Indeed, one leading PR agency admitted it was asked to raise the profile of several of its clients solely to help them find a new job.
The trend was predicted by management guru Tom Peters in his 1999 book The Brand You: 50 Ways to Transform Yourself from an 'Employee' into a Brand. He postulated that, in the 21st-century age of the individual, senior managers would have to become their own brand, which he calls 'the CEO of Me, Inc.', to protect their careers. In the era of Google, MySpace, YouTube, and blogging, everyone has the opportunity to become a brand. There are even reports of employers assessing job seekers by entering their names into search engines to assess their profile.
Many business schools now teach personal branding and reputation management to their MBA students. Specialists such as Tessa Hood, managing director of image consultancy Changing Gear, say they are finding a growing audience for their workshops on personal branding. Her clients include banks, insurance companies and airlines.
'People with the determination and drive to build a career typically will have a degree education and probably an MBA or professional qualification, as well as the requisite skills and experience,' says Hood. 'But the problem is that so will all of their competitors. Personal branding is a soft skill that puts the individual in front by packaging and promoting their core values, benefits and talent to best effect.'
Jackie Cooper, UK creative director and vice-chairwoman of PR agency Edelman, warns that the high profile created by personal branding can sometimes leave a marketer exposed. 'Being highly visible as an individual makes you accountable and generally transparent in what you stand for and what you are promising,' she says. 'It is excellent if it all goes well and you deliver on your brand promise, but not so wonderful if you don't follow through and you disappoint, or if your stated goals don't succeed as a result of the actions or failures of situations beyond your control.'
She adds: 'Personal branding is usually executed through the role an individual delivers within a company. But there is a subtle balance between taking on the public role of a company spokesperson and an individual appearing to own all the success. Some of our clients restrict personal comments because they want to be democratic. They also know that raising the profile of an individual immediately raises his or her market value, and attracts the attention of head-hunters.'
One female marketing director recently revealed that the higher personal profile she gained from appearing in Marketing's Power 100 list for the first time resulted in her receiving more calls from head-hunters in the subsequent few weeks than she had over the previous three years.
However, Kevin Read, managing director of Bell Pottinger Business & Brand, warns that personal branding should be undertaken in a way that does not conflict with the marketer's day job. 'It can become a major distraction for an executive,' he says. 'Anyone prepared to put their own interests ahead of the organisation they are working for can quickly become an undesirable liability. There's also a major risk if an executive has their own personal agenda. It rarely aligns with that of the organisation they're working for.'
Read adds that personal branding, or self-promotion, has always existed, in the form of writing articles, delivering talks or running seminars. 'What's different now is that many young professionals feel this approach should be planned more deliberately and carefully. It is a trend that is likely to continue,' he concludes.
Mark Price: big on personality
Mark Price, Managing director, Waitrose
Currently seventh in Marketing's Power 100 list of the UK's most influential marketers, Mark Price, the energetic, self-styled 'chubby grocer', has long argued that the key to marketing success lies in identifying core brand attributes and communicating them clearly. He is certainly using his huge personal brand attributes and communication skills to ensure that Waitrose continues to punch above its weight in the marketplace.
Price has spent his entire career with the John Lewis Partnership, starting out as a graduate trainee in 1982. After running various John Lewis stores, he was appointed as Waitrose's first marketing director in 1998, a position he held for eight years before he was promoted to managing director.
'I had no idea working with the media would be such a large part of the role,' he told Marketing in a 1999 interview following his promotion. 'Waitrose had previously taken a very low-key approach to marketing, but there was a recognition that we needed to get the message across more strongly. We were being overpowered in the media by the muscle of other supermarkets.'
There is little doubt that Price enjoys the publicity his role affords, and it seems to be working for both him and the brand.
As a testament to his rising profile, newspapers often refer to him by his nickname. Earlier this year, Price even registered 'the Chubby Grocer' as a trademark. He also writes a blog on the supermarket's corporate website called 'Not So Chubby', another term he has trademarked.
Dianne Thompson: first lady of marketing
Dianne Thompson, Chief executive, Camelot
The first lady of marketing - she was fourth in this year's Marketing's Power 100 list as chief executive of Camelot - Thompson has successfully made the jump from marketer to chief executive.
Thompson, who joined Camelot in 1997 as commercial operations director, enjoys a high profile in the industry. The no-nonsense Yorkshirewoman has successfully out-manoeuvred rivals such as Richard Branson, perhaps the most visible example of a personal brand, to retain the National Lottery licence.
A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, The Marketing Society and the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Thompson is a figurehead for the business of marketing. With a career spanning 20 years, she has held a diverse range of roles, from director of marketing at Woolworths to the manager of her own advertising agency.
Unlike many successful chief executives, one is hard-pressed to find people with a bad word to say about her. While she would hate to be seen as the JK Rowling of the marketing world, Thompson is clearly one of the most well-respected women in marketing.
Martin Glenn: celebrity status
Martin Glenn, Chief executive, Birds Eye Iglo Group
Glenn's profile is such that he is available for hire on the Global Speaker Bureau's celebrity speakers list, with such luminaries as Russ Abbott and Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon.
The alpha-male marketer was appointed chief executive of the Birds Eye Iglo Group in 2006. He has previously been president of PepsiCo UK and Walkers Snack Food.
Well-known on the conference circuit, Glenn is unquestionably one of the most renowned figures in the industry. He has helped to raise the popular profile of marketing and awareness of the discipline's role as a force for good in both business and society.
A consummate professional and competitive sportsman, 'brand Glenn' is all about coming first.
Insiders describe him as 'the world's most powerful brand manager', and like many ex-marketers, he cannot tear himself away from the marketing process. When Birds Eye appointed Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, an agency that had previously worked closely with Glenn, to handle its advertising account, he retained the final say on marketing.
The subsequent departure of Birds Eye marketing director Andy Beattie served to confirm these rumours.
Simon Thompson: a strong voice
Simon Thompson, European managing director and chief marketing officer, Lastminute.com
Another outspoken marketer with a reputation for quick decision-making Simon Thompson's career has always been unconventional. After a brief time in computing, he joined Honda in 1993 and worked in several departments before landing the top UK marketing job there in 2002. He is credited with overseeing some of the UK's most innovative car advertising during his tenure.
After five years as Honda's marketing director, he joined Motorola in 2006 as its European marketing director, but left in 2007 to take on the role of chief marketing officer at Lastminute.com.
'I've gone from computer programmer, to car sales, to mobile phones, and now I'm in the land of online retailing,' says Thompson. 'I'm lucky to have been supported by many leaders who have taken a risk by letting me do something I was not fully qualified for.'
He cites Ken Keir, Honda's managing director, as a key influence on his career.
'He rarely agreed with me, but trusted my judgement to let me do what I felt was right. The result was some brave work for Honda, thanks to personal freedom, a strong team and a great agency in Wieden & Kennedy.'
Although Thompson is seen as one of the UK's leading 'celebrity marketers', he believes being a 'personality' works only if it is in the interests of the brand.
'In reality, you're only as good as your people and your agency. At best, you're a mouthpiece. Never think you're personally famous. It's the brand that is famous, not you.'
However, he does believe that a high-profile marketing director can be useful when recruiting staff and agencies. 'People like to work for leaders they can learn from, and agencies like to work with people who can make the agency famous through great work,' he says.
Andrew Marsden: ultimate spokesman
Andrew Marsden, Managing consultant, Andrew Marsden Consulting
Former Britvic marketing director Andrew Marsden is one of the UK's most high-profile and outspoken marketers. He defines himself as 'a brand builder' and has consistently argued that marketers deserve more respect in the boardroom.
After gaining a business degree, Marsden joined Unilever as a trainee and stayed with the company for 15 years. He says the turning point in his career came when he joined Vileda in his first role as a marketing director. He subsequently became commercial director and managing director in rapid succession.
'It was a loss-making business, which I wasn't told before I joined,' he says. 'Away from the Unilever nest for the first time, I had to learn to fly solo, and apply my knowledge, skills, and judgement to real business issues. We turned the business around and I realised that I really enjoyed the business of business.'
Marsden later moved to Danone as marketing director for HP Foods and joined Britvic in a similar role in 1998.
He became category director in 2000. During his time at Britvic, Marsden developed Robinsons into a top 10 grocery brand as well as launching product extensions such as J20, Fruit Shoot and Fruit Shoot H2O.
After six months on 'gardening leave', he set up his own brand consultancy, Andrew Marsden Consulting.
Marsden believes 'fronting' a brand to the media is a key role for marketing directors. 'Given that we are responsible for managing and growing the shareholders' most important assets - their brands - one of the principal roles of the marketing director is as a company spokesperson,' he says.
Establishing a high personal profile can be very useful to a brand, he insists. 'The number of senior marketing directors is relatively small, and people do business with people they trust.'
Making a name for yourself: what is personal branding?
Unlike life coaching, which is mainly concerned with self-development, personal branding focuses on creating a positive profile in the eyes of a particular audience as a long-term career strategy.
Personal branding involves building a name for yourself, showcasing what sets you apart from other marketers, highlighting the value you bring to a situation, and demonstrating why potential employers should come knocking on your door.
Experts suggest you should develop a formal action plan that lays out your personal brand strategy, as if you were developing a strategic brand-building plan for a company.
You have to take a step back, think of yourself as a product, and evaluate your strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. Then start thinking about how best to package, promote and market 'Me, Inc'.
'It has to be a realistic strategy based on honesty and credibility,' says Tessa Hood, managing director of Changing Gear and one of the UK's leading experts on personal branding.
'There is no place for cynical ambition or short-term manipulation,' she adds. 'The best brands have an enduring value of quality and ability and that should be the aim of a personal brand.
'It's about being known within your industry, creating a positive profile across a wide network, so that when people hear your name they think "capable" and "valuable".'
Hood believes proactively creating a strong personal brand can be the difference between succeeding and failing in your career.
'It's vital to remember that people buy people in just the same way as they buy any product,' she says. 'We choose goods and services partly on an emotional level and we like to buy things we trust.
'People rarely buy second-best when they have a choice. The aim of personal branding is to be the preferred choice.'
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