• 0

Marketoonist | Tom Fishburne

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of Tom Fishburne. Marketing cartoons, content marketing with a sense of humor, keynote speaking.

  • Campaigns
  • Speaking
  • About
  • Cartoons
  • Contact
  • Book
  • 0

personal branding

March 3, 2019

  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $40 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $125 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $60 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
TweetLinkedInFacebookEmail

As the marketing saying goes, “brands want to be people and people want to be brands.”

When Tom Peters wrote “A Brand Called You” in Fast Company in 1997, he first popularized the whole notion of personal branding:

“As of this moment, you’re going to think of yourself differently! … You don’t ‘belong to’ any company for life, and your chief affiliation isn’t to any particular ‘function.’ You’re not defined by your job title and you’re not confined by your job description. Starting today, you are a brand.”

I wonder what Tom Peters would make of the evolution of personal branding in the past 22 years, as social media poured rocket fuel on it. Everyone has a megaphone now.

Your Ad Ignored Here
"If marketing kept a diary, this would be it."
- Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs
Order Now

I find it interesting that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg objects to the idea of personal branding. Here’s what she said at a conference in 2017:

“You don’t have a brand. I get this question a lot, and I shudder every time. Crest has a brand. Perrier has a brand. People are not that simple. When we are packaged, we’re ineffective and inauthentic.”

Of course, it’s ironic that I’m mocking the state of personal branding on a blog and cartoons I’ve branded as marketoonist. But, as with most of my cartoons, I’m usually making fun of myself and things I struggle with.

Ultimately, any brand is defined by what others say about the brand, not by what the brand says about itself (or himself or herself).

Here are a few related cartoons I’ve drawn over the years:

“Join my Network” May 2012


“Brand Reputation” October 2015

“Rebranding” September 2014

Filed Under: brand management

  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $40 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $125 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $60 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Your Ad Ignored Here Book Image

15 years of Marketoonist compiled for your marketing pleasure.

Order Now

About Marketoonist

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of Tom Fishburne a career marketer and cartoonist. Learn More...

Browse Blog Posts

Most Popular Cartoons Browse Categories

Marketoon Campaigns

contentmarketing

Content marketing with a sense of humor.

Learn More

Keynote Speaking

speakingworkshops

Insightful, funny, and visual keynote talks and workshops.

Book Tom to Speak

Search Blog Posts

Interested? Let’s Talk!

Footer Form - Let's Talk

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Marketoons

Browse Categories
Spacing Things Out

About Marketoonist

Tom Fishburne is the Founder and CEO of Marketoonist, a content marketing studio that helps businesses reach their audiences with cartoons.

© 2025 Marketoonist