My Brand... or Lack thereof

What is my brand? I think I have been asked this question in almost every one of my classes since I started my post-grad in September, and honestly, I don’t have a real answer. Well I do, but it involves words like fierce, tranny, fabulosity. And I don’t think that’s exactly appropriate in this context.

I mean, I know that I am being branded. Employers, co-workers, friends, classmates, teachers, even family members brand me. Of course not all of them call it branding, to some of them it’s just good old fashion judging. Which, I’m not totally against. I mean, if you don’t judge people right away, how will you know if you should hate them? I kid, I kid.

Well, anyway, I can’t speak for everyone I know, but if I could, I would probably say this:

As a brand, Kurt Mungal represents three dominant and overreaching qualities: diversity, creativity, and reliability. As a relatively new brand on the market, Kurt recognizes that there is a lot that he still has to learn. However, he makes up for his lack of work experience in three distinct ways. Through his creativity, Kurt is able to develop original ideas to put into practise which has lead to his success as both a writer and event coordination. Through his reliability, Kurt has maintained two fantastic part-time jobs and earned the respect and accolades of both of his employers. Finally, Kurt has embraced a diverse lifestyle and heritage whole-heartedly which has equipped him with a valuable perspective in a variety of areas. Yes, Kurt is not a veteran in the market; however, he has the qualities to not only breakthrough—but to last.

Let me just say, that if you read that all the way through with a straight face, you deserve to be branded a STAR. I mean it is kind of ridiculous to read something like that right? But honestly, there’s no way I would ride the hater train when I’m the destination. But I will keep it a little more real for my SWOT analysis of myself:

Strengths: Enthusiasm, detail-oriented, strong communications skills (written and oral), diverse work and volunteer experience, committed, excellent time management skills

Weaknesses: Limited hands-on experience, basic understanding of different Microsoft programs including Excel and Power Point, limited graphic design skills

Opportunities: Learn a variety of graphic design programs including InDesign and Photoshop, practise Microsoft office programs, volunteer in a variety of sectors for increased hands-on experience in the field

Threats: Economic situation (i.e. hiring freeze, layoffs), volunteer jobs that do not provide sufficient experience (i.e. coat hanger), peers with advanced knowledge in my areas of weakness

See, that’s a little more accurate. But it’s still weird for me to brand myself. I mean, I know what qualities about me are good: my humour, my kindness, my love of mediocre television programming aimed at a tiny niche market (thank you Karen Walker), and I know which qualities are bad: my limited world knowledge and my irrational fear of koalas. But again, none of these qualities mean squat to employers. But I know what might:

In my portfolio, there is one item that quite explicitly captures the qualities of my brand and that is my YorkFest 2008 partnership brochure. YorkFest is an annual back-to-school festival that I was very fortunate to be a part of. My role as sponsorship coordinator forced me to use my creative when drafting personalized pitch letter to potential sponsors, get in touch with my knack for communicating with a diverse audience when maintaining relationship with past and current partners, and exercise my reliability by constantly being available to my manager who would often require my services on evenings and weekends to meet with a potential/official sponsor. The actual execution of the event certainly captured all of my strengths, specifically my strong attention to detail, time management skills, and enthusiasm—especially during those 16 hour days.
I look forward to being a part of future YorkFest events, not only to further develop the strengths I already have, but also to take advantage of the opportunities that await me, specifically in terms of graphic design and increased hands-on experience in event coordination.

Okay, that’s my brand in a nutshell. I can’t imagine this was a riveting read, but you know what is riveting? An additional 10 per cent added on to my final mark. Holla!