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What would be said about you in your 40th Birthday Book?

Thus far this year I have had the pleasure of celebrating two very important 40th birthdays in my inner circle.  No, not mine – I wish I could go back a few years but that time has passed me by.

Due to the fact I have way too much disposable time (hint of sarcasm here), I decided to create personalized books for these two women.  The idea being to reach out to those individuals important to them, request they write something – a few paragraphs – free from – what they might want to tell to or what they might want others to know about the person.  

The concept is easy – in theory.  You copy and paste their words along with the pictures they send into an online memory book – in my case I used KodakGallery.com – hit save, put into cart and viola.

Well, the fact is that it is not so easy – you end up chasing people down and getting photo images, if you’re lucky, that are not high enough in resolution to print.  But, that’s not really what this post is about.  It’s about what I learned during the process of reading these many thoughtfully crafted messages.

Each woman had many participants – on the order of 20 or so – consumers so to speak, of her personal brand.  These people came from disparate times and places in her life, yet the themes remained consistent.  I could hand this book to anyone on the street and upon finishing it not only would they be dying to be introduced, they would have a very clear image of who she is – was and will be in the future.

This is what powerful branding is about.  Whether it was a grade-school friend, an ex-husband, a fellow school Mom or work colleague the Disruptive ConversationTM for them as individuals was compelling and consistent – an impressive lesson for us to take into the world of marketing products and services.  Really great branding should evoke a strong emotional response – preferably one that is positive.

On a more personal note, I highly recommend creating one of these books for someone you admire, love and respect.  We’re usually in such a hurry and sometimes wait until the end, literally, to say those things about/to the people that are significant to us.  While not a lay-up it’s definitely worth the effort and treasured as a labor of love.

If you’re going to attempt one be prepared to start early and pester the living daylights out of the people that need to provide you the raw material!

Jacqueline ‘Jack’ Perez is Founder and Market Builder for Summit Strategy Partners, LLC, a Chapel Hill-based boutique strategic marketing and communications firm.  Jack helps companies align their marketing strategy to corporate objectives and uncover their Disruptive ConversationTM.  She publishes a weekly blog -  MarketingSmack .

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