I read an interesting news bit a little while ago about an unemployed 19-year-old who was on eBay trying to sell the rights to rename him. His thinking was that a company could select a name, he would legally change it, and then the company would benefit from the fact that his name reflected a specific product line or the entire business.
As I read the story, I kept thinking about how this could affect his future in terms of his own personal branding. Depending on how long the name change would last before he would take on another identity and another, how will this person ever be able to promote who he really is in future job searches?
On Brand-Yourself, there is a post that has this to say about the importance of good personal branding:
[Personal branding] emerges from your search for your identity… It promotes yourself based on who you are, what you stand for, what makes you unique, and what your purpose is… It is NOT creating and marketing a made up image – that’s the exact opposite of personal branding. Personal branding is 100% authentically YOU.
Based on those suggestions, it would seem that the action of selling your naming rights to a company and being whatever they wanted is the antithesis of good personal branding.
Granted, it’s unique, but it lacks the authenticity that is so often talked about in personal branding. If someone takes him up on changing his name, he is “marketing a made up image.”
What do you think: is it worth it to go to these lengths to make a buck, or will it hurt this person in the long run?
Identity courtesy of DaveBleasdale
I think this is way less risky than that guy who wanted to tattoo the company’s name on his forehead.
Or is that urban legend?
You piqued my interest, CF, so I did a little looking. Sure enough, a few years ago, a woman tattooed the URL of an establishment on her forehead. It was so her child could go to college, but still…
I do still wonder what could be the long-term effects if he does get a buyer. If this ends up being what he does (selling his name repeatedly and then marketing for the businesses) and he is good at it, maybe that could be what he builds his personal brand around.
Still, I think it dilutes who he is if his name change a lot and can affect how his value system is perceived if it’s simply the highest bidder who wins (vs. him changing his name to a company/product that he personally supports anyway).