Personal Branding and the Role of Public Relations

Abstract

Personal Branding is becoming an important factor, above all in connection with marketing of individuals (personality or celebrity marketing). Agencies and consultants are increasingly accompanying politicians, businessmen and women, scientists, artists and sports professionals as well as individuals from showbiz, fashion and TV worlds as they become public figures/personal brands, with result that over last 50 years, branding process for individuals has increased substantially. Marketing and experts have developed many strategies for achieving and sustaining high visibility and have refined their methods for delivering brand. In his book, High Visibility. The Making and Marketing of Professionals into Celebrities, Kotler, one of best known experts on marketing, analysed US market for celebrities with his team and attributed with most dominant role of all communication disciplines: the most essential support for most aspirants comes from public relations (cf. Rein et al., 1997: 268). In third (revised and expanded) edition of High Visibility with new subtitle Transforming Your Personal and Professional Brand authors claim that PR is essential because all aspirants in visibility-marketing process need distribution of their image. The role plays in visibility industry involves enabling, designing, managing, and protecting brand image (Rein et al., 2006: 290).