The Counterintuitive Trick to Building a 'Monster' Personal Brand
Sana A. Ahmed is a remote strategist who has built major websites for household names such as MIT and Education First and is focused on helping people create “monsters” through branding, strategy, and ideation facilitation.
September 27, 2024
Sana A. Ahmed says there’s nothing wrong with building a slightly contrarian brand.
Sometimes, the big difference between being an expert or a layperson is understanding the counterintuitive aspects of a given field. A great example of the benefits of counterprogramming was shared on episode 159 of the “PR 360” podcast when Sana A. Ahmed shared her tips for creating a “monster” brand.
Ahmed is a remote strategist who has built major websites for household names such as MIT and Education First and is focused on helping people create “monsters” through branding, strategy, and ideation facilitation.
“A monster brand is essentially somebody willing to face something. When you're creating a brand, you can't just be for everybody. Often, you’re pitted against something else, and there's always an enemy to fight,” Ahmed told the podcast.
Ahmed believes that to create a brand that isn’t “bland or vanilla,” we should position ourselves or our clients in opposition to an enemy. It’s empowering for your fans, followers, and customers to know someone is fighting for them.
“What I'm looking for is something edgier and unique that differentiates the person. The best way to learn that is to see what someone is against. I think that in our society, we end up thinking that makes us a bad person,” she continued. “I think that the best way to really brand is to figure out what you're up against and face it so that other people can face that thing through you.”
The brand ideator was influenced by her mentor, Marty Neumeier, who she calls the grandfather of branding. “He said that if everyone is zigging, zag,” she said, adding that you should avoid trying to be like everyone else. “We try to do the best practices; we try to do the things that will make us popular and well-liked. But it often takes away from your uniqueness. I think that leading with that is an exciting possibility, and it definitely stops people in their tracks a little bit.”
“People like novelty, and so this is a way to categorize yourself in someone's mind and hold that space, which is absolutely important in branding,” she concluded.
Ahmed’s philosophy isn’t wholly new, but she does a fantastic job of positioning it for the personal. It’s an invitation to pump yourself up to take on the good fight for your people and, in turn, receive their loyalty and attention.
This take on branding was very successful in the late ‘60s when 7 UP branded itself as the “uncola.” Instead of focusing on how the soda was like traditional colas such as Coca-Cola or Pepsi, the ads featured the differences. It was a middle finger to the “establishment” in the hippie era that also gave people a hero when they were thirsty but didn’t feel like a Coke.
So, if you want to build a “monster” personal brand, instead of just focusing on your strengths, ask yourself, “Who’s the opposition?” and “How can I stand up to them for the benefit of my audience?” Focusing on the opposition won’t make you come off as a bad person, but it may make you somebody’s hero.
This interview has been edited for time and clarity.
