Social Referencing
My talk was about recent trends in the brand experience ... initiatives that we see the big brands doing that are causing a stir in marketing. Oreo's "Dunk in the Dark" was a hot topic.
A very interesting phenomenon happened when I started speaking about how employees have become an active part of the brand experience, and should be "marketed" as such. I noted a trend toward "social referencing" which is when potential employees check out candidates via social media. Many firms are starting to pay attention to the digital footprint of people they are thinking of hiring.
There was a collective "ohhhh" in the audience ... and a catalytic spark of questions about the kind of social media presence you should have.
Of course the answer is all about personal branding. You need to decide what you want out of life and then behave accordingly ... toward building your personal brand ... and activate your social channels accordingly. One of my colleagues pointed out that you shouldn't completely "sanitize" your persona online. After all, we like to see texture and human-ness in the people we hire. But you should make sure you are projecting the kind of image you intend - to your friends, family, and perspective employers.
Social referencing. It's become the new "first impression" that you want to manage when interviewing for a job.
So I must ask ... what's your experience? Jim.
Jim Joseph
- President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
- Author, The Experience Effect series
- Professor, NYU
- Contributor, Entrepreneur