Press 1 for The Cool Factor. [Part One]

After the World War 2, so many cultures were interwoven with many others to create a more global culture. This era prepared the world for what we are experiencing in the digital world today. Europe borrowed Art forms from England. New Yorkers had a few thing to teach the Dutch on how to dress. Advertising became a big spender as the world was now getting their cigarette pre-rolled. Thanks to Lucky Strikes. The Marlboro man came in the throes of it. Jazz had travelled as far as Berlin and there was a semblance of a global citizen. Varied point of views were burgeoning and the art form was becoming the major platform to do so.

Against all of this backdrop is a counterculture that prevailed till now; actually getting even stronger. The Cool culture. There are so many schools of thoughts as to what exactly is cool but the coolest thing about Cool is that you keep finding it. If it is well defined and pinned down, then it's no longer cool.

We hear of cool stories, cool personalities. cool stuff, cool dude, cool babe, cool gadget, cool ad, cool hangout, cool Christ [ ignore the last one, conservatives will fight you. Howbeit, I'm aware that loads of teenagers going to churches today seek the cool factor, hence the branded services by many churches we know]

As Personal Brands, the Cool we should be talking about is the Behavioural Cool. Symbology, expressions, postures, styles etc. You need to have a current appeal. You need to trend.


Who really defines the Cool for you as a brand going places? You. And it cannot be a conclusive thing as Cool is never made in the factory or Brand brainstorming session. Cool is observed. What can you see around you? What's on the cover of major magazines? What are Tshirt designs looking like from major designers? What are people's Facebook pages like? What are people within your area of influence tweeting about? Book covers. What colours are now predominant? Check out the colours on major paints style guide. See Films, what are Art Directors predominant styles? Look at Advertising. What's in? All of this is called Coolhunting. They do not necessarily turn you to Cool. You have to press 1.

To press 1 is to have your own Point of View. There are three proven ways to do this.
3. You can decide to follow the trend. That's pretty basic. Such personal brands are not differentiated
2. You can decide to mix and match current trend with a much older one. It's mysterious and touche.
1. You can decide to be an underdog; going against everything.  This is the hardest one to pull off.

Being an underdog to popular trends is the Cool master itself. What was cool about Fela Anikulapo Kuti was his deviant point of view from popular ones. Lady Gaga is trending because she steps right outside of the boundaries. Madonna did pretty much. Michael Jackson.

This is the hard part. How do you know you are cool by the choices you make or represent? The foolproof answer is: do cool people like it? If they do, then you are cool. Only cool people can affirm cool people. They are the young minds of our days. The modern day child. They avoid popular but they choose cool. They are proud that they know what is cool but they can't define it. They just know it when they see it. With Digital Media, you can measure just about anything. If you think you are cool, check the people following you. Are they Mainstreams, Resigned or Regulars? You are cool when you have other underdogs right behind you. Cool is not a fashion statement, it is a point of view that has a following. It is physicalised in the way we move our body, the way we pose, our facial expressions, our voice colours etc. It's not just the dress that we wear. Let's talk about Bob Marley for a second. Having dreadlocks do not make you such a great brand, it's having a point of view that is refreshingly different. Then the Rastafarianism begins to make some sense.

What do you really stand for? And who are the people following it? That's how you find Cool. Enjoy your day.

Join us at 4th PERSONAL BRANDING WITH KENNY BRANDMUSE workshop coming up in July. Find us on Facebook or send email to info@kennybrandmuse.com

Meet The Digital Tribe

It has been estimated that today's teen has only about free three hours to spare in a week. There's so much to do on the Smart phone, there are games to play, there are BB messages to reply, there are Youtube videos to download or transfer, there are tens of Facebook updates to respond to, there are hundreds of tweets to follow, there are thousand Google searches to do, plus more and more music to share on Itunes. How about Friends' requests? How about Studies? How about Social communities they belong to? Football Club  etc

Building a Personal Brand can be more daunting than ever as no one really has your time. So, here are the TEN COMMANDMENTS I shared recently with a body of Advertising Practitioners.

1. Thou shall not call me a consumer. I’m a person. I have a life
2. Thou shall not try to convince me what your product can do for me, let me experience it.
3.Please, thou shall not tell me you are honest. You have to earn my trust.4. Thou shall not tell me thou art quality. It’s my preference 
5. Thou shall not brag about your popularity. Let me love you first.
6. Thou shall not trust in your brand identity, it’s your brand personality that matters to me
7. Thou shall not remind me what you function as. I already know. Give me something more than functionality.
8.Thou shall remember that it’s not about being everywhere, it is about being felt.
9. Thou shall stop telling me what to do. I prefer we talk .
 10. Thou shall not try to sell anything to me, it will be nicer if I have a relationship with you first of all

Philip Philip of American Idol and the Big comeback of the 80's

He may not hit on the big notes but Phillip, one of the top two finalist on American Idol easily strums his way into the hearts of millions of voters in today’s America. The shoulder shrugs, the wide-open eye, the lip smacking, the slightly-twisted mouth while singing, the straddling of the guitar and the absolute boy-next-door look are more music to the ears of this generation.

Welcome the age of Boy Seduction. This is the MTV generation big comeback. The child born in the 80s now have their voices. It defies reasoning but the children of the 80's are the largest population of all eras. The look book of this era was championed by Richard Branson. The voice style was created by Madonna. The tech platform was launched by Apple.  

I have been studying on these new kind of pop heroes lately; what the Digital Tribe is falling for and how to navigate through as Personal Brands. Intriguing shift in what's sexy and a big comeback of the 80s. The MTV generation. See, contribute and share from JUNE 2012. Be my guest.

OWNING YOUR AREA OF INFLUENCE: LADY GAGA & OPRAH EFFECT

In fighting for territories, you need both the numbers and the quality of people. With 50 Million Facebook fans and over 2 billion YouTube views, Lady Gaga has more citizens than some major countries in the world. How does she do it?

At our most recent Personal Branding Workshop, we dug into some of the basics of owning our territories.
1. HAVING A CLEAR  POSITIONING AND TRANSACTION STATEMENT.
2. STORYING YOUR POSITIONING WITH RIGHT IMAGES AND WORDS
3. TELLING THE STORY TO A CORE FAN BASE TO MAKE EVANGELISTS OF THEM
4. MAPPING OUT THE AREAS OF INFLUENCE YOU CAN REACH

Our workshops are hands on with worksheets to guide you 

Participants at our MAY 12 WORKSHOP IN LAGOS NIGERIA

Lady Gaga has had to work her PB and it's no joke. Her core fan base is a good target for any AREA OF INFLUENCE[ AOI ]. The under 30's.  Post Ballad Music generation who got weaned on MTV. For them, it's not about the music, it's about the effects. It's a crazy visual generation that makes a huge demand on their idols. All she needed was a 10% of that market and the rest is history. Aim for a market that can deliver you the number if all you have is a 10% of their demography. Too narrow, your AOI begins to shrink, too wide, your AOI begins to wane.

And one more thing. Be ready to spend some good time with these people. It will cost you your time, your money and most importantly your commitment to deliver consistently. Through a committed team, Gaga delivers tweets to over 21 Million followers every other day and you ask 'why do people go gaga?'

Oprah, on the other hand, is the only woman alive who appears as the cover model of her magazine almost 97% of the time [ well, I'm not sure she allows anyone else to be the only model on O magazine. She is always there ] and still gets away with it! Not even the Editor of Elle can pull this off. Don't try this if you are not Oprah. According to WIKIPEDIA, Oprah Winfrey was called "arguably the world's most powerful woman" by CNN and Time.com,[95] "arguably the most influential woman in the world" by the American Spectator,[96] "one of the 100 people who most influenced the 20th Century" and "one of the most influential people" from 2004 to 2011 by TIME. Winfrey is the only person in the world to have appeared in the latter list on all eight occasions.[97]

What is the Oprah effect? Check the last paragraph again. There's a woman thing in there. Then, there's this demography of these women. That's Oprah's core audience and a 10 % of that market is good enough to create a billion dollar empire.

Finding this core base is a skill we have weaved into our Personal Branding workshops. Join us when you are around. Or join us on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/groups/personalbrandingwithkenny/> personal branding with kennybrandmuse > for updates on our Tour. Send email to info@kennybrandmuse.com

'I Can Google All About Personal Branding, Why Attend a Workshop?'

As a growing phenomenon, Personal Branding is a buzz phrase that can leave one with layers of interpretations. And you ask yourself 'so what's the fuss all about?'

Let's help clear the air. Personal Branding is not a self grooming class.

There are thousand finishing schools out there including hundreds of thousands of web pages that can give you hints on what colour to wear for your next outing. Right?

There are three major things that are peculiar to our workshops and we dare you or your company to experience them. When a company send their staff to attend our PB workshops, they bring back a humanness factor to the company. They can change the company's fortune for good. They learn the power of demarketing and start emphasising on what pulls people to your ideas and products.

Last year, a company sent in five of their staff to our workshop and here's what happened. That company was about to launch a major service and plans were on the way to contract Specialists companies to help them launch in a big way. At the end of PBWKB, the company called off the contracts with the Specialists and spent a little more time on themselves. They , together, walked through the basics of 'why should anyone care'. They found out what really mattered using everyone personas. The company saved thousands of Marketing dollars to achieve their goals.

Individuals who attend our PB leave with a better blueprint for their burning ideas. People have ideas and talents but then that's not all to it. Else, the chicken would have crossed the road since yesterday.

1. PBWKB is powered by Orange Academy, a 100% practical school of Brand Experience. We cut the PowerPoint to the points that really matter and we allow you work out your own stuff by showing you how to. No speeches. No sermons. It's a hands on thing. There are ten ways you can feel it. Your ten fingers getting really dirty. Our workshops are themed. This May, we are focussing on 'AREA OF INFLUENCE AND HOW TO OWN THEM.'

2. The power of Elixir. In the Hero's journey of every Personal Brands, there comes a time for certain Elixir that changes the game. Our workshops show you how to map out which of these elixirs align with your Personal Branding quest. We have a tested tool that can show you how to tap into that energy.

3. The Digital Media Storytelling Model to PB. Our workshops are hinged on the power of narratives. Legendary narratives. Narratives that make people care about what you or your company are about.

Our next workshop is slated for 12th MAY 2012. Call Esther Ilori now on +2348060213455 or send an email to info@kennybrandmuse.com

Why People Hate You and Barack Obama.

With a dip in Obama's approval ratings lately, you will wonder if this Black man in the White House has what it takes to win the next election. 

People hate Obama. And they should. Considering that the unemployment rate in the US is in its all-time low of less than 9%. Considering that all the bailed out companies are yet to return to angry tax payers all that money that went into their rescues. Considering that the Health Care bill passed by the Government of Obama is unpopular with the hardworking tea party Americans. Considering that this man has pushed the boundaries in repealing some draconian laws against same sex loving Military personnel. Actually, that's like pitching against the Church. He who goes against the church goes against the Mainstream America

But then, here's why it is difficult to hate on Obama. Like Johnnie Walker, this guy keeps walking.

As Personal brands get approval ratings of fans, customers and communities, we should always take a moment out to keep the focus. On what we are set out to do. Keep walking. 

The Monica Lewinsky's scandal that shook the personal branding of Bill Clinton didn't dip his approval rating. If you look at the graph below, between 1998 and 1999 when Bill went through the Monica saga and was eventually acquitted, the graph didn't experience any dramatic dip. Americans were more forgiving because of his persona. Clinton left office with the highest end-of-office approval rating of any US president since World War 2. He's the 4th tallest US President at 6ft.2in [ Just 2 inches taller than me. Not bad at all ] 

In another development, we notice that W Bush's rating went on an all-time dramatic dip after the war in Iraq began in 2003. Remember that this was a man seen as a Veteran who could save America. Bush enjoyed some great approvals but they all fizzled out no sooner than the 9/11 war started. Then, there was the Hurricane Katrina. What can you do to please people? What, honestly? Bush fought so hard to win people over but things went all the way down. America wanted a Government that would be more focused on the home affairs. A one time Veteran became a vetted personality.

Time and time again, we have realised that Great figures may be people's choice but they do not wait around to get on people's approval list. They live their best lives; calling out their most inner Muse. Hey! You can't make everyone like you but you can win people over with a strong persona. That inner part of you that can be perceived by your public. 

How do you go about working on your Persona? Focus on your strength and stop sobbing over your weaknesses. Obama cannot change the recession figures overnight. As a matter of fact, Bush signed in the $700 billion economic bailout bill before Obama got into power. I wonder why the Tea Parties gloss over this so quickly. Obama cannot change the unemployment figures in a jiffy. Although Gallup reported there might have been signs of growth in the job market but this is too slow in coming for the average man.  Without a major war, Obama led the rampage that killed the most wanted terrorist. That should not count or should it? People don't see these things.

If you are an Obama in your workplace or on your career, stop the approval game and start focusing on what really makes you you. Approval ratings rarely make political candidates win elections. The correlations have been far in between. When push comes to shove, people are going to connect with you because they can connect with your story and your humanness factor. Should we ignore the figures? Not at all. What we should do however is to always remember that people feel first and then think later. Find that niche of people that you can connect with and grow it. Bring your human side to bear. Play the saxophone like Clinton did on THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW. Appear in places where real people talk. Have a nickname if you can. Live. Love. Laugh. That was how Princess Diana did it and became one of the most popular persons in history. 

Join me and our team at our MAY 12 Personal Branding workshop on HOW TO OWN YOUR  AREA OF INFLUENCE, AOI. Late registrations still call Esther on +2348060213455 or send an email to info@kennybrandmuse.com for more details 

Why You Can't Stereotype People

Last weekend, I did some fact finding about a group of people who live in the valley of a very poor neighbourhood. I wanted to know what Media they were exposed to and what their leisure looked like. This is a typical D, E Demography by Marketing definition. A traditional school of advertising warns that these people are so poor you have to talk to them 'in the language they understand'. More like they are dumb. [ Sorry that didn't sound right but that's how advertisers see the Mass Market. ]

This is a typical home in this neighbourhood. 3-bedroom apartment. That's the bathroom in front to the right.

And that's their form of entertainment. They watch Series on DSTV. They know about Grey Anatomy. They also love to watch the MTV Base. In the afternoon, when the young ones are out to work or school, the elderly ones watch African Magic

See you guys sooner on this. More on Stereotypes.