The Power (or Damage) To Your Brand When You Say Yes

Last week, I shared again my blog about the bullying and disrespect being displayed in many reality TV Shows, and it's made me think further about the reputational damage or enhancement to the brand of a person or small business by saying Yes to be part of these shows.

So I'm sharing a previous blog (hence the old references to two of the three shows) which delves a bit deeper into this issue.

To demonstrate, let me look at three shows, and again, my observations are mainly coming from seeing the ads for the shows.

Married at First Sight (MAFS)

This is a show which has three panellists whose reputation and brand is portrayed as them being 'Relationship Experts', and that based on a questionnaire and selection process, they can match perfect strangers together for a lifetime of marriage bliss.

Therefore, they are saying to the world, if you can't find your perfect partner; then come to us and we can solve this problem for you.

So here's my thoughts:

- Are they really Experts when their track record of success ie people living happily ever after is very low across the previous seasons?

- They appear to tolerate and actually enable bullying and disrespectful behaviour for the entertainment value it provides.

- Would you go to them if your relationship was in trouble or you needed help finding your perfect partner?

I think the answer would be No unless you wanted some notoriety by saying you went to the Married At First Sight Expert.

Now think about their business brand which is also their personal brand.

Do you think they have created a positive image for their brand, or instead done damage to their brand by saying Yes to being on a national TV show – which gets edited (possibly without their consent)?

Maybe this isn't a concern for them because they keep coming back and being on the show, but I know this would be an issue for myself and my business brand.

The Bachelor

Nick Cummins (aka The Honey Badger) was an ex rugby union player, turned underwear model who decided to be one of The Bachelors and put himself out there for love.

Now initially you might say that's a very brave thing to do (and it was) but again, let's look at the end result.

He didn't choose either of the last two girls and was caned on social media.

So again, did he do damage to his business and personal brand by saying Yes, or did the publicity outweigh the outrage?

And where is he now?

Dancing With The Stars

Samuel Johnson is the Australian actor probably best known as Evan from The Secret Life of Us or when he played Molly Meldrum in the mini series Molly, for which he won the Gold Logie.

But what he's most passionate about is the charity he and his sister, Connie, set up in 2012 called Love Your Sister which only has 1 mission: Vanquishing All Cancers.

To help raise the profile and funds for this very personal cause, in 2019 he said Yes to being on Dancing With The Stars and ended up winning which was fantastic.

I caught one of Sam's dances and his comments to both hosts as part of the post-dance evaluation.

 

On at least 3 occasions, I heard Sam say this:
I've just got Connie's voice in my head saying, 'Now is Awesome'.

What a beautifully simple and profound and wonderful phrase to both ground and inspire all of us to embrace each and every day with joy and happiness, rather than negativity and resentment.

So again I ask you, did Sam empower or damage his brand and personal reputation by saying Yes to being on the show?

I know the answer as I'm sure you do as well, especially when you compare the bravery of Sam versus Nick because Sam acknowledged he couldn't dance, but he gave it a red hot go, for a bigger cause and purpose.

We all have a choice as to what we say Yes to each and every day.

But I hope you might take a moment to take a breath and think about not only brand reputation; but also whether, by simply saying Yes or making a public comment, if is the best decision at this time, and for the long term viability of your small business.

And here's my final thought:

Remember

People have very long memories, and one slip up could be very costly, and in some cases, mean irreversible damage; and I would hate for that to happen to you and your small business.

And the world of business is smaller than we all think especially in this era of social media and global reach.

Cheers
Tamara (aka the 'Bob the Builder for Small Business' 👷 )