I've been intrigued in recent days by several discussions about the complex issue of "identity management" for professional service firms. I'll address these in the coming days, with a separate post that tackles an aspect of this complex subject.
Here's Part 1.
Identity misinterpretation. Malcolm Gladwell writes about the personal-branding phenomenon, Cesar Millan, "The Dog Whisperer." For those of us in the expertise-based marketing arena, Cesar Millan represents a marketer's dream and a nightmare. He's a dream because: his expertise is in high demand and is likely to stay that way for the longer term; he has a unique, credible and powerful positioning; he has a "branded" methodology; and he's a natural extrovert. He's a nightmare because of the identity management challenges that inevitably surface when an expert has to be interpreted in small bites.
Gladwell's astute remarks point out how easy it is to misunderstand the intellectual capital of an expert when one only gets to encounter that expert in short snippets, in this case small video clips of Cesar Millan in action. (Several of Gladwell's readers voiced their strong objections to Millan's harsh techniques.) Gladwell recounts how he took the time to observe Millan's approaches in greater depth, and saw those techniques applied in a deeper and fuller context, so that he truly understands how powerful they are.
My question: As PSF marketers embrace marketing communication channels like Internet video clips and podcasts, are we mindful enough of the implications of the quick-take showcase of our firms' individual brand characters, versus the deeper exposure that purchasers inevitably need in order to assess a complex set of methodologies? How many of our firms and practitioners are being misinterpreted by potential decision makers, and if so, do we know about it?
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