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Quick Summary: Check out ‘Personality Not Included’ a new book by one of my favorite marketing bloggers Rohit Bhargava.
I just finished reading the introduction (download PDF here) of Rohit Bhargava’s new book ‘Personality Not Included’ and it totally rocks!
The basic premise of Rohit’s book is that personality is the key element defining what a brand stands for and the story it tells to its customers.
Personality is the unique, authentic, and talkable soul of your brand that people can get passionate about.
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Personality is not just about what you stand for, but how you choose to communicate it. It is also the way to reconnect your customers, partners, employees, and influencers to the soul of your brand in the new social media era.
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Personality is the macro trend. The three hottest topics in business today are how to do more with social media, using word-of-mouth marketing, and interacting more authentically with customers. Personality is the theme that incorporates all of these topics.
Rohit is a marketing practitioner and the book is a complete package of insights that are brought alive by hundred plus case studies and tools that will help you to put the theory to test through action.
Rohit is also running an innovative blogger interview program to promote the book –
If you send me five questions that you want to know about the book or personality, I’ll write you a response on Friday that you can publish on your blog. I will link to all the posted interviews on Friday.
On Monday, I’ll be running a competition on my blog to let readers vote on the Best Interview. The winner will get a signed copy of my book and a gift certificate for $100 from Amazon.
Here are the five questions I have asked Rohit –
1) I agree that having a personality is a valuable asset for a brand. However, building and staying true to the personality is also a lot of hard work. The question is: given that personality creates its own unique demands on the brand, can brands handle having a personality?
2) I agree that having a personality can inspire your customers to love your brand, instead of only liking it. However, having a personality can also incite your customer to hate your brand instead of only being indifferent to it. The question is: given that personality polarizes people, should brands risk having a personality and losing paying customers?
3) All brands are not equal. Many brands find themselves stuck in commodity hell, while a select few become interpretors of meaning (please see my post on the marketing chain of being). The question is: given that different brands are at different levels in the marketing chain of being, should all brands even attempt to create a personality?
4) In the social media era, a brand’s personality is best realized through the personalities of the people (typically brand managers and community managers) who represent the brand. However, when the person who represents the brand (in a particular community) moves on, the brand risks losing its personality (in the context of that particular community). The question is: given that a brand’s personality is realized through people who will eventually move on, how does the brand stay bigger than the people who represent it?
5) Most of us accept that as people grow old and gather experiences, they will change and their personality will evolve. However, brand personalities tend to be more sticky. The question is: given that the context in which a brand operates changes over time, should a brand’s personality change too?
I’ll post Rohit’s answers to my five questions later today I have posted Rohit’s answers to my five questions. Rohit has some great insights to share, so do have a look.
In the mean time, do read the introduction (download PDF here) of ‘Personality Not Included’.
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