Personal branding and #AlexfromTarget

Posted on November 03, 2014
Posted by Rahna

One oAlexfromTargetf the key qualities of a good brand manager or marketer is to be “opportunistic.”  When something strikes the fancy of your target audience, you need to honor that and “go with it.”  In personal branding, you need to take advantage of opportunities as they come along, no matter how weird or random they may seem to be.  A chance meeting with someone who can open doors or a business opportunity that springs up can be a great catalyst for expanding and strengthening your brand.

On Sunday, November 2, #AlexfromTarget started trending on Twitter after someone posted a photo of a cute guy in a red shirt and name tag who was helping her check out.  It struck a chord with Twitter followers everywhere and spread like wildfire, spawning comments from celebrities like Justin Bieber and  fun and funny photos  (for example, one compared his look to that of Jake from State Farm).

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/03/tech/alex-from-target/index.html?hpt=hp_bn11

Alex is just a cute teenager who works at Target….who now has thousands of followers.  The question is, “What will Alex and Target do with this?”  It will be interesting to see how the social media team at Target capitalizes on this… with a holiday campaign, social media program, or at the very least, a  media tour over the next few days.  Potentially, it could be good for both the company and for Alex, an opportunity for them to deepen the engagement with Alex.  He could help to make Target more personable and of course, if he is articulate and likeable, the exposure could benefit Alex as well.  Otherwise, it’s just a flash of fame and a missed opportunity.  We’ll have to stay tuned to see what comes of it.

What opportunities are coming your way?  What opportunities do you have to extend your personal brand, and are you prepared for when those seemingly random opportunities arise?

What would you like to see Target do with this opportunity?

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