Chapter 8. Self-Brand Your Way to Success

 

"I've never lived in a building without my name on it."

 
 --Ivanka Trump, model and businesswoman
 

"At a formal dinner a lady was sitting next to Raymond Loewy, the father of industrial design. They struck up a conversation.

'Why,' the woman inquired, 'did you put two Xs in the Exxon logo?'

'Why are you asking?' he wanted to know.

'Because,' she said, 'I can't help noticing it.'

'Well,' he replied, 'that's your answer.'"

 
 --Alan Fletcher, graphic designer, in his book The Art of Looking Sideways
 

"When you think of the blur of all the brands that are out there, the ones you believe in and the ones you remember, like Chanel and Armani, are the ones that stand for something. Fashion is about establishing an image that consumers can adapt to their own individuality. And it's an image that can change, that can evolve. It doesn't reinvent itself every two years."

 
 --Ralph Lauren, fashion designer

Self-Brand Your Way to Success

All You'll Ever Need to Know about Self-Branding

Madonna, Eminem, Elvis, Oprah—they're all just first names, but first names that have been burned into your consciousness so deeply that when I mention them you instantly know who I'm talking about.

The same principle holds true with everyday products like Tupperware, Xerox, Scotch tape, Kleenex. The brand name becomes the generic name for the object itself—plastic containers, machine copies, transparent tape, tissues. This is the real definition of a successful brand—instant recognition ...

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