Infoism - Latest Comments

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Ned — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:11:05 -0000

Yeah I I think see what you mean - just, though, my brain struggles with this sort of thing at 3 in the afternoon! :-)

Isn't reputation even worse though, from the point of view of people NOT doing what they believe in /. are passionate about out of fear? If people are thinking 'but what of my reputation?' won't that inhibit them, or be in danger of doing so?

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Ian — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:30:26 -0000

Hey Jo, completely agree with you. :)

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Ian — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:28:32 -0000

Thanks Lesley :) I think this is the problem with "personal branding", it is very subjective. What one person may consider to be a positive brand image (going against the grain for example) may be another person's negative brand. But it is true that sometimes when you share things you think will be unpopular (like this post for example!), you actually find that there are a fair few people who do agree!

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Ian — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:23:34 -0000

Hi Simon. This is exactly what I am worried about. People filtering out the things they are doing because they fear it will negatively impact upon their brand. This, for me, is the danger of the whole brand issue. People stop doing or saying things that they perceive to negatively impact upon their "brand" which may then have a negative impact upon the wider profession. This is one reason why I wish we'd stick the idea of "brand" and "branding" in the bin. I think it does us no favours. But what the answer to this is, I don't know. Encourage people to stop talking about brand/branding when referring to people perhaps? :)

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Ian — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:18:47 -0000

Hi Ned, thanks for the comment. I have to say I do disagree with you when you say "brand is effectively reputation", it isn't. They are two distinct (subtly so admittedly) terms and whilst they are linked, they are neither the same nor effectively the same. I was trying to find a way of explaining this without actually laboriously doing it myself (not easy when you've just picked your daughter up from the nursery and sitting down watching Mr Tumble with her!), but I came across this which sums it up far better than I could ever hope to!

"But many executives often speak about corporate reputation and brand as if they are one and the same. They are not, and confusing the two can be costly. Focusing on reputation at the expense of brand can lead to product offerings that languish in the market. On the other hand, concentrating on brand and neglecting reputation can be equally dangerous, resulting in a lower stock price, difficulties in attracting top talent and even product boycotts.

"Simply put, brand is a “customercentric” concept that focuses on what a product, service or company has promised to its customers and what that commitment means to them. Reputation is a “companycentric” concept that focuses on the credibility and respect that an organization has among a broad set of constituencies, including employees, investors, regulators, journalists and local communities — as well as customers. In other words, brand is about relevancy and differentiation (with respect to the customer), and reputation is about legitimacy (of the organization with respect to a wide range of stakeholder groups, including but not limited to customers)."

[Source: http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the...]

When you think of the "brand" Coca-Cola, it is not the same as the *reputation* of Coca-Cola. Sure, one can have an impact on the other, but they are not the same.

I guess I think this is what I am trying to get at in my post. I think there is either an issue with the terminology or the way it is communicated. I would add as well that the following from the above passage is EXACTLY what I am getting at:

"...concentrating on brand and neglecting reputation can be equally dangerous..."

It is dangerous, and there is a need to shift away from a focus on "brand" to a focus on reputation (see also the first of the two links I point to at the end of my post above). There has been far too much focus on the former and not enough on the latter, in my view.

Maybe I had misunderstood the point, but I think that does underline the issue here. I know I am not alone in interpreting this whole issue in this way and that in itself suggests a problem in the way it has been communicated (I would argue this is down to the terminology used). Let's face it, we are all intelligent people, most of us have Masters degrees or are studying towards one. If intelligent people are mis-interpreting the message, it suggests there is a problem with the message. For me, this boils down to terminology but, you know, I don't expect everyone to agree with me on that :)

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Johanna Anderson — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:18:09 -0000

Wow, Simon. That is depressing. But then I am not sure I would want to work for people that did not value those skills and dedication. It is hardly like you are setting fire to things and tying yourself to railings! When did advocating your profession become such a taboo?! I really do worry about this profession.

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Simon Barron — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:33:33 -0000

This is an interesting post and the whole 'negative image' thing is something that I'm mentioning in my workshop on Friday and that I talked about with Ned last Friday. Last year, when I was interviewing for lots of jobs, I eventually stopped mentioning my library campaigning work. Previously I'd mentioned as demonstrating teambuilding skills, advocacy skills, marketing skills, initiative, passion, and simply because I'm proud of it. But I eventually got the impression that it wasn't something employers are looking for.

So basically I think you're right, Ian, but I wish you weren't and I'm not sure what we can do about it. With library management as it is, how do we make it possible to simultaneously work in libraries and campaign for libraries?

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Ned Potter — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:21:09 -0000

The post is about 'brand' but it mostly talks about 'branding' which is not the same thing, and it's an important distinction to make. Brand is effectively reputation - the sum total of everyone's perceptions of something or something. Everyone has a brand; not everyone does any kind of personal branding. Your opinions on brand - ie that you don't like it etc - are part of your brand, because you put them out there.

People think developing a brand is the process of getting together some kind of corparate colour scheme, having a logo, or (and this is the part I really worry about) behaving in a certain way to suit someone else's agenda, for example supressing their true beliefs. Or thinking in terms of, if I do this, will it look good?

It isn't that, when it comes to individual people / librarians - it's just pursuing what you are interested in, in a public and networked way. It should be about following your passions, and the brand should be a byproduct of doing so.

When you blog about something, it's an inadvertent branding excercise of sorts - if the brand is the sum total of everyone's perceptions of you, then putting your opinions into the public sphere can influence those perceptions. So in this post you've branded yourself as anti-marketing, but your brand says you are in favour of it, because we know you do a huge amount of work to tell people the value of libraries, which is what marketing is. :) No one can fully control their brand.

I gave a presentation on brand recently, and one of things I said was that people shouldn't panic about this (because people do seem to get really worried about it, particularly those new to the profession - they confuse it with branding, and consider it this unseemly thing which they don't want to get involved with but feel they should) and that they should just do what they want to do. I also said that if you want to make your brand work for your professionally, there are things you can do to try and influence it in a direction you want to go - effectively, you can take greater control over what greets people when they look you up. So this means, for example, blogging to get your opinions out there, or writing articles, or presenting. But the brand isn't an end in itself - it's just a means to an end of getting more opportunities to do interesting things, get a better CV etc. It also means thinking about what employers want - some employers want 'Being a vociferous library campaigner' because it shows your passion, your greater awareness of the profession etc, while other employers might be much more interested in 'I've organised a team of volunteers, I can talk to large audiences, I can coordinate a social media campaign' etc etc. It's still doing what you are passionate about, just presenting it to different audiences in ways which make sense to them.

We all have a brand, it's not something we can opt out of - the important things, in my opinion, are not to stress out about it, and to at least consider how you want your career to develop and, if possible, bring to the fore the parts of your brand which can help you achieve what you want to achieve.

Oh and, don't worry about what other people are doing, it's very unlikely it'll be relevant to your own ambitions!

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Johanna Anderson — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:02:21 -0000

I don't think they are changing alas. Or at least not in a way I agree with.

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Lesley Firth — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:30:50 -0000

Thats terrible, any organisation which asks members to pay for its services should be happy to hear critique and opinions. Harmonious organisations may prosper but those which allow constructive conflict will too! I haven't had much to do with CILIP as I've only recently joined but am aware of the frustrations of people who are confident enough to Tweet/blog them. Perhaps things are changing? Maybe CILIP should work on their personal brand!

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Johanna Anderson — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:34:13 -0000

I am with you on this one Lesley. One very worrying example of where "going against the grain" has been seen to be not the done thing is with CILIP. When I first joined I started thinking about how they could do a better job at advocating the profession. I dared to mention this on twitter and I was labelled "a CILIP basher" by some, which was far from what I was doing as I was actually very proud to be a member of CILIP at the time. I was even messaged by people high up from within CILIP scolding me for publicly questioning the organisation and telling me they thought this was not on. I know I am not the only one this has happened to. If you fear constructive critiscm and and critique then how can you ever hope to develop or address the very real problems we are facing? I was airing conversations that were taking place among colleagues in the work place and I wanted to know what others beyond my four walls were thinking. The reaction I received left me feeling disengaged and nervous to even mention CILIP ever again. I left in the end because I did not want to be stifled and not feel I could speak my mind, amongst other reasons. Thankfully, my experience in the work place has been very different. I work for people who respect the fact that I have a mind of my own and give me the space to explore. develop and even sometimes argue different ways of applying practice and improving what we do.

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Lesley Firth — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:59:24 -0000

This is the bit that interested me the most Ian: "So focused have they become on creating a positive brand image of themselves, they have been unwilling to upset this image by taking positions that may be unpopular with peers or superiors but will result in long-term benefits". I think that a positive brand image includes sharing an "against the grain" opinion without fear of what others think. I don't think its wholly positive to just agree with everyone and everything. It happens all the time when someone shares something that they think might be unpopular or 'ranty' and then a few people admit that they agree too. A positive brand image incorporates not caring what others think too much as well as seeming like a nice person who's good at their job.

Very thought-provoking, Ian!

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Johanna Anderson — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:57:44 -0000

I agree Ian. I don't want to be a "brand". As I told you, I was talking to my boss about this very topic and she said "I don't want to get my employees from Burtons". I think this brand obsession has already made people too self conscious and worried about questioning anything. It puts people at risk of becoming dull and contrived. Which employers or library users will welcome that? Not any I would want to work for. Do they care about your brand? Probably not, we mostly work as part of a team not a solo commodity. If you do your job well and can demonstrate this, if you work with integrity, enthusiasm and critical intelligence then surely that is enough? . It is all very well to do things to enhance your reputation, make your CV look good, but if that becomes your only focus rather than what is best for your service and it's users, your profession, what you are really interested in etc, then you need to question why it is you are still in librarianship.

Re: Why you should learn to stop worrying about your brand

Nicola Franklin — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:28:06 -0000

I would say that, by demonstrating relevance and value to individual users or society (which I agree is absolutely necessary and often not done/done well), librarian(s) would be creating a perception of themselves by those users or society. Whether you call this a brand or not is up to you, but the perception, image, call it what you will, will exist irrespective of what label you put on it.

Re: The income divide and its impact on digital exclusion

Ian — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 07:48:40 -0000

Hi Jenny. I've not come across that before, thanks for posting it, I'll certainly have a read. Interesting that they refer to the "Inclusive Public Library". Thanks for posting!

Re: The income divide and its impact on digital exclusion

Jennysarahjones — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 18:03:01 -0000

Hi Ian, great post. I have just been reading through the Community Led Libraries Toolkit written by the Working Together Project in Canada in 2008 http://www.librariesincommunit... I'm really interested to hear whether anyone knows of anyone running these kind of community-led projects in the UK as it sounds like a truly new way exploring the relationship between the public libraries and communities?

Re: Is it time to boycott Amazon?

Brettvt — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:40:09 -0000

glad others are reaching the same conclusion - actually being honest - I'm reaching the same conclusion as others!

Re: Louise Mensch, the media and Twitter

Ian — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:56:59 -0000

I see where you are coming from but still not wholly convinced. She's certainly been engaged in an extended discussion with Sunny Hundal on Twitter this morning where she has been challenged and interrogated.

Re: Louise Mensch, the media and Twitter

Liam Murray — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 05:30:46 -0000

Agree entirely but that wasn't the thrust of your original post. It suggested a contradiction between two things Louise said where no such contradiction existed.

Re: Louise Mensch, the media and Twitter

Ian — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:57:31 -0000

I'm sorry, I really do not think this entire situation is one where Committee members should comment publicly at all. On any aspect of the revelations. In my view, she and other Committee members should not be commenting on the innocence or otherwise of anyone involved in this process. Which means no specific comment (such as that above) on any form of media.

Re: Louise Mensch, the media and Twitter

Liam Murray — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:30:06 -0000

I think you're missing her point. She didn't say she wasn't going to comment publicly, she said she wasn't going to "do media". So while you're right to point out that Twitter is 'media' in one very obvious and basic way, it's still materially different from an extended conversation on broadcast media where she'd presumably be interrogated & challenged on different aspects of her position & the select committees deliberations.

Re: Is it time to boycott Amazon?

Jill — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:19:15 -0000

They run sweat shops in the US, and they do not give their online sellers their money.
They are a horrid company!

Re: The internet – don’t need it, can’t afford it

Ian — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:31:42 -0000

Very true. I wonder, sometimes, how far off we are from the time when certain things will ONLY be able to be done online. Benefits claims are only one step away now and, when you consider that benefits claimants aren't exactly flush with money, it is a quite worrying to think what the future might bring.

Re: The internet – don’t need it, can’t afford it

Ian — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:28:52 -0000

Hi Eve. Thanks, it goes to show that not everyone has an internet connection...much as some people would have us believe otherwise.

Re: The internet – don’t need it, can’t afford it

NicolaFranklin — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 10:21:05 -0000

I think that, so long as there are alternatives 'in the real world' (as many of these people seem to see it) to get done what they want to get done - be that shopping, voting, claiming benefits, etc - then we can't, and shouldn't, try and force people to use a channel to interact that they aren't comfortable with. The real issue will come if/when commerce &/or government decide that manning 'real life' channels, be it call centres, shops, manned offices, etc, is too expensive and not cost effective, with the result that the online channel becomes the norm, and then the only, way to get some things done. At that point it will become essential to persuade and enable people to be online and to have the skills with a computer and on the internet to access those services.