Keep Odd Molly odd

The fashionbrand Odd Molly opened up a store in central Stockholm in February. I like the brand. It is different and has a great female touch. The story behind it is good too. Read about it at oddmolly.com. Some guys met a girl who was different from all the others. Everyone wanted to spend time with her. They called her Odd Molly.



Photo: oddmolly

As long as the fashion clothes from Odd Molly are odd enough, they are interesting. When too many people start wearing them, my interest will drop. They should be part of building personal personal brands, not fashion for everyone. A way of handling that is to keep the price quite high. Not so good for our wallets, but probably good for the brand. Both their own and our own.

Having cold pizza for breakfast

When I grew up, we always had a big party at my house on the 30th of April. There were 60-70 people in the house, both children and adults. On that night, pizza was served. My mom baked pizza for many days in advance. Good ones. Everyone loved them. It was a favoriteparty for lots of people, who came back year after year. The pizza was good on the night of the party, but there were always leftovers which mom put in the freezer. We had them for breakfast every morning the week after. I loved it. Cold breakfastpizza was actually better than hot partypizza.

Sometimes it is good to repeat things or to dive into a certain topic many times. We can learn better when we recognize things and repeat what we have done before. We may see things with new eyes, hear things with new ears or visualize things with a new mind when we experience them a second or third time. The content may just get better with age. Don´t just look for new experiences. Come back to the old ones and experience them again. You may get a completely new understanding of them.

The same goes for branding. Be consistent and give people a chance to recognize what you offer them. Some safe and repeated messages will make it easy for your client to choose you again and again. Like I chose cold pizza morning after morning...

Photo: www.fotoakuten.se

Be an attractive employer

A new article about employer branding has been published at www.driftig.nu. Come and visit. It is in Swedish.

Physical attraction

At Beautiful Business Awards last week, I met Linda Ahlgren, who has started the site görakarriär.se.
She is young, has big dreams and will surely reach most of her goals. We chatted for a few minutes about personal branding and how to build your own brand in the most successful way. I believe in starting from the inside and then moving on to the outside. In that way, your brand will be worth something, not just a shallow shell. Someone working at an advertising agency had adviced her not to leave her home - not even to go to the laundry room - without putting on a good makeup and being well dressed.

Today the daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet writes about the importance of looking good when you apply for a job. I am certain that a good appearance is important - especially when we meet people for the first time. That includes your clothing and your overall charisma. If you look good AND have a great personality, everything is fine. If you look good and have no goals, no sense of humour and a disagreeable personality - then your good looks won´t take you very far.

Know who you are and what you want. And then add some physical attraction. Then you´ll be fine.

I wish I could play the harmonica like him

I haven´t been singing much lately, although it is one of my favorite ways of spending time. Singing is like working out. If you don´t keep it up, your voice won´t stay in shape. Therefore it is both fun and good to be back in the choir for a bossa nova-session.

There will be a Bossa Nova-concert with Stockholm Motet Choir on March 15th at the Historic Museum in Stockholm. The fabulous Stockholm Lisboa Project will accompany the choir. One of the guys plays the harmonica like a god - wow...

Photo: Stockholms Motettkör

Passion for Business

There is a magazine in Sweden called Passion for Business. Its´targetgroup is mainly businesswomen who enjoy reading about both business and pleasure. In the latest issue, there is a list of 549 Swedish women, who are all capable of managing complex positions in companies and boardrooms. I am proud to be on the list. There are so many more women like this. These people were found in just a couple of days. So for the companies who still have a problem finding competent women for complex positions - read the list. The problem is no more.

Moose Garden

I had a chance to listen to Sune Häggmark, an enthusiastic and successful entrepreneur who is running a Moose Garden in the north of Sweden. There are tame moose in the garden, each with a specific history. You can buy moose paper, moose milk, moose cheese, moose soap, moose jewelry… A Moose Academy is coming up, where you will be able to learn about the moose and spend time with them. Each moose is identified by a name, age and a specific personality… Through a webcam, you can follow the life of the moose every day.

Photo: Moose Garden

This business started in a small extent in 1997. Now Moose Garden has thousands of visitors from all over the world every year. TV-teams go there to produce shows. International newspapers write articles about the place. Through consistent, creative and enthusiastic branding, Moose Garden has become more wellknown and appreciated across the world than it seems to be in the local county…