According to communications experts, consumers increasingly tend to trust people more than organizations. Personal branding creates intimacy, transparency and authenticity - factors that are difficult to build quickly through corporate branding.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang, Director of Newpact Company Limited, specializing in consulting, training and coaching businesses, said that a business brand takes a lot of time and money to build: from identity, communication, products, after-sales services... but a personal brand is the opposite.
"As long as you have prestige, dare to speak up, dare to demonstrate your abilities, customers will come to you. Through consulting, many businesses shared that they spent hundreds of millions on branding campaigns for their companies, but they were not as effective as a few clips sharing business secrets or task instructions... done by themselves," Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang expressed.
This view also explains the rise of many personal brands in recent times. According to communication experts, consumers increasingly tend to trust people more than organizations. Personal brands create intimacy, transparency and authenticity - factors that are difficult to build quickly through corporate brands.
Not only is it flexible, but the cost is also much lower, small businesses do not have a budget for media, but a founder can become an extremely effective "face" with just a smartphone and social media. The strong viral effect through conveying real stories, real experiences and personal style easily creates emotional connections. That is the foundation for trust and purchasing behavior.
According to a report from Saleforce - a multinational company specializing in customer service solutions, marketing automation, analytics and application development: The trend of personalized marketing is increasingly asserting its important role in the customer approach strategy of businesses. Currently, through surveys, up to 90% of businesses said they will invest in personalized marketing within the next 2 years and 80% of consumers expressed that they will prioritize shopping from brands that provide personalized experiences from the business owners themselves. This indicates that the marketing trend must increasingly shift from mass marketing strategies to strategies that are more tailored to the needs and preferences of customers.
Although it is a trend, "personalizing corporate branding" is not without risks. Dr. Tang Thuong Phat, General Director of United Fortune Investment, also a Brand Communications Expert, warns: A personal brand can be very effective in the early stages, but if it is not professionalized and the roles are not separated, in the long run it will have trouble expanding the scale, transferring or calling for investment.
In particular, when the founder is involved in a scandal or leaves the market, the business will almost certainly lose its brand value. On the other hand, shifting all focus to individuals can make the business weak in organizational capacity, lacking a solid internal management system, leading to difficulties in operation and sustainable development.
"Not only that, in the process of building a personal brand, many small businesses operate as a "personalized organization" - that is, business activities, financial revenues and expenditures, human resource management, customers, etc. are all conducted through the personal name of the head. This helps simplify many procedures, but also leads to a lack of financial transparency, difficulty in auditing, difficulty in calling for investment because there is no clear business structure, difficulty in separating personal assets and corporate assets in case of disputes or bankruptcy", said Lawyer Pham Ngoc Minh, CEO of Everest Law Company Limited.
"Attaching all business activities to a personal name can easily lead to violations of regulations on business registration, taxes and consumer protection. Especially in fields such as cosmetics, food, financial services... if the brand is not legally registered but only exists on social networks under the seller's name, it will have no legal value when an incident occurs," emphasized Lawyer Pham Ngoc Minh.
Not to mention, a strong personal brand means high media power. However, not everyone has the capacity and awareness to use this "soft power" responsibly. Many people take advantage of their personal brand to hype products, circumvent advertising laws, and use "bait" tricks, without an internal control mechanism. The lack of internal censorship and criticism - which is a characteristic of the business system - will easily turn leaders into "media monologues", turning themselves into a double-edged sword.
Instead of viewing personal branding as a "lifebuoy", some businesses have learned how to harmoniously combine both elements: Building a personal brand as a door and a business brand as a solid house to "welcome" customers.
Mr. Nguyen Hai Ninh, Founder of the Coffee House startup coffee chain, shared that he has built his personal image as a storyteller.
Mr. Nguyen Hai Ninh, Founder of the Coffee House Startup Coffee Chain, shared that he has built his personal image as a storyteller - sharing his startup journey, management experience, failures and hard-won lessons. But besides that, he still invests carefully in the image of the shop, synchronizes products and services so that when customers come, they still see professionalism and have a reason to come back.
Thanks to this dual strategy, many businesses have taken advantage of the "fast access speed" of personal branding while still maintaining the sustainability, transparency and inheritance of the organizational brand. In order for businesses to clearly position their brand in the market and have a sustainable development strategy, many experts also recommend that businesses need to have clear positioning goals. Personal branding is a tool to help spread the message, but cannot replace the entire role of the corporate brand.
In addition, it is necessary to separate roles, specifically building the image of the leader as an internal influencer (KOL); at the same time, investing in building the business foundation through policies, services, teams, etc. In addition, succession training is very necessary, so that the business is not dependent on a single individual; businesses need to build a team capable of representing the brand and standardizing operating processes.
In times of challenges and pressures like today, it is understandable that businesses are shifting to developing personal brands, and are even considered very creative. However, to survive sustainably, businesses need to be clear-headed and clearly identify that: personal branding is just a "key to opening the door early", but if they want to retain customers and develop long-term, they still have to return to the core values of quality products, good service, strong team and clear strategy.
Instead of choosing between "individual" or "business", it is time for leaders to learn how to develop both paths in parallel - to be able to adapt quickly, and to go far and steadily in their development journey.
According to VNA
Source: https://baohoabinh.com.vn/12/202077/Ca-nhan-hoa-thuong-hieu-doanh-nghiep-Hieu-ung-nhanh,-rui-ro-cung-lon.htm
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