The Personal Experience Effect

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20660 Stevens Creek Blvd., Suite 210

Cupertino, CA 95014

The PersonalExperience EffectBook ExcerptBig Brand Theory Applied to Personal Life

By Jim JosephAuthor of the award-winning

The Experience Effect and

The Experience Effect

for Small Business

http://J imJ osephExp.com

@J imJ osephExp


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ii

BOOK EXCERPT Table of Contents

Foreword: Make an Entrance

Robert Verdi

Introduction: Become a Brand

Steve Jobs

Chapter 1: Learn The Experience Effect

Donna Summer

About J im J oseph

Getting the book from Happy About


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C o n t e n t s

The Personal Experience Effect iii

NOTE: This is the Table of Contents (TOC) from the book foryour reference. The eBook TOC (below) differs in page

count from the tradebook TOC.

Foreword Make an Entrance

Robert Verdi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Prologue So I Got to Thinking

Big Brand Theory App lied to Personal

Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Introduction Become a Brand

Steve Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 1 Learn The Experience Effect

Donna Summer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Chapter 2 Create Who You Want to Be

J. K. Rowling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Chapter 3 Position Yourself

Meryl Streep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Chapter 4 Make Good Choices

James Carvil le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Chapter 5 Understand Your Audience

Jill ian Michaels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Chapter 6 Make a Plan

Julia Child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Chapter 7 Ensure Consistency

Abraham L inco ln . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Chapter 8 Know What You Need

Kim Kardashian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107


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iv Contents

Chapter 9 Be Flexible

Hillary Rodham Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Chapter 10 Own the Digital World

Michael J. Fox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Chapter 11 Find Your Voice, Choose Your Look

Jack Welch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Chapter 12 Go to Market

Cher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Chapter 13 Surround Yourself

Arno ld Schwarzenegger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Chapter 14 Make Your MarkTOMS Shoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Epilogue A Story of Inspirat ion

Two Tweets, One Brand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Author About J im Joseph

A Bui lder and a Fixer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Books Other THiNKaha Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183


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The Personal Experience Effect 1

F o r e w o r d

Make an Entrance

By Robert

Verd i, FamedLifestyle Expert

I remember the very first time I met J im

J oseph.

At the time, he was the president of aprestigious public relations agencywhose roster of clients included some ofthe most important beauty and fashionbrands in the country. I was alreadynervous when I arrived at his office, andthen his assistant brought me into alarge, intimidating conference roomwhere I awaited his arrival. J im entered

the room with his shoulder-length saltand pepper hair and a very colorful PaulSmith shirt, topped off with an ear-to-earsmile. I was pleasantly surprised andwas immediately put at ease.

Not only had J im entered the room, buthis brand did as well. I was expecting thepresident of a leading PR firm to bewearing a traditional dark suit. I alsoanticipated that when he arrived, his

personality would match his dark suit


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2 Foreword

and he would be very buttoned-up and

all about business. What I got was theexact opposite.

The J im J oseph brand is forwardthinking and modern. He wasdown-to-earth and friendlyhe told methat he was a big fan of mine and that healways wanted to meet me. Without hes-itation, J im told me that his fabulouslyfashionable shirt of choice that day wasinspired by our upcoming meeting, and

he asked me if I approved of the choice.All of this was very disarming.

I later learned that J im has the samedemeanor with everyone he meets, andhe has a closet filled with fabulousshirtsthey are his signature and a partof his brand. I believed that J im had goneabove and beyond just for me, yet hedidn't even know me.

There you have it, some of the corequalities of the J im J oseph brand:original, friendly, and personalizedjustfor you.

Those qualities are some of the ingredi-ents that have helped shape J im's bril-liance and success as a leadingmarketer. If you meet with him, you willwant to work with him. He knows thatand he has built a tremendous reputation

(and personal brand) around the ability


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he has to create that feeling. Since that

day, I've worked on many projects withJ im and he has become one of mymentors, offering me great advice andcounsel as I continue to build my "RobertVerdi" brand.

There is no better person than J imJ oseph to guide you on your personalmission to begin building a career, oreven reinventing yourself by thinkingabout yourself as a brand. J im's experi-

ence in helping develop and marketbrands big and small is unparalleled.

While the idea of packaging your ideasand becoming a brand may seem chal-lenging, with J im as your guide you willbe amazed as you unfold your ideasreading this book. You will create yourbrand identity and it will become amanual to your life, helping you redefinehow you approach everyday challenges.

Whether looking for a job or looking forlove, your personal brand and your un-derstanding of what that brand meansare tools for success in all aspects ofyour life.

In his first two books, The ExperienceEffect and The Experience Effect forSmall Business, J im illustrates whyconsumers care deeply about the overallexperience of the buying process and

how they respond to all the various


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4 Foreword

marketing messages. He teaches us that

when the brand's marketing elementscome together to form a seamless expe-rience, the customer is left with a feelingof satisfaction that ultimately buildsloyalty. J im J oseph calls this ideal com-bination "the experience effect."

What is the effect? It's when a simple yetpowerful brand experience resonatespurposefully, consistently, and continu-ously with customers. J im took his big

business brand theories, applied them tosmall businesses, and now he appliesthem to your life.

In The Personal Experience Effect, J imbreaks down brand development intoseveral categories. He cites uniquelysuccessful examples of personalbranding across many industries. He il-lustrates how people use their platformsin pop culture as individual brand

marketers practically bottling theessence of their ideas and the feelingsthat people get from each one of them.

This is the genius used by people whohave developed themselves strategicallyas products. From J .K. Rowling to KimKardashian to Hillary Clinton, J imexplains their brands to us, and teachesus how to recognize our own unique


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brand DNA so that we can create the

professional and personal outcome eachof us wants in our lives.

Yes, it's trueyou, too are a brand.

In this challenging economic environ-ment, it has become not only evident butimportant for you to understand how toshape your own personal brand. ThePersonal Experience Effect will help youdefine, refine, and cultivate your very

own brand DNA that will help you buildyour professional life with greater under-standing, purpose, and meaning. Aseach and every industry has becomemore and more hypercompetitive, it hasbecome increasingly more important tobrand yourself. You must understandwhat it is that makes you unique, whatmakes you great, and what makes youstand out in a sea of millions. Thankfully,The Personal Experience Effect makes it

easy for you to understand how to takethe steps necessary to identify thequalities and characteristics that willallow you to discover the essence ofyour very own personal brand.

For me, my brand just sort of happened.

But in order to maintain it and furtherdevelop it, I've had to examine whatmakes my brand unique and special

among others. I've discovered that my


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6 Foreword

personal branding recipe has three

important ingredients: good taste,everyday luxury, and humor.

I'm also a skilled connectorI have anenviable database chock full of celebri-ties, socialites, divas, dignitaries, de-signers, and more. However, as afashion personality, the single mostdefining quality of my brand is my senseof humor. It is not only what makes medistinct, it is the tool that I use to seduce,

disarm, entertain, and inform peopleabout the world I embody: the world offashion.

Being funny is the cornerstone of mysuccess in television as well as mysuccess as a celebrity stylist. It's whypeople want to listen to what I have tosay and why celebrities love having mein their entourage. My sense of humorabove all other qualities is what makes

me stand out. Many other fashioninsiders are celebrated merely for theiraffiliations with prestigious publications,not their own personalities.

Not me. I want us to have fun while I'mhelping you navigate through the latestfashion trends and decide which of themyou need to buy this season. I whole-heartedly believe that fashion should befun and should not be intimidating. Let's

face it: you have to get dressed to go to


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work everyday, so why should getting

dressed be another job? It shouldn't! Itshould be easy and stress free, especial-ly since it has to happen everyday,sometimes twice a day. Naked isgenerally not an option.

J im says this is my "positioning," andyou'll learn how to develop your own.

For some, another important aspect ofbuilding your personal brand will be

identifying a signature trademark. I can'tdeny the impact that wearing my sun-glasses has had on my brand develop-ment. The single biggest effect thosesunglasses perched atop my shiny domehas offered is simply allowing me to bemore recognizable among the otherfashion experts.

J im says this is my "own-able brandingelement," and you'll learn how to develop

your own.

People who may not know me by namecan recognize me by this description:"the tall, skinny bald guy with the sun-glasses." I have used these kinds ofguidelines in The Personal ExperienceEffect to galvanize my brand identity.Having J im's guidance through this bookmakes the process less stressful andmore successful for me, and now for

everyone.


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8 Foreword

I keep J im J oseph on speed dial. Project

to project, concept to concept, and ideato idea, I check in with one of my favorite,dependable, astute mentors. His quickinsights are often used to help me shapemy next stepssteps that are now madeeasy for you with his book.

It is a unique time that we are living. Onewhere you can invent yourself and writeyour own ticket to success by applyingbranding strategies that have forever

been used by major marketers.

We are living in the most exciting time:the digital age. You can use your ideasand feelings to customize your life andcreate an overall experience foreveryone you interact with. You cancreate content that connects you to theworld. Yes, your voice can echo throughthe hallways of Facebook, Twitter, Insta-gram, LinkedIn, and blogs where you

can make your presence consistent anddependable. You have the power tocreate a seamless experience in theworld with your very own personal brand.

Remember this very important lesson:don't just walk into a room, make anentrance and smileit works for J imJ oseph every time.

Robert Verdi


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Robert Verdi is one of the nation's

leading lifestyle experts. He has hostedfive television series including his ownself-titled reality show. He is one of the

most respected fashion pundits com-menting on pop culture and he is inextri-cably linked to many of today's mostfamous and loved celebrities.


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10 Foreword


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I n t r o d u c t i o n

Become a Brand

Steve Jobs :

TrueInnovator,Connector

J ust like any other morning, I woke up

today and almost instantly started inter-acting with brands. Gillette personalproducts, an early morning Diet Pepsi,Nike workout gear, iPad to check e-mail,a colorful Paul Smith shirt, and aStarbucks on the way to workjust toname a few.

We live with brands all day long, everyday of our lives. We've incorporatedthem into our lives because in one way

or another, we have determined thatthey help us. They make life easier,more rewarding, and more taste-fulwhatever the case may be. This istrue of all the brands across everyspectrum of our livesfrom food tofashion, from home to personal care.

Most of us don't even realize that this ishappening. We've let a collection ofbrands into our lives very subconsciously


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12 Introduction

yet, at the same time, for a definitive

purpose that we may not even thinkabout.

Diet Pepsi gets me going in the morning.It's a bold snap of refreshment in a reallycold can that gives me a jolt. It helps meget to the gym every morning at 5:15a.m.

Nike helps me feel as if I'm young and fit,even though clearly that is an ongoing

battle. Wearing Nike gives me the edge Ineed to go running in the rain or to workout an extra fifteen minutes, so earlyeach day!

Apple keeps me connected and makesme feel as if I'm on the cutting edge. Ithelps me get my work done, stayconnected to friends, and ride on thepulse of pop culture. I wrote this book onan Apple laptop.

Paul Smith gives me some personalstyle, something I want to set me apart.

Starbucks is a friendly start to what canoften be a long day. The baristas knowme there, and they start making my drinkthe moment I walk through the door. Isimple have to say whether I want hot orcold.


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Each of these brands adds value to my

life, so I keep them close at hand. I havethem positioned in my mind for what theydo for me.

I'm not sure this is how the brands wantme to position them, but it is how theyhave come to add value to my life.

Positioning? We'll get to that later.

As a result, I have grown to love thesebrands, and I am extremely loyal tothem. I will go out of my way to find a DietPepsi over a Diet Coke.

The only way to explain that is that thereis some sort of an emotional connectionthat transcends the simple need to drinksomething. It's the emotional connectionthat creates a brand, and it means somuch more than just any product.

So how is this at all relevant to you?

Well, this is exactly what it means to be

a brand.

Diet Pepsi: wake-up call to getgoing in the morning

Nike: gear to stay young

Apple: tools to stayconnected


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14 Introduction

Brands transcend the products them-

selves and become much more mean-ingful to their consumers than just thephysical benefits. Diet Pepsi means somuch more to me than just a beverage.

Nike means so much more than just apair of running shorts.

To those who love you, you are so muchmore than just another ordinary person.

The same is true of people, and thesame is true of you. In addition to myDiet Pepsi, I engaged with some peoplethis morning too, including my teenageson, and he is quite the guy!

We incorporate people into our lives,often without realizing it, for many of thesame reasons that we incorporatebrands.

We meet them, we get to know them, weposition them in our minds, and we ulti-mately let them into our lives becausethey add value to us. Hopefully we endup loving them for it. Family and friends,work colleagues and associates,neighbors and acquaintances. We maynot realize it, but we evaluate all of thembased on their brands.


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We bring people into our lives because

they make things easier, more reward-ing, and more tasteful, whatever thecase may be. J ust like brands, we addpeople into our lives because of thevalue they bring to us.

Think of your friends. If you stop andthink about it, they each give yousomething in your life. In this way,people are no different than brands. Infact, people are brands, which is the

whole point.

Each person in our life is there becausewe have a perception of what they willoffer us. Over time we have learned whothey are and what they are all about. Wehave seen their behaviors and thedecisions that they have made, and wehave either grown to appreciate them forit, or we have realized that they no longerbelong alongside us. Our perceptions of

people have been shaped by thedecisions that they have made in theirlives, and how they affect us.

Even our children.

They are a part of our lives because wehave brought them in. They too addvalue, even though there are days whenthat doesn't feel like the case. They too


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16 Introduction

are brands, just in development. At least

that's what I told my son as we werefilling out college applications!

In this regard, hopefully you see thatmarketing is all about choices.

When our choices and decisions consis-tently make up a pattern of behavior,then we start to position a person in ourmind as some sort of a reflection of thatbehavior. We give him an identity, and

then we watch to see if everything hedoes stacks up to how we perceivehim/her.

As a result, we have turned these peopleinto brands. It's human nature, and wecan't help ourselves. I just don't know ifwe've ever talked about it this way orhave ever pegged it as branding.

The more consistent the behavior and

the more consistent the decisions madethroughout life, then the more clear-cutthe person's brand and the more defini-tively we know how to incorporatehim/her into our lives.

That, my friends, is the essence of theexperience effect. The Personal Experi-ence Effect to be exact, as it relates topersonal branding.


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Allow me to illustrate with a few

examples.

The Career Coach

In every organization that I haveworked, there has been someonethere who becomes the "therapist" inthe groupthe person who spendsmuch of his/her time coaching otherson how to get their job done and howto get promoted. Sometimes it's a

human resources professional(hopefully), or sometimes justsomeone who is a strong mentor andtakes these things seriously. He/shelives to help others in the workplace.

The Party An imal

You know this person! Every waking(and probably non-waking) momentis about the next social get-together.Every business trip has a socialelement to it; every business meetingis about where to go out for drinksthat night. The party animal'squestion is always, "Where's theparty in this proposal?"

The Perfect Parent s

The people who all their life just

wanted to have a family. They gearedtheir education, their dating, and their


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18 Introduction

career choices around getting ready

for children. Now that they havethem, they devote all of their timetoward their well-being. They workhard for their family, and they loveevery minute of it. This might be thehigh school gym teacher who alsocoaches, or the work-at-home smallbusiness owner who has madecareer choices so that he can be withhis family.

I have certainly been there, done that.

Are these stereotypes?

Yes, I suppose, but they are meant tojust illustrate a point. What they reallyshow is that through consistent behaviorand deliberate choices, people becomebrands. You know who they are, and youprobably can anticipate what they aregoing to do in any given situation.

Based on the choices they have made intheir lives and their current situation, wecan be pretty sure where their lives willbe going from here on out. For some ofthese folks, this was all a deliberate plan,and for others, they just sort of fell into it.Either way, I hope you can see that theyhave started to form their own personalbrand.


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A few more examples, a little more real

and a lot more famous, that will help puta face to this concept ofThe PersonalExperience Effect:

Meryl Streep

The quintessential American actress.Career longevity like no other. Withdecades in the business, year afteryear still churning out blockbusterhits and critical acclaims she has

performed a wide variety of roles andhas not had a lick of tabloid scandal.She is apparently starting to mentorthe next generation in AnneHathaway, which is also a sign of agood brandestablishing a legacy!

Lady Gaga

She is new to the scene but is clearlyestablishing who she is as ahyper-creative artist. She createspulsing beats, infectious lyrics, andoutlandish costumes, but she is allabout the underdog. She is musicallycentered but cultivates partnershipswith brands like MAC cosmetics andPolaroid, which is also the sign of apowerful brand.


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20 Introduction

Anderson Cooper

The longest overnight success injournalism. On the ground for all thebig worldwide news stories (like thedevastation in New Orleans and inHaiti), he has created a reputation fortelling us exactly what is happeningat the moment, from the middle of thescene. Anderson Cooper has estab-lished his brand consistently,whether it's on air or online in hisblog, Twitter account, or Facebookpage.

Steve Jobs (one of m y person alfavori tes)

The ultimate visionary and innovator,who created products that radicallychanged our lives. Without a doubt,the one business CEO who had thebiggest impact on my personal life

even though we sadly never met. Hiswork keeps me connected everysingle day of my life.

These are perfect portrayals of peoplewho know who they are and have madegreat choices in their lives, establishingthemselves as great brands in theirfields.


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Each of them has (seemingly deliberate-

ly) created his/her own Personal Experi-ence Effect and has risen to thepinnacles of his/her profession. If younotice, though, none of them has had apicture perfect life, yet all of them havecreated a legacy for others to follow orhave picked up a legacy from thosebefore them.

Lady Gaga was inspired by so many,including Donna Summer and Madonna,

for example. Future entertainmentbrands will soon say that they wereinspired by Lady Gaga.

The point here is that Meryl Streep, LadyGaga, and Anderson Cooper havebecome brands just like Tide, Apple, andJ .Crew.

As are you!

That's right, you can do this too, and youprobably have already gotten a goodstart. You just need to make it more of aconscious process so that you can steeryour life toward what you want to accom-plish.

You need an outline for a personalmarketing plan, just like a brand does.


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22 Introduction

Brand managers follow a very rigorous

process to determine their marketingplan, and they update it every singleyear. Trust me, I've done it over and overagain through the years in virtually everyconsumer category you can think of, forthe biggest brands in the world. It's a de-liberate process, but it's also verycreative (or certainly should be).

Although this process was built for thebig brands, like Colgate, it can be easily

applied to people, and that's what we'redoing right here.

The result of all that planning will be aroadmap for getting what you want out oflife and, ultimately, a reputation thatserves you well.

Both personally and professionally,you'll have your own brand and your veryown Personal Experience Effect.

As you read through this book, I willshow you the way, much like I coach andconsult brand managers on how tomarket their brands and get what theywant for their businesses. It's really thesame, except now it's about you!

I start out the book in chapter one bytalking more about The Personal Experi-ence Effect in terms of what it really

means and what it really does for you.


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Then in chapter two, we will get started

by defining who you want to be as aperson. It's an important first step, andwe can't move ahead without knowingwhat we want out of life. Every branddoes it, and so should you.

Inchapter three, we will apply that branddefinition into two classic marketingconcepts: a positioning statement andan elevator pitch. Don't know what thoseare? Not only will you know them, you

will have them for your brand.

Chapter four is where we explore thechoices we make in life. Marketing is allabout making good choices, so we willexamine how the choices you make formwho you are and who you want to be.Your consistent choices will form yourbrand, so you need to do it consciously,every step of the way.

Chapter five covers understanding youraudience. J ust like a brand, you need tounderstand the wants and needs ofthose around you, or of those who youwant to have around you. It's the friends,family, and coworkers who surround youwho perceive your behavior and, ulti-mately, create your brand. It's importantto know what they want so that you cancreate the right kind of brand for yourselfand for them.


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24 Introduction

Chapter six is where we construct our

marketing plan, just as if we were a bigglobal brand. We will construct a planjust as I have advised my clients throughthe yearsfrom Tylenol to Kellogg's toAmbien to Paul Mitchell. Once you knowwhat you want, you can more easily writeout the plan to get there, and that'sexactly what we will do.

In chapter seven, we will hit the crux ofThe Personal Experience Effect where

we talk about consistency. For a brand toresonate with its consumers, it mustbehave consciously and consistentlyeach and every time. So too must you ifyou want to be a brand.

Chapter eight dives into identifying whatyou need to become your brand. You areprobably on your way, but there arealways more things to do. Goodmarketing is never complete, and neither

are we as people. We'll figure out what'smissing from our branding and how to fillin the gaps.

Chapter nine looks into being flexible.Life throws us many curveballs. Weneed to have a personal marketing planthat is flexible enough to respond to thechanges that happen in life. Plus we canalways exercise the option to change ourminds!


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Chapter ten goes online. The digital

world has made this both easier andharder at the same time. I see it with myteenage kids whose entire lives areonline and on display. The choices wemake are now all up for public sharingand evaluation, making the creation of abrand even more important. We'llexplore how to navigate the entire onlineworld and how to manage your brandproperly in the process.

Chapter eleven covers your brand's lookand voice. It's important to look andsound the partin this case, the part isyour brand.

Chapter twelve takes your brand to themarketfor finding a job, for a new date,for family, or for whatever your life takesyou. It's time to put your great brandingto use.

Chapter thirteen is about those aroundyou who support your brand. You shouldsurround yourself with those who willhelp you achieve your goals.

Finally, chapter fourteen exploresadding some purpose to your brand andtalks about how you can give back tothose in needin your community, to thenext generation, or for whatever fits yourbrand.


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26 Introduction

Throughout this book, I will bring in a lot

of examples from other brands to helpillustrate each point. I believe stronglythat we can learn a lot by observingbrands in action. It's a part of my ownbranding, that's for sure. One of mybrand themes is "Marketing is aSpectator Sport," and I plan to prove thatthroughout each topic.

As you read this book, feel free to visitmy website: http://J imJ osephExp.com.

It's where you will find my take on thegreat brands around us, and hopefully,you will find inspiration for what you aretrying to build. You can also meet oneanother.

You'll also get to see more of my brand.

I love marketing, and I am honored that Ican bring the principles of goodmarketing that I have learned throughout

my entire career to you. Hopefully, it willhelp you build your own brand so thatyou can get what you want out of life.

The Personal Experience Effect.

Good luck to you and to your brand.Enjoy the process.


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C h a p t e r

1 LearnThe Experience Eff ect

Donna

Summer:The Queen o fDisco

You may not ever have thought about

yourself as being in marketing, but thetruth is that when it comes to your ownlife, you are in fact a marketeramarketer of yourself.

Marketing can mean a lot of things to alot of people, so let's put a definitionaround it.

I've gone through most of my career witha pretty clear picture of marketing, and in

fact, for the most part, I considered it tobe somewhat simple to understand.Perhaps not so easy to execute, butsomewhat easy to at least understandwhat it's all about.

Boy, did I get a little surprise from anunlikely place.

One of the LinkedIn groups I joined putout a challenge question: "How do you

define marketing?" At first glance, I


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28 Chapter 1: Learn The Experience Effect

thought it was the craziest thing I have

ever heard. "What a stupid question," Isaid right out loud. "Everyone will givethe same answer."

(By the way if you're managing a career,and you have not joined LinkedIn, thenput this book down right now and go join.It'll do wonders for the professional sideof your brand, which we will talk aboutlater.)

Well, several months later, the debatewas still raging, as different membersfrom different industries offered theirown definition of marketing. I finally hadto turn off the comments because thearguments were starting to make medizzy.

It made me realize, though, that thereare many dimensions to marketing, andmost everyone was right in his/her own

interpretation. There were a few bizarreideas in the mix, but for the most part,each definition fit the bill for that person.

Marketing is an art that has manysubtleties, even for the big brands. Asclear-cut as it might seem from theoutside for a brand like Starbucks, thereare so many nuances to be managed. Ittakes an entire team of employees andagencies to get it all done correctly and

seamlessly.


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But that's Starbucks.

When it comes to marketing ourselves,there's no reason why we can't applysome of those big brand principles toourselves. We can make marketingpersonal, so to speak.

With personal branding, marketing ishow you serve yourself up to thosearound you and what you consistentlyoffer to them. Said another way,

personal marketing is basically makingsure that you give people what theywant, in order to ultimately get what youwant.

I realize that I just turned it around onyou, so let's look at a big brand examplelike Tide.

When it comes to a brand like Tide, thebranding and the marketing is all about

what it can do for its consumersin thiscase, giving people ways to clean theirfamily's clothes. The Tide brand gives itsconsumers something of benefit to themso that they will buy it over and over. Thebrand provides a good, consistentproduct in order to get consumer loyalty.


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When it comes to yourself, in a similar

manner, you give other peoplesomething so that you can getsomething back in return. Allow me toexplain.

At work, you complete projects so thatyou can get a paycheck. In your personallife, you provide friendship so that youget friendship in return. In each case,you give so that you can receive.

The work you do and the friendships youprovide are an experience that you offerto others. It's the experience that theyreceive that is a benefit to them. Whenmarketing yourself, it's about conscious-ly building that experience so that youcan effectively get what you want inreturn.

That's how I answered that LinkedInquestion: marketing is all about creating

a consistent experience for your custom-ers. This is true whether you are aperson or a business.

For you, it's about creating an experi-ence for those around you so that youcan be successful both personally andprofessionally. In essence, that is yourPersonal Experience Effectit's the ex-perience you offer others so that you can


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get what you want in return. You provide

an experience and receive a benefit inreturn.

One of my favorite examples from musichistory is Donna Summer, the Queen ofDisco. You can't say her name withoutsaying her tagline. It's impossible. Thenimages of disco balls and dancing atclubs immediately pop into our heads.

Donna Summer was a brand that was

clearly created and defined at the time togive people what they want, and shesold millions of records in return. DonnaSummer was an experience, and forthose of you old enough to have enjoyedit, then you know what I mean!

It worked brilliantly for Donna Summer,and it sounds quite simple on thesurface: you provide a personal brandexperience for others, and then

hopefully you get a positive effect fromitthe more positive the experience,then, obviously, the more effective theresult.

Of course, you want your brandexperience to be exactly the way youwant it to be. You need it to bepurposeful, and that takes some thinkingand some planning, which isn't alwaysso simple. Your personal brand should


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be a reflection of who you want to be,

and the experience you offer peopleshould match that, which is a lot of work.

This wasn't always true for DonnaSummer, if you know her story, which iswhy she felt conflicted about her ownbrand. As a result, her longevity andbrand didn't sustain for as long as herpotential would have indicated. Shecouldn't stay consistent to the brand shehad created, so it faded too quickly. But

when the sun was on her, boy, was shea sensation!

The lesson learned there is that youhave to take control. You are your ownbrand manager, and you have to set thecourse for your own brand experience.It's your show.

We will be spending the rest of our timein this book talking about how to make

the decisions necessary to build the rightkind of experience for your personalbrand, so that you can in fact get whatyou want out of life. It's up to you tocreate the exact brand experience to getexactly what you want out of your life.

Your brand experience becomes whoyou are and how you live your life. It de-termines how people perceive you,whether you intend it or not. You need to

make it intentional.


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I know for me, through the years, I have

very carefully crafted what I think mybrand is all about both personally andprofessionally. I know who I am (andwho I am not), and I know what I want outof life. When I hit a crossroads, I lean onmy brand to help me make a gooddecision based on what I've decided thatI want it to be.

While I am a person, I am certainly alsoa brand, and I market myself very con-

sciously, which is something that I havelearned to do over the years. It didn'tcome automatically for sure. I have myown very Personal Experience Effect,and I live it every day.

I am a marketer of my own brandexperience.

You need to do the same. You need toconsciously create your brand experi-

ence to get the effect you want out of life.

The Personal Experience Effect. It willaffect your success, both personally andprofessionally.

You may not have realized it before, butin this sense, you are both a brand and amarketer. Welcome aboard.

Let's get started.


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NOTES


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A u t h o r

About Jim Joseph

Jim Joseph:A Builder and

a Fixer

Entrepreneur of the Year.

Agency of the Year.

Most Creative Agency.

Thought Leadership Certificate ofExcellence.

Social Media Icon.

These are not accolades that J imJ oseph takes lightly or too seriouslyeither. They inspire him everyday tocontinue to excel and to learn.


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36 Author

J im J oseph is the kind of guy who

actually watches the television commer-cials rather than skipping through them.He scans the magazine ads before everreading the columns, hard copy andonline. Don't be surprised to find him inhis office, legs propped up, flippingthrough Twitter on his iPad.

As the President of Cohn & Wolfe NorthAmerica, J im brings over twenty-fiveyears of consumer marketing leader-

ship, bold management prowess, and afine head of hair to the agency. If runningthis gig wasn't big enough, he's also athree-time author, blogger, professor atNew York University, and regular con-tributor to Entrepreneur and HuffingtonPost. To top it off, he's on the Board ofDirectors for the number one brandingschool in the country, The Brand Centerat VCU, as well as The Council of PRFirms and DTC Perspectives.

When you want to get something done,give it to someone who's busy!

J im's brand pedigree is a portfolio in thewho's who of marketing, includingTylenol, J ohnson & J ohnson, IKEA,Cadillac, Ambien, Nokia, Walmart, andKellogg's. His entrepreneurial streakmotivated him to start his own agencyafter years of client side marketing at

J ohnson & J ohnson and Arm & Hammer.


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He later sold that agency to The Publicis

Groupe, where he managed agenciescovering brand strategy, consumer pro-motion, shopper marketing, digital,CRM, and advertising.

With the strength of a power-liftinghoney badger and the intelligence of,well, an NYU professor, J im's boldestmove transformed what was a strugglingpharmaceutical advertising agency intoan integrated marketing powerhouse,

Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness. J im engi-neered a makeover that included newcapabilities in CRM, promotion, anddigital, as well as a new mix of clientsbeyond pharma into diverse areas ofwellness.

Fulfilling a lifelong dream, J im publishedhis first marketing book in 2010 calledThe Experience Effect, which showedhow building a powerful brand experi-

ence creates shareable consumerloyalty. As J im says, "Without a greatbrand experience, you're just anotherproduct." The book garnered muchcritical acclaim, winning a Silver Medalfor Best Marketing Book from Axiom.

Sequels take a look at applying that bigbrand theory to small business with TheExperience Effect for Small Business

and personal branding with The

Personal Experience Effect. His daily


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38 Author

blog and continuing contributions to

Entrepreneurremind us that "marketingis a spectator sport," as he touches onbig brand experiences as well as advicefor anyone in marketing, even if you arejust marketing yourself.

Following J im is like following the bestthat the marketing industry has to offerbecause that's who he watches andreports on every day.


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Getting The Personal Experience Effect

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Documents

The Personal Experience Effect