Last night I was at a network event where the speaker was talking about brands - in this case aspirational or “must have” brands. As she was explaining how to buy jewellery at auction ( yes - even in these cash strapped times. Did you know that it can cost one third of retail prices to buy at auction?) and flashed up a slide showing only the top of a pale blue box with a white ribbon tied on top. No words at all…but everyone in that room knew what brand it was. Although it was a women’s event I expect a large number of men would also have recognised it.

An enormous amount of investment has been put into making it so. But was wondering if there was something that each of us could learn from that.

Later on I was in conversation with a couple of friends and we were talking about keeping the business message clear. Each of us are independent consultants and the nature of working that way means that we have diverse portfolios of work. But then Tiffany has jewellery, leather goods, pens, ornaments… . So our brand needs to reflect strongly what the consultant - as a person - has to offer . Tiffany has done major market research to get ( and stay) where it is.  Now there’s a thought.

This does not apply only to consultants though - I believe that having a strong personal brand in the workplace could be hugely beneficial. Think of it in terms of where someone would go if they want a clear thinker, or brilliant can-do attitude, or realistic view of current situations, or ability to pull teams together for great results….

So what does your own “brand” tell others?  It might be worth finding out… and making sure that it is what you want it to be!