From the Palace to the Presidency: Lessons on Promoting and Protecting Personal Brands
The event focused on the skills and strategies you can use to effectively promote and protect your personal brand in an era of uncertainty and upheaval. We brought together panelists who have worked at the highest levels of power for a frank discussion on their experiences and their insights on reputational management.
Our Panelists
Patrick Jephson, Former Chief of Staff to Princess Diana
Patrick was born and raised in Ireland and holds a Masters degree in Political Science from Cambridge University. As an officer in the British Navy he served all over the world before being selected for royal duty. He served Princess Diana for eight years (1988-96), responsible for every aspect of her public life, charitable initiatives, and private organization. He travelled with her to five continents, working with government officials up to head of states. A naturalized US citizen based in Washington DC, he is a founding partner in the specialist communications consultancy JephsonBeaman LLC. He is a published authority on corporate and personal branding, addressing conference audiences worldwide as well as events at the US State Department, the American University and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Patrick is also a New York Times and London Sunday Times bestselling author. Recently, Patrick served as a consultant to the award-winning Netflix series The Crown.
Brett Bruen, President of the Global Situation Room
As Director of Global Engagement at the White House, Brett built President Obama’s legacy international initiatives. His counter-crisis management strategies were used successfully against Russian propaganda. As an American diplomat, he worked on the frontlines of crises in the Ivory Coast, Venezuela, Iraq, and Madagascar. Bruen now helps clients survive and thrive amidst the regularity of today’s risks. He teaches Crisis Communications at Georgetown University and serves on boards at Harvard and University College Dublin. As a columnist at Business Insider and a daily commentator on major media outlets, he is an influential voice on global issues. He speaks fluent Spanish and French.
Scott Omelianuk, Editor in Chief of Inc. Magazine
Scott Omelianuk recently joined Inc. as Editor in Chief, where his responsibilities include developing new lines of business to serve the entrepreneurial community and overseeing the events and content that make up the Inc. ecosystem. Trained as a journalist, motivated by business and excited by technology, Scott's passion is a disruptive, do-it-first approach that generates revenue by connecting consumers with content and services. He’s built opportunity for marquee brands across verticals and platforms, including desktop and mobile web, television, print and digital books and magazines, social media and other brand extensions. After his tenure at This Old House, Scott moved into the entrepreneurial world, consulting with startups, joining the board of the MIT Enterprise Forum, and serving as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Stevens Institute of Technology, where he taught a class on innovation and entrepreneurship.
Key Takeaways from Patrick Jephson
“The great thing that Princess Diana had was that people believed what they saw of her. They liked it. They wanted more of it. And they gave it the benefit of the doubt. And if we can get that for our prominent individuals for reputation and brand management, then that is the kind of response we should all be aiming for.”
On Princess Diana’s BBC Panorama Interview: “Princess Diana’s great strengths were her compassion and duty… and going on TV and essentially seeking sympathy was, on the face of it, rather an attractive idea. But in reality it appealed only to her existing base and it gave ammunition to her critics. So as an exercise in brand and reputation enhancement, it backfired.
Key Takeaways from Brett Bruen
“When the Edward Snowden and the NSA files and programs were released, we knew we were doing these things. But we were not ready for the moment when that vulnerability was exposed and exploited… Similarly with yourself and your company, you should ask yourself: what are those potential vulnerabilities?
“You can put in place that counter-crisis infrastructure. And I guarantee you that if you’re boss is not supportive before a crisis, they certainly would be during and after. As somebody who’s supporting as a consultant or communications executive at a company… what would I do? I know my boss has a tendency to speak a little bit too brusquely. I should talk to them about that, but if one of them is taped on an employee’s phone, what am I going to do?
Key Takeaways from Scott Omelianuk and Johanna Maska
Scott: “The businesses that are right now showing the most success are the ones that are being progressive in that sense. That they’re looking for the opportunity and the ability to change and to make a positive impact. And to me that’s quite encouraging.
Johanna: “We know that we need more diverse voices. And we need to empower all of our human capital to the best of its extent. And I think, particularly at this moment of history, with a global pandemic, an economic recession and ongoing instability and division- leaders are more important than ever.