In our hyper-connected world, personal and business branding can be essential to your success. However, when we make brand decisions, we often consider how to prioritise our personal brand or our business brand. The answer is not the same for everybody, but understanding the distinctions between the two can help you decide where to put your focus based on your objectives.
Both clearly have real value, but they have different purposes. Let’s look at the key differences and help you identify which is right for you.
Personal Brand vs. Business Brand:
Important Differences At their most basic levels, personal and business brands both aim to influence opinions, develop trust, and attract opportunity, but the foundation, focus, and intention behind personal brands and business brands are different.
- Ownership
Personal Brand: Owned by one person. You determine the narrative, voice, and direction.
Business Brand: Owned by a company. It is built from the collective decisions, strategies, and objectives of many stakeholders.
- Focus
Personal Brand: Focuses on the unique skills that the individual possesses, as well as their personality, values, and contributions.
Business Brand: Focuses on products, services, mission, and overall company identity.
- Marketing Strategy
Personal Branding: Utilises marketing principles to position an individual in a very specific niche or industry.
Business Branding: Creates a cohesive, reliable brand identity that attracts customers while also developing loyalty and retention.
- Authenticity
Personal Branding: Authenticity is everything. Audiences want real people who are transparent and vulnerable.
Business Branding: Authenticity is meaningful, but the company needs to communicate messages that satisfy the interests of the wider market.
- Decision-Making
Personal Brand: Usually runs through one individual. This allows for clarity and speed of action.
Business Brand: Runs through teams and stakeholders and is organised. While this is beneficial for growing, it is slower to change.
Example:
Virgin Group is a business brand that has been extraordinarily successful, but part of that success is Richard Branson’s personal brand. Having an adventurous guy with a unique business philosophy has greatly enhanced Virgin’s brand value.
So, What Comes First?
It depends on your objectives:
If you’re just starting to invest in your personal brand, you will benefit from personal flexibility, authenticity, and visibility that will help you grow.
If you are building a company that you are going to want to expand, your business brand will, over time, become very important.
For a lot of entrepreneurs and public-facing professionals, both matter. If you employ them strategically and with balance, they can enhance each other.
Both personal and business branding are similar, but they are often blended. Your personal brand can enhance your business branding, and vice versa. In today’s market in which people prefer to buy from people, your personal story and values can provide the emotional connections that lead to loyalty to your business brand.
Bottom line, whether you are a solopreneur, a CEO, or a creative professional, understanding the potential and purpose of each type of branding will help you make smarter, more conscious choices as you build your brand and work towards your goals.
