You may already know that defining and communicating your unique personal brand on the job is a powerful way to further your career. But have you ever thought about the connection between your personal brand and your company’s brand? What role does that connection — or lack of a connection — play in your career success? And how do you determine if your personal brand is out of sync with your company’s brand?

According to strategic brand management expert Brenda Bence, author of How YOU Are Like Shampoo, great brands don’t become great by accident. In fact, there is a tried-and-true formula for building great brands, she says, and it starts with defining six core elements. These elements fit together like puzzle pieces to define your personal brand or your company’s brand, and they reflect what you want your firm — or you — to stand for. How does your personal brand line up with your company’s brand in terms of these six elements?

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1. Target market/audience. Who does your company target as existing or potential customers for its products or services? BMW targets wealthier customers than Toyota, for example. Just as your company focuses on who it wants as its customers, your personal brand should also be focused on the people at work who can most impact your career and future. They make up your personal brand’s “audience.”

2. Needs. Your company meets the needs of its customers through its products or services. It’s no different with your personal brand. Think about it: What does your personal brand audience need from you, and how well are you meeting those needs?

3. Competition/comparison. Corporate brand-building strategists need to know their competitors well in order to understand why a customer would choose their brand over another. Similarly, personal branders must know something about the other people that their audience will compare them to. Is there someone else who can better fill your personal brand audience’s needs? That’s your personal brand “comparison.”

4. Benefits/unique strengths. A corporate brand must offer specific benefits to its target market, just like your personal brand needs to communicate the unique strengths that set you apart from others.

5. Reasons why. A big name brand must have “reasons why”— reasons that convince a company’s target market that the brand can deliver the benefits it offers. Your personal brand also has reasons why — reasons your personal brand audience will believe you can deliver the unique strengths you promise. What credibility do you have, and why?

6. Brand character. Every brand — corporate or personal — has a personality or “character” that makes it different from any other brand. Think about the difference between Pepsi and Coke. The products contain almost the same ingredients, but each brand has a unique character that has been carefully created by marketers. And that character is what helps you choose one soda over the other. Your personal brand character does the same for you.

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