As a proponent of personal branding, I was schooled this week on how it isn't always a good thing. On the surface it makes sense that the more you're known as an expert in your field, the better off you are. My previous experiences had led me to believe that this was always the case. It turns out that like all things, there are positive and negative consequences to personal branding.
During a #PR20Chat on Twitter this issue came up with the obvious example of Frank Eliason's departure from Comcast. During his time creating online customer service through Twitter for Comcast, Frank became a legend. He was a man doing the right thing at the right time and he unwittingly became a celebrity in social media marketing circles for his accomplishments. As Twitter and social media gained more and more press in publications like the New York Times and Businessweek, Frank received more and more invitations to deliver keynote presentations on how corporations could best use social media tools to deliver better customer service.
As the person who built one Twitter account into a highly successful online customer service department that made a tarnished company image shine brightly, Frank deserved the notoriety. His star rising meant that Comcast was simultaneously being heralded as one of the few Fortune 500 companies who were 'getting' social media's value. A win/win scenario unfolded.
Frank left Comcast for a similar position with Citi and now you don't hear quite as much about either of them. As arguably the most famous customer service rep of all time, Frank will forever be known as "formerly from @comcastcares".
During the #PR20Chat I mentioned two friends, George Smith and Jessica Berlin. This alerted them to the conversation and they shared a little of their experiences. George was the Social Media Specialist at Crocs and is now the Manager, Social Execution and Strategy at PepsiCo. Jessica was the Social Media Manager at Cirque Du Soliel and is now the Social Media Manager at American Eagle Outfitters. Both of them surprised me by sharing downsides for them and the companies they left when they moved on.
One point was that personal relationships don't scale. This is a an important point. People connect to people, not to companies. A Social Media Manager with a strong personal brand enhances the company they work for while they are there, but when they leave, their following goes with them. Hopefully their work for their companies created legacy systems that will maintain and grow what they've built. But even then, there will be some natural disintegration when they leave.
Another point was that a personal brand gets tied to the company brand. It takes time for that association to dwindle. As I mentioned, no matter how much Frank Eliason does for Citi, he will be associated with Comcast for the rest of his life because he was a rock star at a time when his name and Comcast's brand were rising stars in customer service together.
It's a catch 22 because improving your personal brand will always help you and improving a company brand will always help a company. It just seems that the reality is that there will always be some downsides with that. Still, the upsides far outweigh having a weak personal brand or a weak company brand.
This article was originally posted at Oxstein Labs.