples include:1) Corporate America

Men, 18-24 years old People who are fanatics about taking care of their cars People who go to sporting events Conservative vs. liberal

2) Job Seekers: Functionally – Sales, Marketing, Accounting, Operations, etc. Hourly vs. Salaried Industry – B2C vs. B2B

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What Is A Frame Of Reference?

The frame of reference is either a category or a consumer/customer based solution to THEIR problems.

These include either direct category users or acceptable alternatives.

A frame of reference usually has barriers to entry by competitors

- Cathode ray tube TV sets don’t have clear, sharp images- Accountant usually needs CPA certification

It has to reflect how the consumer/customer sees the world vs. how the manufacturer, retailer or employee does.

Direct Product Categories Adjacent Categories/Substitutes

Carbonated Soft Drinks All Other Soft Drinks

Table Saw Circular Saw/Hand Saws

Irons Dry Cleaners

Accountants, CPA’s Financial Software

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What Is A Benefit/Point of Difference?

It is the single-minded, ownable product claim or promise to the marketplace.

Examples: Cuts hair drying time Gets the job done faster Coke is the real thing You offer something very few others have

Point of differences need to address the frame of reference.

Need to make it meaningful to the consumer/customer/employer so you can own it.

It can also be a non-rational/emotional point of difference. Not all claims have to be product or attribute based.

- GE: “Brings good things to life”- Gillette: “The best shave a man can get”- Candidates: Creative problem solver

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What Are Support/Reason’s Why? The product based reason to believe the claim (e.g. the substantiation).

Ideally, this would be unique to the product and ownable.

- Cuts hair drying time by 50%- Cuts installation time by 50% vs. other conventional methods

- No other product tastes like Coke (i.e. the “real” thing)

- Developed and launched 20 new products

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Understanding What Consumers/Employers REALLY BuyLinking Features/Benefits

What the consumer/customer buys….defines the business(es) the company is in…..

What the consumers REALLY Buy

The Benefit of What They Sell

What They Sell

The Company

What

Defines the

Business

What the Products Provide

The Products/Services

The Brand/Sub-Brand Name

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Corporate Branding Process SummaryHow It Works

Define Core

Brand Equity

Identify Brand

Growth Potential

Develop And/Or Refine Brand Equity

Marketplace Analysis

New Areas Of Exploration

Who are we? What can we be? Where can we live? How do we get there?

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Actual Positioning Statement

To women and men with busy lives, the Black & Decker line of small household products

offers a better way of doing things because it provides smart, innovative solutions for your

home.

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Successful Examplesof Branding Applications

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What the consumers REALLY Buy

The Benefit of What They Sell

What They Sell

The Company

Happiness

Refreshment

Soft Drinks

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Happiness Machine

Eliminates

Speed Bumps of

Daily Living

Better Way of Doing Things (Innovation

Solutions)

Power Tools & Home Products Solutions

What the consumers REALLY Buy

The Benefit of What They Sell

What They Sell

The Company

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Scumbuster Cordless Wet Scrubber – “Splish Splash”

What the consumers REALLY Buy

The Benefit of What They Sell

What They Sell

The Company

Miraclesof Science

Better Way Of Doing Things (Innovation

Solutions)

Residential, Agricultural & Automotive Products

4-Time NASCAR ChampionJeff Gordon

“Trunk Crew” – Featuring 4-Time NASCAR Champion – Jeff Gordon

How Effective PositioningCan Build Your Personal Brand

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Your Personal Career Brand

Why Is It So Important? It’s no longer a luxury, it’s the cost of entry for a successful job search.

Branding is the best version of yourself to the marketplace.

Branding is how people experience you and what you do.

Branding is how people experience themselves in relation to you.

Branding is what you’re known for; what you’re known as and what you’re known for knowing.

- Scott Ginsberg

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Understanding Your Competencies is Key!!Hypothetical: B2C Marketing Executive

Core Competency:

Marketing Communications

Core Competency:

Marketing GeneralManager

Advertising &

Promotions

Public Relations

Web/Social Media

Project Management

Budget Management

Effectiveness Tracking (Metrics)

Collateral

Marketing Research

MARCOM

P&L Management

Supply Chain Management

Make vs. Buy Decisions

Trade Marketing/

Pricing

Channel Management

Intellectual Property

Management

Innovation:R&D/

Engineering

You need to understand how your experiences and skills drive your competency(s)24

How Your Brand Interacts with External Environment

Personal Brand/Positioning Statement

NetworkingGroups/Potential Employers

GoogleSearches

Linked In/Personal Websites

Social Media:Facebook, Twitter

Think of your brand as a 30 second TV spot selling something to consumers.25

All Personal Brand Messaging Needs To Be Consistent

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www.globalbrandguy.com

Personal Branding ProcessHow Do I Get There?

InitiallyDefine Your

Strategic Competitive Advantage

Identify Transferrable

Skills/Competencies(SOAR/PAR)

Final SCA/Brand Messaging

Tools

Current Industry Situation Analysis

New Industries/Hunting Grounds (i.e. B2C and/or B2B)

Who are you?What do you offer? Where can I live? How do you getthere?

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Personal Branding Marketplace Trends Today

1) Anywhere Hiring: Companies want to upgrade talent; even at expense of incumbents.

2) Web Purity/Visibility: Need to manage online presence and be easy to find. Almost all recruiters “Google” you. Services like Vizbility.com use QR bar codes that can help you manage what people

see about you on Google.

3) 3-D Personal Brand: Your resume/business card is no longer the only thing you need.

Portfolios/Case Studies in problem, action, result format Images of your success stories – both still pix and video if possible Social Media Venues: Linked in, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter

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4) Need to create online personal portals: Linked in is a must – a complete profile, it’s not a nice to have anymore; it’s a must have. Consider developing a personal website where you can showcase skills Consider a personal blog to showcase subject matter expert or thought leader skills.

5) Reviews of you: Accomplishment/career credibility is more important than ever What are others saying about the work you do? Linked in recommendations 360 Reach Reviews Prior company awards/recognitions

- William Arruda

Personal Branding Marketplace Trends Today - Continued

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Applying Branding Concepts In Your SearchChecklist

Identify your strategic competitive advantage – both current state and future – if change is desired.

Develop your positioning statement/personal brand.

Create your brand character – the more creative, the more memorable…. Global Consumer & Product Marketer Corporate Storyteller Master of Finance Lean Manufacturing Guru

Apply to job search documents as desired: Business cards Resumes Cover letter Portfolios/Case Studies Blogs, etc

Branding is not an one time activity – continually review for relevance and update as needed.

However, try to maintain brand consistency. People have a hard time forgetting what you’ve done.

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