Would you consider employing a branding strategy if I told you it would provide you a significant competitive edge over every other brand in your industry? If not, what if I told you that most of your rivals aren't likely doing it, and those that are probably aren't doing it correctly? Would you think about including it into your overall branding plan?

Maybe?

What if I also told you that I could show you statistics that would prove how successful this strategy is, as well as examples of how some of the greatest companies in the world have grown in part as a result of using this strategy? Oh, and it's also cost-free to use the approach! Would you now think about using it for your brand? Great response! In my mind, you would.

This mysterious branding strategy to which I'm alluding is called Brandfacing.

Author Tony Eberhart is credited with coining the phrase "brandfacing," and he was the first to describe a brandface in detail. "A Brandface can be a CEO, president, sales manager, sales-person, child of an owner, home-based business expert or anyone in a situation where they are likely to represent the brand for an extended period of time," writes Eberhart in her book Brandface: Be The Face of Your Brand & a Star in Your Industry.

Now that you are aware of the branding strategy. Here are some reasons why you need to include it into your entire plan. And how you might go about doing it to give yourself a big edge over your rivals.

Why should you utilize Brandfacing?

I believe it is reasonable to assume that if you are reading this post, you at least have a passing interest in branding, marketing, or business. And given your interest in the aforementioned, data that support marketing theories are presumably also of interest to you. Here are some data that may interest you in light of what has just been discussed.

According to this article from Entrepreneur:

• Ninety-two percent of people trust recommendations from individuals (even if they don’t know them) over brands.

• On average, employees have 10 times more followers than their company’s social media accounts.
• When brand messages are shared by employees on social media, they get an estimated 561% more reach than the exact same messages that are shared via the brand’s social media channels.

According to those data, consumers are more inclined to interact with and spread information about a brand if a representative of that brand is the one doing the disseminating. And Brandfacing comes into play here.

Because it gives your audience a relevant, additional personality that constantly represents the brand in the public, brandfacing enhances the probability that a customer will trust your brand.

Because a successful Brandface converses with its audience rather than talking at them, it engages audiences considerably more than a straightforward brand logo does. Through a two-way discussion, brandfaces communicate the brand's message. it fosters faith. And the greatest advantage a brand may have over rivals is trust.

Due to the fact that a Brandface may only belong to one brand, it is an asset that is also private. Additionally, in business, a brand should have as many proprietary assets as possible.

Examples of Brandfacing

Whenever you see the Jordan Brand Jumpman emblem, what comes to mind first? I'm not sure about you, but every time I see the Jumpman emblem, I think of one of, if not the best basketball players in history. When I consider success and dominance, I think of all that Michael Jordan embodied on the basketball court.

When Nike chose Michael Jordan as the main face of their company in 1985, it was precisely the goal they were pursuing. It was so successful that Nike decided to keep working with Jordan and give him his own clothing brand. a collaboration that led to the Jordan Company becoming a division of Nike and Air Jordan joining the brand. Jordan Brand has $4.7 billion in sales at the conclusion of the fiscal year as of June 2021.

However, you could not be into footwear and basketball. In that scenario, I can provide another illustration of Brandfacing's effectiveness.

How quickly does the picture of Tesla's creative CEO Elon Musk emerge in your mind whenever you think of the company? It's probably one of your first impressions when you see the Tesla logo.

You presumably likely consider all of Musk's divisive statements that have nothing to do with the Tesla name when you think of him. However, such things still cause you to consider the Tesla name. In your view, the two are thus married.

For example, when Musk announces a rocket launch into space, you're likely to associate that innovation with the Tesla brand. Which provides Tesla a significant competitive edge over all other EV (electric vehicle) businesses on the market since people are essentially asking themselves, "Why aren't those other brands' CEOs smart enough to launch rocket ships into space?"

At the time of my last check, Tesla recorded third-quarter net profits of $1.62 billion (GAAP). Checkmate!

Steve Jobs, Rachel Ray, Martha Stewart, Mark Cuban, Oprah Winfrey, Gary Vaynerchuk, Tyler Perry, Dana White, Ralph Lauren, and Wendy Kaufman, a.k.a. "The Snapple Lady," are more instances of Brandfaces. Remember that Brandfaces may also be made up people as long as they will be promoting the brand for a long time.

How to utilize Brandfacing

Eberhart underlined that letting go is the first step in the process of becoming a Brandface in her book Brandface: Be The Face of Your Brand & a Star in Your Industry. You must get over whatever intimidation or fear you may have about putting yourself out there, she said. We will make errors; that's simply life, she continued.

The following are Eberhart's tips for taking the initial steps toward becoming a Brandface:

• Letting go of your insecurities.

• Letting go of intimidation.
• Letting go of the follower attitude.
• Letting go of worry.

You may undoubtedly serve as the face of your brand if you are able to achieve everything said above. If not, there is no issue. Find someone who you believe can both accomplish the aforementioned tasks and personify what you want your brand to stand for in the eyes of customers. And if you can't find someone who does that, make one yourself (the fictitious character Jack Box from Jack In The Box is a perfect example).

Being in tune with your customer is the essential element that will set your brand apart from other businesses that may already be Brandfacing. They, who? What are they inspired by? Who do they want to develop into? Both Nike and Tesla made sure that their Brandface accurately reflected the solutions to those problems. You will undoubtedly have an advantage over your rivals if you can do the identical task even better than they can.

Conclusion

Brandfacing is not a top-secret marketing strategy that nobody is aware of. In actuality, it has been around for a while. Henry Ford, Orville Redenbacher, Colonel Sanders, Jasper "Jack" Daniel, and a long list of other well-known businesspeople were among of the first to harness the power of brandfacing before it was even a concept.

Nevertheless, the strategy may be well-researched. Even in this day and age, when so many individuals discuss personal branding on social media, the vast majority of firms still don't have a Brandface.

Brandfacing is the purposeful presentation of a brand representative that customers can identify with in order to foster a relationship of trust between the consumer and the company.

While every brand, whether it chooses to have one or not, has a personality, I do think that each one does. The truth is, no matter how much quality a company offers, we as humans place considerably more faith in other people than we do in brands. And if all else is equal, a brand with a Brandface will always have a significant edge over one without.

Because such benefit would have been made possible by the Brandface.

Thanks to DeJuan Wright at Business 2 Community whose reporting provided the original basis for this story.