There’s a guy named Scott Ginsberg and I don’t know if you’ve ever seen him, but he has his website called HelloMyNameIsScott.com and for the past 2,900+ days, he’s worn a nametag. Which means, he’s been wearing a nametag everyday for the past 8 years. Scott wears his nametag every single day no matter where he is going. If he’s doing laundry, he’s wearing the nametag that says, “Hello, my name is Scott”.

His story is very interesting and at some point he even got a tattoo where his nametag would be – presumably to take care of days at the beach. That’s Scott’s “thing”. There is no question that Scott is at the very center of his brand.

And, being at the center of your brand gives you a level of differentiation that’s hard for your market to ignore.

Scott happens to help companies make their brands more approachable to their markets – so it makes sense that his “calling card” would be a nametag. It works perfectly for him. He’s done a good job with that.

But, what about you? What if you’re the center of your brand and you don’t want that dynamic anymore? You’ve found yourself being the Scott Ginsberg, the Dr. Phil, the Madonna of your brand you’re sorry you developed your brand in that way.

You want to be able to take a break.  You want to sell the company.  You are’re interested anymore.  You have had a nervous breakdown. Whatever the case, you want out. What do you do?

Well, you think, “that’s tough”.  You think it’d be hard to do for the obvious reason – YOU are the brand.

Let’s look at Martha Stewart. Let’s say, for example, that she wants to sell her company. I believe she might make out BETTER than if the brand was NOT centered around her as THE brand’s personality. Look at it from a marketing standpoint: there wouldn’t be a Martha Stewart satellite radio station, cooking show, magazine, retail lines – without Martha Stewart being at the forefront.

She has also created a meaning behind the brand – well, her marketing people have. When you know something is made by Martha Stewart’s company, that means certain things – quality, fair price, equality – and those things aren’t really about her personally. It’s become what the brand means to consumers.

So, if YOU are the brand, there might not be so much to worry about. Just make sure the brand MEANS something aside from you so that when you exit, you don’t take the brand with you.