We had the pleasure of recently hosting Greg Monaco of Monaco Branding and Creative for a Lumency Lunchtime Series focused on personal branding.
ABOUT GREG MONACO
Greg believes that every great brand starts with a great story.
Without a clear story that you stand by and believe in, you are rudderless—vulnerable to shifting trends, waves of gossip, the press, even tough tweets. Greg’s goal is to create powerful, magnetic brands that attract customers and talent.
His current company, Monaco Branding and Creative, is committed to helping people and companies build indelible brands. Greg works with renowned organizations as well as authors, entrepreneurs, executives, and recording artists to help build their brand magnetism and brand presence. He is also a contributing author for major publications such as Entrepreneur.com, Ad Age, and Human Resources Executive.
IN THIS LUMENCY LUNCHTIME SERIES…
Greg focuses on building a personal brand that’s true to you, introducing us to brand magnetism and courageous storytelling. He shares tools required to move and inspire clients, employers, co-workers, staff—even yourself—with a clear, concise, and engaging personal brand story.
In this session, we learn about transcending “brand fog”—vague positioning and generic messaging—and unlocking the power of one’s personal brand story by accessing newfound freedoms, directional possibilities and a natural urgency to create.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL PRESENTATION
In Greg’s own words…
In the 1960s the average life span of an S&P 500 company was approximately 60 years. Today, the average lifespan of an S&P 500 company has shrunk to 18 years. What does that mean for you? The fact is, you will be less and less identified by what you do and your job title, and more identified by your point of view and industry perspective.
Your personal brand will take a lead role in how you tell your story. Yet most don’t even realize they have a personal brand. This session is aimed at helping everyone understand the importance of personal branding and how to tell their best story to those who matter. Great storytelling is a skill that directly accesses the part of our brain that is built for recall. And the principles of storytelling are the same principles behind the brands we know and love. Why couldn’t those principles also be a part of your personal brand?
As a bonus, see this short video for a few words from Greg on creating a brand system that is both consistent and flexible.
A few quick highlights and takeaways:
- Brands are all around us, and we have more perceptions of (and preferences for) them than we may realize. Think Coke vs. Pepsi, Dunkin vs. Starbucks, and more.
- A personal branding opportunity many of us can capitalize on is to use our LinkedIn introductions to tell a story focused on the future, instead of a seemingly generic list of experiences focused on the past
- The three components essential to a personal brand—and a story—are the Hero, the Villain, and Passion
At Lumency, we place a major emphasis on living and breathing our four core values every day—credibility, transparency, kaizen (continuous improvement), and ownership.
Greg’s presentation was a powerful reminder for our Tribe, our clients and our partners that if we do not focus on building our own brands, we will inevitably be branded by others. Our brand is our story, rooted in our values—and we are currently in a time where staying true to our values and helping others is more important than ever.
And, as branding is ongoing and continually evolving, it deserves a concerted effort to improve—another kaizen to add to the list.
A huge thank you to Greg for joining us and sharing his time and his story.
Please feel free to reach out to Greg at [email protected]
By: Kirby Zdrill
