I wake up in the morning and I lay in the bed for 20 to 30 minutes until I feel energized to go about my day. While I’m in the bed, I carefully think out what I’m going to wear for the day. I get my clothes ready based on how I’m feeling that day. I pick out the shoe that will best match my ensemble, jewelry and the cologne I feel will best compliment the personality of clothing. I get my shower and put on everything that I have set out. Before I leave my apartment, I take a full length look in the mirror to if I looked how I dreamed in my mind I would look. If I don’t like it, I’ll change and if I do, then my day has officially started.
I’m not just telling you my morning routine to be vain but to draw a parallel to what Brian Solis was speaking of in chapter 12 of his bookEngage!; The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web. In chapter 12, Solis basically tells us to take a retrospective look at our brands to see if the outfitting of it is just right. He gives us specific instructions on how to do so.
Solis states that “identity and branded personalities are often an afterthought”. (Solis 2011) Like me before I get out the bed, I gather my thoughts and what I’m going to wear first. I’m not going to put on my clothes and get ready only to find out when I look in the mirror that this specific combination doesn’t work. Solis tells us to sit down and brainstorm first before we even create any profile on any social media site.
The reason why everything should be thought out is because “at a minimum, profiles and bios serve as brand beacons to position and reinforce the company, brand, value proposition, and mission”. (Solis 2011) These profiles serve as the voice of the company and its brand. Careful planning and strategic tactics must be employed before making an effective social media footprint.
To get it right, Solis gives us his Brand Reflection Cycle; Establishing Online Identity + Persona Through Introspection. In the reflection cycle there are 8 discovery questions each brand and company must ask themselves:
1 What are the brand’s pillars?
2 What are the brand’s promises?
3 What are the aspirations?
4 What are the characteristics?
5 What opportunities?
6 What is the brand’s culture?
7 What is the personality of the brand?
8 What are the Core Values of the brand? (Solis 2011)
Solis says that at the epicenter of the cycle are core values. “They must be consistent in defining our brand persona in the Social Web”. (Solis 2011) As always I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter and learned so much from it. One thing that I love most about the book is that I can take what I’m learning and directly apply to everything that I am connected with!
-Orlando P. Bailey
thebusystudent 
