Cristal Carrington

Strong brands are not everything to everybody.
Strong brands do not hide.
Strong brands do not chase other brands.

Javan’s famous quote “I don’t wish to be everything to everyone, but I would like to be something to someone”, is true even in the branding process. Strong brands cannot fulfill every need, nor should they try to. However, what they will do is strive to fulfill the needs they can – well. This is where staying true to your brand promise comes in.

Let’s take Dominos Pizza for example: In recent ads, Dominos has been found critiquing themselves publicly for not living up to their brand promise for their pizza and breadsticks. What have they done? Found a way to revamp their products to keep the customers they have. Obviously, a viewer of the ad may simply be a die-hard Pizza Hut fan and will never buy Dominos, but Dominos says, that’s okay, we’re just going to improve on what we can, to be the best to our remaining customers who may be disappointed.

Strong brands do not hide, they remain visible and familiar. Strong brands are embedded in your daily routine. Let’s take Google for example: The search engine creator proclaims they want to own your mind. That’s very lofty, yet they have mastered the art of making you need them for everything from web search, to driving directions, to checking your email.

Google has successfully found a way to embed themselves in your daily routine without you even knowing it. Want to watch a video online? Where do you go? Youtube, (A Google Product). Have an Android phone? (It’s all Google). In fact, people won’t tell you to search for them on the net, they simply say, “Google Me”. Now, Google is in your daily vernacular – Genius!

Strong brands do not clone other brands, they simply and effectively make other brand competitors clone themselves to be like the stronger brand.
Let’s take a brand that tried to clone another brand and failed miserably. Myspace. Myspace was first to the market and offered tons of tools and background changes, which Facebook struggled with, yet Myspace got off track with their client base to chase Facebook. Over 120 Million Myspace users practically ditched Myspace in favor of Facebook, primarily due to the clients desire not to just be in “my space”, but to be in “your space”. In addition, the simplicity and intuitiveness of Facebook and its appeal to non-artists made it a hit. Myspace has now decided not to compete with Facebook, but to compliment it by recognizing its power and accepting it gracefully as the winner. Myspace still has its place for a niche crowd, but will never have the power and influence it once held.

Glad you could visit www.theuptowndiva.com and keep us top of mind when thinking about your brand strategy.
For a consultation, or to talk about your brand, find me on Twitter.com @theuptowndiva or @thesocialiteprj. I am also on Facebook at Cristal Carrington

Strong brands have brand vision that inspires.
Strong brands are clear about what they represent.
Strong brands are constantly evolving.

As we spoke earlier, creating a superior brand promise is essential to let your clients/customers know what they can expect from you and your brand. Today, we are talking about what strong brands are and what they are not.

Strong brands all seek to inspire their audience to not just use the product, but to gain an experience that simply wouldn’t occur with any other product. Let’s take Crayola Crayons for example: Crayola seeks to inspire everyone that comes in contact with their brand to “free the what if.” They are suggesting that by using their products, the user will unlock the door to a world of possibilities. Now that’s amazing!
Clearly, having a brand vision that inspires is important. Name another crayon company that comes top of mind. Exactly.

Strong brands are clear about what they represent. In lay terms, they aren’t willy-nilly. They have standards about themselves, their products and services and won’t waiver, even if trends suggests they should. Don’t mistake this with a brands inability to revamp itself, that’s just a whole other case.
Let’s take McDonalds for example: Although they have revamped themselves to reflect current healthy lifestyle trends of their customer by adding more salads, fruits and oatmeal to the menu, they are still clear in each ad that their food is real and not a byproduct. Their french fries are still golden and their burgers are still full of calories, but its real meat and potatoes. Don’t you feel a little better to know that?

Strong brands know that constant evolution is self-evident to a brands rise or demise. Change is the one constant that no one can control, but in regards to brands, you can guide them successfully to greatness. Let’s take Clorox Bleach for example: Clorox bleach decided that it didn’t just want to be in your homes, your hospitals or your laundry, they wanted to be in your office. They created Clorox wipes to evolve and expand the brand to meet the concerns of a germ-phobic nation and you are using them consistently to curb germs from your computers, printers and workspace. That is evolution at its finest.

I will continue next time with what brands are not, so remember to check www.theuptowndiva.com often. For a consultation or to just talk about brands, find me on Twitter.com @theuptowndiva and @thesocialiteprj. Find me on Facebook at Cristal Carrington.

Your brand promise is your personal mantra or statement that you promise to deliver to your audience/customers each and every time they come in contact with you and your product/service.

Creating a brand promise doesn’t have to be difficult. If you have answered the 5 W’s about your personal brand, you already know who you are and what you stand for. Now, creating your brand promise should be that much easier.

My brand promise is to deliver creative, digestible communications so that my audience can successfully craft their personal brand. Your brand promise will consist of a few short sentences that speak about what you plan to deliver and what your audience can expect from you. Staying true to your brand promise is very important, so limit it to what you know you can deliver consistently. You will have enough time to be lofty later.

Don’t mistake your brand promise with your mission statement. Your mission statement is about your purpose for the long term. The brand promise on the other hand, is simply about product and delivery. If you sell widgets, you can promise to deliver quality widgets to your customer. In regards to your personal brand, if you call yourself the gadget guy, you are promising your audience that you will always be on the cutting-edge of the newest gadgets; even before they hit the mainstream market.

Usually a personal brand is created to shine the light on your specialty or an expertise that you possess. Whether you are crafting your personal brand on the basis of marketing an external product/service, or an internal expertise, having a brand promise and sticking to it is paramount.

From your brand promise you can create a tagline that further resonates with your audience. Let’s take Jaguar’s tagline for example: The art of performance. Here we can clearly see the brand promise within the tag line. Jaguar is aware they have competitors that produce high-end, high-performance vehicles, but they promise to deliver the art of performance. The suggestion is like the art of making love, which is different than simply having sex. The word art suggests there is a deeper, more rewarding experience to be gained from driving their vehicles.

Think about what you deliver to your audience and create your own brand promise. For a consultation, or to chat about brands find me on Twitter.com @theuptowndiva or @thesocialiteprj. Find me on Facebook at: Cristal Carrington

The answer is now. Personal Branding begins now. Even if you aren’t a superstar or already known, your personal brand is important and you should begin to work on being your best self.

These personal branding tactics are designed for you, the average person looking for new ways to express yourself, your brand and your product/services to the world.

Starting now with self examination helps to make things a lot easier. So let’s get to it.

Self-discovery is the best discovery.

For a consultation or to just chat about brands, find me on Twitter @theuptowndiva or @thesocialiteprj. Find me on Facebook at Cristal Carrington

Smooches & Stay Fabulous!

Carrington

Reaching your audience is apart of the golden marketing 101 rules. Reaching the proper audience is the goal. There is an audience for your brand and this is the time to turn up your personal brand to get them to notice you, your service or quality you possess. Your audience may vary, but it is up to you to get them to see your potential. You will do this by being creative, constantly tweaking your brand and perfecting your outlook on your industry and personal image.

Your target audience is looking for you; they just don’t know it yet. This is a famed quote and it is very true.

Let’s take a clothing designer as an example. Obviously everyone has to wear clothes (although, not everyone does), but you have a wide audience available. What separates you from your competitors? Is it price point? Style? Do you only offer seasonal wear? What is it?

Do you even wear your own clothes? If you don’t wear them, why would someone else want to? Even if you wear your own clothes, do you look swaggerific when you wear them? Take note.

Where does your audience hang out? For most people their audience isn’t far away, but being strategic in your approach is paramount. If we are still talking about clothing designers, there are many blogs, websites and magazines dedicated to fashion. Why shouldn’t your product be a feature story? Exactly!

I will delve into your personal story in another post, but I want you to write down your audience and discover where they hang the most. This is where you will need to be. If you are Carpenter, trade shows related to your industry is where a potential audience would be. Not everything has to be about press or being in the limelight. Find your audience and your audience will find you.

For a consultation, or to chat about your brand, find me @theuptowndiva or @thesocialiteprj on Twitter and on Facebook at Cristal Carrington.

-Smooches and Stay Fabulous!

Carrington

What do you want to become?

Obviously, you are at a cross roads in your career or life. Tired of blending in with the crowd, you’re ready to take yourself to the next level and you landed at www.theuptowndiva.com. Good for you!

Personal branding is a process. It takes daily crafting, tweaking and even tossing wreckless elements out from the past to get the recipe just right.
We have arrived at the 3rd W. What do you want to become?

Your primary occupation may already be set in stone, but how do you differentiate yourself from everyone else that does what you do? What do you want to be known as? By answering these not-so-simple questions, you will find in no time that you are on your way to creating a successful brand.

You answered who you are. You figured out what you stand for, now let’s think about the future. In a perfect world, where you can have whatever you want, What would you choose to be? Remember this isn’t, "Who do you want to be" – we aren’t trying to clone someone else. You are striving to be original and even if there are a million Realtors who love puppies, surely there are less in your metropolitan area that advertise themselves to clients as the Realtor who welcomes pets to house showings. Hey, Fido has to be happy too! This is what being original is all about.

Take some time to piece together the first two W’s and come up with an angle that is true for you. What do you want to become?

For a consultation or to just chat about your brand, find me at Cristal Carrington on Facebook and Twitter @theuptowndiva and @thesocialiteprj
Smooches and Stay Fabulous!

On the journey to discovering your personal brand, you may bump up against the question, What do you represent? This question can be best translated as, “What do you stand for?” or “What are the things you care about?” Is it a charitable cause? Women’s rights? Or, simply being a Soccer mom?

Successful brands usually have a philanthropic thrust behind it and you should too. Large corporations such as Pepsi, Microsoft and even Starbucks have foundations or causes they support. What do you support? This isn’t to say that you must have a charity to support, but it is saying that you must have something in this world that you care about that makes you unique from all the(add your profession here)’s in the world.

Do you care about technology? Science? The arts? Great, this is exactly some ingredients you need to maximize your brand. Truth be told, there are many Tax Preparers in the world, but there aren’t many Tax Preparers that support the science of swimmer safety. Do you know any? Of course, there is someone in the world out there, but for arguments sake, if that simple Tax Preparer pegged themselves as The Surfing Tax Man, wouldn’t you be a little interested to learn more about that person? Of course you would. It is the individual that stands out in the crowd.

We will begin the process of creating a tagline and a mantra for your personal brand. So, while we are still in the 5 W’s, we can ask questions like, What type of book would you read on your off time? What service/activity do you enjoy doing so much you would do it for free? What is your moral code made of?

Jot down a few things that really resonate with you and get ready because we are going to explore the 3rd W: What do you want to become?
For a consultation, or to simply chat about brands, find me on Twitter @theuptowndiva or @thesocialiteprj, of course I’m on Facebook at Cristal Carrington, so find me there!

-Smooches and Stay Fabulous

In the process of personal branding, you will need to answer a few questions about yourself. This process may take time, but I assure you it will be worthwhile. There are 5 W’s to the branding process and they are:

1. Who are you?
2. What do you stand for?
3. What do you want to be?
4. Who do you want to reach?
5. When do you want to start?

The Who, is probably the most important question you will ask yourself. Who we are isn’t just a matter of name, nationality or background. Who are you inside? This may take some soul searching, but it is essential to the process of personal branding. All successful brands know who they are? Do you?

Crafting a sentence about yourself will naturally start with ton of activities that you are good at, but it will dwindle down to about three or so major points. Chopping this sentence down to size is key to exploring the best you have to offer. Most times, the list will start with what your profession is and maybe a hobby or two. For me my list goes like this:

Personal Branding Specialist
Radio/Entertainment Personality
Author
Foodie
Mom
Shoe Junkie
Humanitarian

If you notice, behind the first three qualifications are qualities that can easily be merged into my brand at any time. This keeps me versatile and allows me room to concentrate on the things that I want to pursue most. Pick your best three qualifications and hold tight, we’re building…

My next post will delve into the second W. What do you stand for? Stay tuned…

For a consultation or to just chat about your brand, find me on Facebook at Cristal Carrington and Twitter @thesocialiteprj and @theuptowndiva

Smooches and Stay Fabulous!

-Carrington

Lots of people have asked me, “Why should I brand myself? I’m just a regular person.” The answer is: Brands that stand out are brands that stay around. The days of the cookie cutter impression of the same old, lifeless individual is long gone. In these days and time, people who stand out and are sure of their brand make lasting impressions.

As a person who loves personal branding and the concept behind it, I know you have things about you that are unique and we are going to find out those traits with personal exploration.

Personal Branding is not an overnight work. It takes time to discover and uncover the real you. Often times, we get bogged down with life and its “rules and regulations,” that we fail to tap into our own personal uniqueness.

So you ask, Why Personal Branding? I ask, Why Not?

For a consultation, or if you simply want to chat about your brand, email me at aquapromos@gmail.com.

Find me on Twitter.com @thesocialiteprj and @theuptowndiva. Find me on Facebook at Cristal Carrington and stay tuned to www.theuptowndiva.com for more insight on how to maximize your personal brand.

Smooches and Stay Fabulous!

- Carrington

What is Personal Branding?

Personal Branding is defined by Wikipedia as the process whereby people and their careers are marked as brands.It has been noted that while previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvement, the personal branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging.Further defined as the creation of an asset that pertains to a particular person or individual; this includes but is not limited to the body, clothing, appearance and knowledge contained within, leading to an indelible impression that is uniquely distinguishable.

The key words are uniquely distinguishable.

Great brands don't follow the crowd. Great brands create their own crowd. Don't follow the trend - Set them.

Being uniquely distinguishable can be as simple as what you wear, how you project confidence, or even how you walk. There is something unique about you and we are here at www.TheUptownDiva.com to help you define that uniqueness.

We are all quite familiar with brands that we buy in stores, but you are also a brand and it's time for you to shine like the Diva or Divo you are. Personal Branding is a self discovery and it begins with you.

Stay tuned to www.TheUptownDiva.com for more insights on how to craft your personal brand. This site will enhance everyone from the entrepreneur to the average Joe, because quite frankly, we all are special.

For a personal branding consultation please email us at aquapromos@gmail.com.

Stay tuned for videos and audio to enhance your brand and remember to Shine! You're worth it!

To give you a briefing of my Personal Brand, I like to think of myself as a mix between two popular brands: Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana:
Classic
Classy
Expensive quality & design
Multi-dimensional (They don't just make clothes or perfume - it's a lifestyle)
Highly duplicated, but never as good as the original.

I am not only a Diva and a radio personality with a great voice, but I'm a brand strategist, a business woman, a social butterfly who's comfortable being a hermit at home, a God lover who's a champion for those without a voice, plus, I create digestable communications for others and remain a foodie, mom and all around fab girl all at the same time.

Time to get your pens and paper ready, I'm going to show you how to take your own personal paragraph and sum it into a brand promise and mantra that has staying power, so stay tuned!

Find me on Twitter @thesocialiteprj and @theuptowndiva. Of course you can also find me on Facebook at Cristal Carrington.

Be Original and you will shine. Smooches & Stay Fabulous!

-Carrington