04 Apr You Are The Brand
Three things went through my mind when I heard the news about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock on live television during the Oscars. What would I do if I was in Will Smith’s shoes? How would I respond if I was standing where Chris Rock was when he got slapped? And how will both sides spin this story in the days and weeks ahead.
If you missed the story, you must have been on a social media break. It was the slap heard around the world when Will Smith got up on stage and slapped Chris Rock for telling an insensitive joke about Smith’s wife.
I’ll leave the debate over the situation to Twitter. But ask yourself what you would do if you were Will Smith or Chris Rock?
I doubt you have the same kind of platform or social media following, but as a business leader you do have influence and people are watching to see how you respond when adversity hits.
If someone made a comment toward your family, how would you respond? I don’t know you, but I doubt you would slap the person. You might be tempted to say something you will later regret. Though as my mom taught me growing up, two wrongs don’t make a right.
And what would you do if you were Chris Rock and something you said offended someone else? Whether they responded with force, words, or just showed you a look of hurt.
You might not think of yourself as a brand, but market research shows your employees, customers, and prospects care what you think, and they are watching how you respond to situations today.
When I was growing up, the term “brand” only referred to a company. But today we see celebrities as brands. In truth, you are a brand. You might not think of yourself as a brand, but market research shows your employees, customers, and prospects care what you think, and they are watching how you respond to situations today.
Maybe you don’t own a business, or you are not a business leader. It doesn’t matter, you are still a brand. Whatever you post online will always be online. Anything you do in public is being recorded on video via a smartphone or some surveillance camera. What you do today could affect your chance at getting a job tomorrow.
Think carefully how you would respond in any situation, and make sure you are getting out front and telling your story. That is what content marketing is all about, and we would love to talk to you about your content strategy.
Scott Miller is the CEO of Centerpost Media, host of the Create. Build. Manage. show (seen on BizTV, heard on BizTalkRadio, and available wherever you listen to podcasts,) and a member of the Forbes Agency Council, Entrepreneur Leadership Network, and Dallas Business Journal Leadership Trust. You can find Scott on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter via “@scottmillerceo” or on LinkedIn via “@scottmillermedia.” Centerpost Media is a content marketing agency with a vision to help every business they encounter with their media needs by providing outstanding quality, service and value. Centerpost Media is the parent company to BizTV, BizTalkRadio, BizTalkPodcasts and Bizvod.