Know Your Brand

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers."

Are you an actor?  If the answer is yes, then guess what else you are.  A salesperson and a brand.  If you don't know what your brand is, then how do you know what you're selling?  How can you differentiate? 

In acting most call it typing but I like branding, it has more power.  Branding is not about standing out from the competition, it's about getting your "prospects" to see you as the only one able to provide a solution to their problem (in this case, casting the part).  Isn't that what we really want, after all?  For the powers that be to see us as the only one capable of playing the part. 

How do you go about branding yourself as a performer?  Well, really it's as simple as typing.  Ask yourself the following questions:

What roles do I get cast in most often?  Don't fight against the characters you get called back for.  Embrace who you are.  It's how you're being seen. 

What unique experiences, traits or qualities do I bring that make me special?  You as yourself are far more interesting than any character that could ever be written.  The real you behind the character is what fills in the blanks. 

Know your brand of acting so you can best sell it.  That will get you more roles than trying to be what you *think* they want, something that you're not.

(un)discovered alison