As marketers, we devote hours to promoting brands, we fill white boards to shift perception, and tweet, post, and pin to rally fans of our brands. We focus on reputation. We might benefit by paying more attention to character.
In middle school, I only wore Abercrombie & Fitch. My classes were filled students in neon polos, tattered jeans, and plastic flip flops. We wore a uniform to compete a piece of the popularity pie. Following cues from the media and each other, our behavior, appearance, and self-identities followed the herd. We focused on reputation while overlooking our character, and it didn't make us happy or achieve the outcomes we desired.
My role models now act nothing like middle school adolescents--and they still stand out because of it. They're noticeable because they don't wear the uniform and act like the herd. That's the value of devoting attention to character. We are drawn to the folks that have "figured it out," who spend time and devote attention to know and accept themselves. They earn their own respect first and our attention follows.
Maybe consumers react the same way to the brands who have developed character rather than reputation. Those brands articulate a promise that reflects a core set of values, set operational benchmarks to consistently fulfill those promises, engage with their community authentically, and celebrate not their own success but the success of their customers. They act boldly because they have earned their own respect. We want to follow brands, and people, like that.
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