Colour is such an important part of your Personal Brand expression. We have such a strong emotional and subconscious connection to colour that it cannot be ignored when deciding what to wear, how to decorate our environment and brand our identity.
I witnessed an excellent example of a wrong colour choice last week when I caught an episode of ‘Australias Got Talent’ on TV. A talented harmonica player had previously impressed the judges and audience with his skill and cowboy image. As we watched, out comes the contestant in a baby pink satin jacket accompanied by pink clad rock’n'roll dancers! My mind screamed ‘Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!’
Whoever advised him that baby pink satin was going to be a supportive choice for his growing brand value made a big mistake. The performance would have been far better received by the judges and audience if he had worn Red, for example, rather than pink. Red would have supported his masculine and energetic performance and been consistent with his previous presentation. One of the judges descibed him as looking like a gay Rod Stewart. I had to agree. It was such a change in image that it just seemed wrong and compromised his credibility as a performer, even if he is a talented harmonica player.
Building a strong brand is about developing a consistent image. That way, when there is an occasional inconsistency the viewer is more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt. However, for a new Personal Brand it is vital that the image is consistent until a track record is established.
Unfortunately, it is now going to be hard for the AGT contestant to shake off the ‘gay Rod Stewart’ image. He is talented, so I hope he does, but he will have to work at least twice as hard now.
It will be interesting to see the voting results…..
