hautepop:

getgoogleoutofmyhead:

hautepop:

[Some waffle about why personal branding is an idea that doesn’t quite go away – the return of the repressed, if you will]

I think there are three things happening here:

1. Brand production is a spontaneous cultural and psychological phenomenon. That phenomenon is much broader than “brands” in their more narrow definition. The collection and categorization of stimuli that characterizes cognition more generally. Naming stuff, basically.

2. Business kitsch narratives around “personal branding” are still the best explanation people outside of academia or marketing have for this phenomena.

3a. Even though the theory is kitsch and redundant it is revived by the (I would argue) nascent ability people have to actively shape their personal stimuli in mediated contexts i.e. the internet & art.

3b. The essential narcissism of much art is conducive to this.

Yes! We are getting somewhere.

And “business kitsch” – love it.