As much as we think we’re in control of our brand, the market decides what we really stand for. Yes, we can control our narrative, but as soon as a message leaves your mouth or gets posted, it’s over to the masses to decide. (Including your comments on other people’s content.)
And, while your team are no doubt trying to impress you right now by using AI, more often than not, it’s clumsy at best. I have seen truly horrific use of AI recently, from design to artwork to words. Standards drop and brands dilute.
Where does it leave us?
The recent trend of creating a caricature of yourself may be fun, but it’s been openly challenged this time as a waste of energy. It’s a valid argument, but 95% of web content is the same.
Someone commented to me the other day on how a local company, more often than not promoting their environmental credentials and how local businesses should stick together, sure do spend a lot of time in national coffee chains. It may have been a flippant comment, but it all goes into the mixing pot and comes out the other side as a viewpoint.
And when those viewpoints are shared (and they are), an SME or personal brand evolves. It may not be the one you hoped for, it may not be fair: But it is what it is.
Controlling your narrative takes wisdom.
As British author, Miles Kington, once wrote, “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad”.