Olympic Sized Branding Lessons

Posted by Rahna on February 18, 2010 under Branding, Personal Branding | Be the First to Comment

As the Olympic Games unfold, there are countless wonderful stories of triumph & trial, of determination as well as disappointment, and it’s always fun to watch.  Throughout the Games, we are getting glimpses of these athletes’ personal brands.  And as a marketer and personal branding expert, I am always asking myself:   What lessons can we learn from these athletes?  What can we bring to our personal lives as guidelines for living and expressing our own personal brands?  How can we stand out in our own worlds?

Olympian and snowboarding sensation Shaun White has a HUGE personal brand (which is one reason he is so in demand with sponsors).  But the fame and glory have come as an after-effect, as a result of him expressing his unique personal brand.  If you want an Olympic-sized personal brand, here are some learnings from the half-pipe:

1)    Do your thing-Shaun White loves what he does and does not apologize for that.  He works at it.  He strives for perfection, innovation, and more!  Whatever is part of your personal brand—do it!  Can you imagine Shaun with short hair?  Nope.  That’s not to say that that will not happen someday, but that’s not really who he is right now.  He’s outrageous, and his hair matches who he is.

2)    Put yourself out there in a HUGE WAY (even if it results in a few crashes along the way) – NBC did a comparison of Shaun’s “air” versus another competitor’s air.  The difference?  At least five or six feet!  How does Shaun stand out?  By doing what he does in a HUGE way.  Will he always have a perfect landing? No.  But he does everything in a big, Shaun White way.

3)    Never be satisfied-This Olympian is always pushing and pushing and pushing to innovate in this sport. Once outrageous moves are now considered standard.  Once that happens, he moves on, looking for new outrageousness—and that marks his personal style.  He built his own half-pipe on the side of a mountain so that he could practice new tricks and perfect his moves—over and over and over again! 

4)    Continually find new ways to delight your audience - There was so much anticipation about a super-secret new move that Shaun had been working on which was to be unveiled during these Olympics.  In the half-pipe event,  each competitor gets two runs and the best of the two becomes the score.  Shaun was able to win with his first run (without the new move), so he didn’t have to go on the second run.  You could overhear the conversation as he was celebrating with his coaches and there was mention of him just sliding down the middle of the pipe.  But that wouldn’t have been in keeping with his brand!  Even though he already had won, he put on a show and performed the new move (even improving on his already-winning score).  Ever the showman, Shaun didn’t disappoint.  For a longer video, showing both of Shaun’s runs, click here.