PUBLISHED BY MCGRAW-HILL
Why Companies Lose Their Authenticity And How Great Brands Get it Back
GRAND PRIZE WINNER OF THE GOLD ATTICUS AWARDThe age of the faceless corporation is over. In the new business era of the twenty first century, great brands and products must evoke a dynamic personality in order to attract passionate customers. Although many organizations hide their personality behind layers of packaged messaging and advertising, social media guru and influencer Rohit Bhargava counters that philosophy and illustrates how successful businesses have redefined themselves in the new customer universe.
WATCH AND READ
ABOUT THE BOOK
Personality Not Included is a powerhouse resource packed with bold new insights that show you how to shed the lifeless armor of your business and rediscover the soul of your brand. Sharing stories from the ethos of the world's weirdest city, to how Manga has taken the comic book industry by storm, to showcasing brands like Intel, Boeing, ING, and Dyson, Bhargava shows you why personality matters from the inside out.
PART ONE
In Part One, you'll be introduced to the key components to building a personality and learn how to:
01
Recognize the greatest myth that most marketers blindly follow, and how to get past it
02
Use the "UAT Filter" to understand the personality of your organization and products in order to develop a communication strategy that drives your marketing
03
Create your company's "marketing backstory" using techniques pioneered by Hollywood screenwriters
04
Harness the influence of "accidental spokespeople" and use it to your advantage
05
Navigate the roadblocks of using personality that come from bosses, peers, investors, and lawyers, without getting fired or flamed
06
Pinpoint and capitalize on the moments where personality can make a difference
PART TWO
Part Two is packed with guides, tools, and techniques to help you flawlessly implement your plan. It features practical, step-by-step lessons that help you effectively move from theory to action, and includes a valuable collection of guides, checklists, question forms, printable resources, and more.
Don't be another faceless company-learn the new rules for succeeding in the social media era with Personality Not Included.
TECHNIQUES: NEW STYLES OF MARKETING
Each technique is broken down in the book using the same five-part format: what it is, why it works, when to use it, who's doing it, and how to do it step by step.
01
Engaging customers by inspiring their curiosity.
02
Doing something good without any expectation of reward.
03
Participating in a dialogue without needing to lead it.
04
Positioning your brand or product as the opposite of everything else.
05
Using the underutilized senses to promote your business.
06
Making fun of marketing or business to position your brand above it.
07
Turning mistakes into moments to demonstrate your personality.
08
Giving consumers special access to inside information or experiences.
09
Creating content that has value and using it for marketing.
10
Taking a small incidental element of your business and marketing it.
GUIDES & TOOLS BY CHAPTER
A master list of the hands-on guides and tools keyed to each chapter of Part One.
CH 1
The Quick Six-Point Faceless Test, plus how-to guides for making your brand more likeable and rethinking your small print.
CH 2
A Spokesperson Comparison Model, plus how-to guides for empowering employees, corporate blogging, and hiring for personality.
CH 3
A Deconstructing Personality outline and the UAT Filter Quick Reference Chart.
CH 4
The Primary Story Picker, five backstory how-to guides (Passionate Enthusiast, Inspired Inventor, Smart Listener, Likeable Hero, Little Guy vs. Big Guy), and the Buzzword Bingo/Canned Language Library.
CH 5
How-to guides for building your authority, selling personality to your boss, and conquering the success, uncertainty, tradition, and precedent barriers.
CH 6
A Personality Moments Index by business type, plus the Attention Paradox.
THE PERSONALITY PROJECT
As part of the launch of the book, Rohit connected with 40 pioneering women to launch an ebook called The Personality Project. It was the first of its kind feature meant to showcase emerging female leaders and celebrate them as leaders with personality, as well as to use Rohit's platform to elevate and recognize an underrepresented group.
The project shipped in two waves: a first edition of 20 contributors in April 2009, followed six months later by a second edition that doubled the roster to 40.
1ST EDITION (APRIL 2009)
2ND EDITION ADDITIONS (OCT 2009)
INSIDE THE BOOK
A few spreads from Personality Not Included.
THE FRAMEWORK BEHIND THE BOOK
The UAT Filter was a model originally introduced in Personality Not Included (published in 2008). Since original publication, the framework has been used by hundreds of organizations and brands as a way to ensure they are using the power of personality to help their communications resonate and be more trustworthy in the marketplace.
RECOGNITION
The highest honor for thought leadership from WPP, and a "Best Business Book of 2009" Soundview selection.
WINNER
Grand Prize Winner
WPP's internal Atticus Awards honored the best original published thinking from across the group's global agencies, with the Gold Atticus as the top prize for thought leadership.
READER RESOURCES
The book shipped with a collection of companion downloads for readers, all self-hosted and free to download.
The full Women of Personality Project ebook, featuring 40 pioneering women leaders.
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A guide to 25 different blogging styles for finding your voice.
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A bonus technique from the book on umbrella marketing.
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A printable certificate for completing the Personality project.
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A full sample chapter from Personality Not Included on crafting a backstory people care about.
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A companion guide to Chapter 4 for picking the right backstory model for your business.
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A curated list of further reading referenced throughout the book.
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A bonus guide inspired by the book.
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A bonus guide inspired by the book on making time to blog when it's not your day job.
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A bonus guide inspired by the book.
Download PDFFOREIGN EDITIONS
The book has been translated into seven languages.
EVEN MORE PRAISE
All 4 advance endorsements the book received, unedited and in full.
Personality Not Included breaks down the old barriers between marketing, advertising, and PR and shows you how to nail the single objective of it all: creating powerful conversations with your customers and getting them to choose you over the rest.
#1 NY Times Bestselling Author of THE 4-HOUR WORKWEEK
Just being pretty isn't enough anymore, today a brand also needs a strong personality to survive. In Personality Not Included, Rohit gives you the techniques and tools to help your brand go from wallflower to social butterfly.
Bestselling Author of 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF BRANDING and Cofounder of Ries & Ries
If there is one book I recommend every client and every agency person read right now, it's Personality Not Included. Every chapter gives you new ways to navigate an increasingly complex marketing landscape with clarity, nimbleness, and pragmatism.
Chairman of Ogilvy New York and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Ogilvy North America
There are two types of small business owners-ones that know they are in the business of marketing and those that don't. For either, Personality Not Included is an eye-opening look at what really matters when it comes to delighting your customers.
Author of DUCT TAPE MARKETING
BRING THIS THINKING TO YOUR STAGE
Rohit speaks on brand authenticity and storytelling, and how companies win back the human voice they lost.
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