Shagorika Heryani

Grey’s delves into advertising in the age of personal brands and tries to score an invite to the party

People as personal brands are having a moment. Actually, they have been having a moment since social media exploded a few years ago. And whilst the notion of one’s social media identity as a carefully constructed ‘highlight reel’ holds sway, there’s also a new-found maturity and honesty that younger consumers, especially Generation Z, are bringing to their personal brands – and that’s where the opportunity for brands lie.

Before jumping into the opportunity for marketers and agencies, let’s address the elephant in the room, and that’s generational labelling or stereotypes based on the year you were born. There is as much diversity within a generation as there is between generations and so, without specifically calling them Millennials or Generation Z, let’s call them modern consumers.

Building a personal brand online and in real life is second nature to modern consumers and one that they take very seriously. This single act has permanently changed their relationship with brands. Earlier consumers used to proudly join brands, thereby creating a groundswell for the brand, but now consumers act like curators and seek out brands to build their own brand. What this means is consumers don’t want to be defined by any brand other than their own. That’s a fundamental shift, and the clumsy analogy to explain that is the difference between hosting the coolest party in town and hoping you’ll get invited to it.

The second shift that is happening is with the nature of the personal brand itself. We live in uncertain, tumultuous times and modern consumers are only too aware of the influence they have. They are therefore adamant about being the change they want to see in the world. Which means, far from creating superficial personal brands based entirely on ‘vacay selfies on a stick’, consumers are using their personal brands to speak up on larger issues, and they expect brands that become part of their lives to do the same. This is a global phenomenon but it is especially valid in the Middle East, where a mostly young population is redefining its identity amidst changing social norms.

There are many ways brands can market themselves to these modern consumers beyond being authentic, engaging, purposeful, or any of the other of-the-moment marketing trends. Advertising in the age of personal brands is an uncomfortable experience for us as marketers and agencies because it forces us to ask (and answer) how we add value to consumers with whom we are not often in a co-dependent relationship anymore.

There are three key aspects of the consumer personal brand that are relevant to the Middle East and that I believe brands could tap into:

1. Belong to stand out

– Unlike their more rebellious Western counterparts, modern consumers in the Middle East are driven by flashes of rebellion. According to research, 87 per cent of young consumers want to be accepted by society while 56 per cent said it’s important to stand out and be noticed. Extremely proud of their heritage and traditions, they want to interpret these in modern ways. Brands typically falter in this space because we tend to become too aggressive by pushing Western sensibilities or, in a nod to tradition and being culturally sensitive, we come across as conservative, and neither extreme is compelling to consumers. Helping consumers combine the traditional with the unexpected and making that relevant to your brand could do the job.

2. Create an impact in the world

– Globally, unemployment levels amongst young people are the highest in the Middle East. They are eager to see real change in their lives through the skills they acquire and the professional opportunities they create, whether through a job or entrepreneurship. They are also in the middle of unprecedented socio-cultural disruption, with the un-tabooing of women, the redefinition of social mores, etc. Their life and times demand they stand up and be heard. Consumers want and expect brands to play a conscious role in changing things for the better and co-creating change with them. A good place to start is what you do as a brand that helps make them an expert, and consequently demands their participation and collaboration.

3. Embrace your imperfections

– Brand storytelling is a time-honoured ritual that helps consumers choose us. It’s never going to go away, and it shouldn’t, even with all the fears of the eight-second attention span and the 5,000 advertising messages a day that clutter our lives. We used to tell our brand stories to consumers like illusory fairy tales of magical things that happened when you bought our products, and with social media we fiercely embraced being more authentic as brands. Modern consumers are going a step further by sharing what makes them imperfect and vulnerable as part of their personal brand. It’s a logical leap for brands to make, from being even more authentic by embracing the fact that they aren’t perfect and inviting consumers to help them become better. In summary, the value we bring as brands to help modern consumers better define and share their own brand will get us invited to the coolest party in town: theirs. Shagorika Heryani is regional planning and social director at Grey MENA