In a post I read today from one of the most influential blogs on personal branding a personal brand is described as what you represent or want to represent to the world. In this post, I’m going to write about Diane de Poitiers who achieved her goals using extreme personal branding techniques. Diane came from a fairly modest background and was not particularly beautiful. She made it her mission to captivate Henri II the husband of Catherine de Medici and took extreme steps to become one of the most influential women of Renaissance Europe. Her goal was to not appear like another common courtesan with low morals but to have an image of something great, sustainable and respectable. There were several challenges to overcome. First, she was twenty years older than Henri when she started her liaison with him when he was only seventeen. During those times a thirty seven year old woman was already considered old. The court of France was the most sophisticated of Europe and beautiful women were plentiful for the King to pick from. She also had to deal with Catherine who was savvy and highly educated.
Diane’s Action Plan
- Diane picked black and white as her trademark colors and incorporated these colors in her clothes, decor and the castles she built during her lifetime.
- Diane created a logo that intertwined her initials with those of Henri throughout the castles. According to Dan Schwabel, an expert in personal branding for the generation Y, a logo is one of the best visuals for personal branding. The logo above placed in between the two columns is what appeared everywhere across her castles including walls, tapestries, columns, windows, and doors.
- In addition to the logo, she decided to associate herself with the Goddess of the Hunt, Diana. In her new Castle of Anet she had the statue of the goddess in her gardens and ensured it looked like her in real life. The goddess symbolizes purity and chastity. These two words were part of her personal branding strategy and differentiated her from the common courtesan.
Diane’s Success
- Henri II was faithful and devoted to her for 20 years until his death.
- Townspeople welcomed Diane and Henri with paintings depicting Diana, Goddess of the Hunt.
- Poets honored Diane and created a cult around her.
- The King made her very wealthy and created her a duchess. She was able to retain her wealth even after he died.
Your Insights and Thoughts
- Are there other leaders from history who you think did a great job at personal branding?
- What are some extreme personal branding measures people take to describe what they want to represent to the world?
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Enjoyed this article. I have been doing some research on the benefits of personal branding. We all know it’s important but it’s hard to quantify.
I agree Clark that it’s hard to quantify. Would love to learn more about your research on personal branding. Thanks for stopping by.