LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network with more than 80 million members worldwide, today launched a pan-European campaign called BrandYou[1], to highlight the increasing importance of personal brand management. As job mobility increases across Europe and more Generation Y employees enter the workforce, the campaign will seek to help more people discover how managing a personal brand and reputation can play an important role in their career tool set alongside their experience and qualifications.
The campaign includes exclusive insights, tools, content and personal BrandYou surveys shared across Europe and a new LinkedIn Group set up for discussion and interaction.
According to Kevin Eyres, Managing Director at LinkedIn Europe, the concept of the personal, professional brand has never been more relevant in Europe. “BrandYou is about establishing, building and maintaining your credentials, profile and professional experience throughout all stages of your career. As a complement to your offline reputation, managing your online reputation has never been more important in Europe than it is today,” says Eyres. This is due to two factors: the increased mobility of the workforce – Europeans are changing jobs at an unprecedented rate[2] – and with the increased proportion of Generation Y employees within the workforce completely at ease with social media and its mix of professional and non-professional interaction.
Launched in 2003, LinkedIn’s membership has grown significantly in recent years to over 80 million members today - including more than 18 million in Europe - as more people create their own professional profiles online.
New tools and resources
Just like other brands, a personal brand requires nurturing and management to ensure that it remains compelling and relevant to its target audience. To this end, LinkedIn invited some of Europe’s leading authorities on the art of brand management to share their professional secrets and methodologies concerning the definition and evolution of a brand, and how new audiences can be reached. LinkedIn is now making these priceless insights to available to its members to enable them to manage their most important brand of all – BrandYou.
BrandYou Board
The ‘BrandYou Board’ is made up of a selection of Europe’s leading marketing experts. Throughout the campaign, Board members will share insights that can be applied directly to people’s BrandYou via the BrandYou Group on LinkedIn. The Board includes:
- Andrzej Moyseowicz, Media & Innovations Director, Saatchi & Saatchi
- John Woodward, Global Planning Director at Publicis Worldwide
- David Midgely, Professor of Marketing, INSEAD
- Katie Ledger, Communications Coach and author of ‘And What Do You Do?’[3]
BrandYou Survey
LinkedIn has worked with the BrandYou Board to develop a fun online survey (www.brandyousurvey.com) to help people take the first step in understanding their own BrandYou and to share and discuss with their networks.
BrandYou Group
A dedicated group on LinkedIn will play host to discussions form the Board members as well as tips and advice and links to more content including YouTube videos from the experts talking about their BrandYou strategies: http://linkd.in/BrandYouGroup.
Tips for building your BrandYou on LinkedIn
To help people better manage their personal brand on LinkedIn, the dedicated BrandYou group includes a series of tips and advice from how to make sure your profile reflects your brand type to straightforward advice on how to begin to create an online brand on LinkedIn:
- Add a professional looking photo to people can easily recognise you
- Complete your profile summary, outlining who you are as a professional in your own voice; this is a chance to do your own search engine optimisation
- Make sure you connect with your trusted connections, either by uploading email contacts or using our People You May Know tool
- Add your education background including any key qualifications relevant to your career
- Add current and previous positions so people can see your experience so far
- Request recommendations from people you’ve worked with in the past to give your profile added credibility
[1] BrandYou was inspired by a range of management thinking including Tom Peters in his book, ‘The Brand You 50 Or: Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an 'Employee' into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion!’ (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc)
[2] Source: 23/11/2009 - European Commission Employment in Europe 2009
[3] ‘And What Do You Do?, Barrie Hopson and Katie Ledger (A & C Black)