Dude, Where's My Brand? The Mug Root Beer Story

Building your brand is NOT easy – it seems as though I’m refining my story every day, and especially after this weekend’s PMINJ Career Seminar – a common thread seemed to appear that I didn’t realize so clearly from my career background.  But you’ve got to build the STORY first.

So you’re working on your pitch for a job search?  Well, look at what goes into building a brand mascot.  I learned about this case study in my graduate Management course at MSU.  And when I was looking for an analogy to get to the “ROOT” of the problem…it became quite clear to me that “ROOT BEER” was how I would share it with you.

You only see “Dog,” Mug rootbeer’s mascot, but to make his image crystal clear, a lot of planning went into helping use him to build a brand.  Pepsi enlisted Character to develop the identity.  I think one of the most valuable statements in the article is “…Critters – if properly conceived and presented – can help make an emotional bond with consumers , a goal particularly prized in these days of disaffection and disconnection.” Imagine that – people are disconnected…  How can we help them form an emotional bond?  BUILD THE STORY.  That’s how I see a connection with a job search.

In my own career, I found that performing on stage, your audience only sees the tip of the ice berg, and not what goes into building the story behind the scenes, or planning the event.

I hope you find this story as relevant as I do for your job search, as I am in right now – looking for a job in project management as a new PMP.  And with a background in marketing, what better way to make an analogy than through a story about branding one cool “Dog,” – from one pretty cool “Cat.”

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