The Person to See

Shaq-A-Claus To The Rescue Again

I admire Shaq.  He's never been in trouble with drugs, the law or the league.  He is also a personal brand management master.

He's so smart.  All his self promotion efforts seem to always involve helping others.  His latest venture involves helping homeowners who are in danger of losing their house due to foreclosure.  In his words Shaq "...wants to buy delinquent homeowners' homes and than resell them back to these same folks at affordable interest rates."

Good for you Shaq.  You are the perfect example of the power of the free market.  We need more Shaq's and less government.

Taking Charge Of Your Peronal Brand

I have a client who is taking charge of his personal brand like he means business.  He and I were having breakfast the other day and he said to me, "I really like Cary Grant's personal brand and I want to try to model myself after him."

I want to be clear my client was not talking about becoming Cary Grant.  Rather, what my client admires is Cary Grant's class and style and he wants to emulate those aspects of his persona.  All with an eye towards becoming the consummate gentleman.

He even went out and got some books with illustrations of Cary Grant's style of dress.  When he met with his clothier he pulled out the books and showed him exactly what he wanted.  Awesome intentionality!

Who are you looking to as your role model(s)?  It doesn't have to be just one person.

Kudos To Brad And Denzel

A breath of fresh air in Hollywood at last...

Denzel Washington donates $1M of his own money to Fisher House, a charity dedicated to helping rehabilitate soldiers injured in combat.  It's a great story.  Take time to read it.

Brad Pitt puts his money where his mouth is and donates $5m of his own money to housing efforts in New Orleans.

At last two Hollywood stars who realize it's not all about them!

Great Personal Brands Aren't Made Over Night

I'm not a big fan of reality TV shows.  But one recently caught my eye. America's Got Talent.  It is very much akin to American Idol with one big difference.  The act include more than just singers.  There are dancers, magicians, acrobats, impersonators, etc.  The winner wins $1million dollars.

This Tuesday they will announce the winner. There are four finalists.  Three pure singers and one ventriloquist.  They are all extraordinarily talented.  The ventriloquist however is the personal brand which caught my eye and won my heart and ultimately my vote (although I didn't actually vote).  His name is Terry Fator.

You see two years ago he did a one man show and only one person showed up.  One!  He was going to quit but something inside told him to persevere.  Last Tuesday millions of people watched him perform. He is on the verge of winning $1million dollars.

The message is pretty clear.  Don't give up. You can have all the talent in the world but if no one knows who you are it doesn't matter how good you are.  And it takes a lot of hard work to get known.  Most people just don't have the fortitude to stay in the game.  Than again that is why there are so few great personal brands out there..

Jimmy Stewart's personal brand was all class

When I think of great personal brands in Hollywood Jimmy Stewart instantly pops into my mind.  He was the consummate gentleman from the way he dressed to the way he treated people to the way he remained faithful to his wife and family until the day he died.  Not exactly the image of today's Hollywood movie star or starlet.

If you want to treat yourself to some easy, entertaining and informative reading about one of the finest men Hollywood ever produced, pick up Starr Smith's Jimmy Stewart, Bomber Pilot.

There was a time when Hollywood was admired for the truly great ladies and gentlemen who graced the silver screen.  I've got to imagine that Jimmy Stewart wasn't exactly smiling down on the anti-war protest this weekend.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for freedom of speech.  I just think that when you have a platform like the personal brands of today's Hollywood you should make sure you say something thoughtful and insightful. For example, it just seems to me that just about every time I hear Susan Sarandan and her partner Tim Robbins speak on current events I think to myself, these folks obviously must never read books or daily newspapers.  I mean, there is no way they could possibly be informed on the issues and say the things they say.

I'm no fan of Bill O'Reilly but if you want to get a sense of how clueless these folks are check out his website and listen to the responses his reporters got from the Hollywood anti-war protesters to very legitimate questions.

DeGeneres Back on Top Where She Belongs

Ellen DeGeneres' personal brand is back on top.  In just a few short years she has gone from being a joke at the Oscars to being its host. Kudos to her.  Ellen is a terrifically talented comedienne who has done a marvelous job rehabilitating her image.

There was a time in the 90's when Ellen was the toast of the town.  She had a hit TV show, graced the cover of all the top industry magazines and a bank account that undoubtedly gave her the financial freedom to do and say what she wanted.

As it all too often happens when someone is blessed with such good fortune, Ellen lost touch with her audience.  Entertaining the viewers took a back seat to her obsession of "coming out" on her show, which she eventually did.  That proved to be a fatal mistake.  Her show's ratings as well as her career tanked.

In retrospect, I don't think people much cared Ellen was gay.  It wasn't exactly a tightly kept national security secret.  What they resented was Ellen seemingly working out her own personal issues on their time. Ellen seemed to forget that after a long days work her fans just wanted to be entertained, especially when they were tuning into a comedy.

Let's hope Ellen has the good judgment this time to stay in touch with why the public welcomed her back with open arms. She is a halarious comedienne and seems to be a lovely person a well.   

Film Producer Stephen Bing makes a king sized play on Prop. 87

The best way to build a great personal brand is to walk the talk.  Movie Producer Stephen Bing is doing just that when it comes to California politics.

The voters in the 49 states outside of California could probably give a hoot about Proposition 87 which is up for vote in the Golden State on November 7th. If Proposition 87 passes a 6% tax would be imposed on most oil produced in the state to fund alternative energy projects.  While I disagree with the ultra liberal Bing on most issues and an diametrically opposed to this new tax I have to give credit where credit is due.

So far LA based Occidental Petroleum has put up $51 Million to defeat the ballot measure.  Bing has pledged $40 million of his own money.  And that is nondeductible!  I don't care how much money you have $40 million is a hell of a lot of money.  That my friends is conviction.

Kudos to Stephen Bing for literally putting his money where his mouth is.  Unlike most of the Hollywood crowd  who talk a good game.

Score one for Sumner Redstone's personal brand

I for one am so glad to finally see someone with the personal brand credibility standing up to the Hollywood brats.  For too long the inmates have been running the asylum.  Sumner Redstone's summary firing of Tom Cruise was a victory for the fans. 

To me the message is simple.  Having people pay you to act and having people pay to see you act are both privileges.  If you cannot behave in an acceptable manner these privileges will be taken away.  Plain and simple.

Here's my suggestion, why don't we all send a message to the Hollywood's spoiled brats and boycott all movies for one weekend.  That will certainly let them know who is in charge.  What do you think?