Corporate vs. personal branding – a comparison with an aha effect

What do Elon Musk, Verena Pausder and maybe even your favourite IT consultant have in common?

That’s right: people know them. People listen to them. People have a sense of what they stand for and what they don’t stand for.

And that’s exactly the point.

People buy from people. They don’t follow logos, they follow personalities. They are inspired by clear attitudes, real stories and a tone that doesn’t sound like the hundredth marketing brochure.

Nevertheless, companies continue to invest millions in glossy brand appearances, while the real voices within the company often remain invisible. It’s like buying a sports car and then leaving it in the garage because the weather is too bad.

In this article, we look at why personal branding often has more impact today than traditional brand communication, how you can turn employees and founders into real brand ambassadors, and why this is still a red rag to many companies.

Corporate branding: Clean colours, sharp claims – but still no soul?

Don’t get me wrong: strong corporate branding is important. It ensures recognisability, conveys professionalism and provides orientation. A clear colour scheme, a good logo, a memorable claim – all of these help to make a brand visible.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: visibility does not equal relevance.

Many corporate brands look like they’ve come straight out of a textbook, but that also makes them sound generic. Interchangeable slogans (‘Innovation meets expertise’ – thanks for nothing), glossy images with stock photos and value propositions that are so general they could apply to any company in the world. Sound familiar?

In practice, customers often experience something completely different from what the glossy branding promises. The brand remains a façade, and that’s exactly what people sense. Because we are all pretty well trained when it comes to authenticity these days.

Corporate branding often falls behind quickly, especially in digital communication: while individuals achieve measurable reach and interactions, many company profiles languish in the no-man’s-land of timelines with their perfect but lifeless posts.

The reason? Corporate branding is often a monologue. It speaks, but it doesn’t listen. It shows, but it doesn’t feel. It claims, but it proves little.

And this is precisely where the crucial difference to personal branding lies.

Personal branding: People buy from people

Let’s be honest: When was the last time you liked a post on LinkedIn because you liked the company logo? Exactly.

People are interested in other people, their stories, thoughts and points of view. Personal branding taps into exactly that. It makes employees, founders and experts visible as credible, approachable and relevant voices of a brand. And that’s exactly why it works.

Studies show that posts from personal profiles generate on average eight times more engagement than posts from company pages [1]. Trust, closeness and resonance are not created by CI-compliant wording, but by personality. We don’t follow ‘brand XY’, we follow the people who work there. Because they show attitude, provide insights or are simply entertaining storytellers.

Want a few examples?

• The founder who shares insights into her daily failures and triggers hundreds of comments.
• The developer who turns complex tech topics into LinkedIn coffee shop conversations.
• The salesperson who doesn’t pitch, but talks honestly and unvarnished about customer projects.

All of this is personal branding. And it works. Not because it is presented in a glossy format, but because it is approachable, courageous and sometimes a little imperfect.

Of course, good personal branding also requires a certain amount of strategy: a clear message, a recognisable style, a goal. But above all, it needs one thing: people who dare to show their faces. And this is exactly where many companies start to feel uncomfortable.

Corporate branding: clean colours, sharp claims – but still no soul?

Don’t get me wrong: strong corporate branding is important. It ensures recognition, conveys professionalism and provides orientation. A clear colour scheme, a good logo, a memorable claim – all of these things help to make a brand visible.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: visibility does not equal relevance.

Many corporate brands look like they’ve come straight out of a textbook, but that also makes them sound generic. Interchangeable slogans (‘Innovation meets expertise’ – thanks for nothing), glossy images with stock photos and value propositions that are so general they could apply to any company in the world. Sound familiar?

In practice, customers often experience something completely different from what the glossy branding promises. The brand remains a façade, and that’s exactly what people sense. Because we are all pretty well trained when it comes to authenticity these days.

Corporate branding often falls behind quickly, especially in digital communication: while individuals achieve measurable reach and interactions, many company profiles languish in the no-man’s-land of timelines with their perfect but lifeless posts.

The reason? Corporate branding is often a monologue. It speaks, but it doesn’t listen. It shows, but it doesn’t feel. It claims, but it proves little.

And this is precisely where the crucial difference to personal branding lies.

Why do companies find this so difficult?

It should be obvious: making people from your own team visible would be the perfect complement to your corporate brand. And yet, in many companies, nothing happens. Or worse, personal branding is actively blocked.

Why? There are several reasons. Some are rational, many are emotional.

1. Loss of control as a major spectre

Personal branding cannot be controlled in the traditional sense.

What happens if an employee suddenly has 20,000 followers and posts things that have not been agreed with the communications department? Panic!

Instead of being happy about reach and visibility, many companies initially see a risk: what if someone says something wrong?

The better question would be: what if no one says anything and we are therefore not noticed?

2. No culture of visibility

In many organisations, personal visibility is still viewed with caution or even mistrust. Those who post are quickly labelled as self-promoters. Those who express their opinions are seen as difficult. Those who become too active are ridiculed internally or even held back.

Yet openness, attitude and courage form the basis for strong brand perception in the digital space.

3. Lack of structure and support

Personal branding does not happen by itself. If you want to support employees or managers in this process, you need resources: guidelines, training, perhaps even an editorial or coaching format. But often there is a lack of time, know-how or simply prioritisation.

4. Fear of fluctuation

A classic: ‘What if we build someone up and then they leave the company?’

Yes, that can happen. But the alternative is that no one is visible and no one stays. Strong personal brands not only shine outwardly, they also have an impact internally: on culture, retention and identification.

In short, many companies fear chaos and overlook the potential. They cling to perceived control and miss out on the opportunity for genuine closeness and visibility.

But there is another way!

Corporate vs. personal branding: Which is better?

Sometimes a clear comparison helps to clear up any confusion. So let’s take a sober look at what corporate branding and personal branding can achieve and where their limitations lie:

In short: corporate branding is important for structure, recognisability and trust in the brand itself. Personal branding is powerful for proximity, relevance, visibility and genuine connections.

The truth lies – surprise, surprise – somewhere in the middle.

It gets really exciting when both worlds work together: when the corporate brand serves as a stage and the people in the company fill it with life.
When it’s not the glossy brochure that speaks, but the expert who built the product. When customers trust not just the logo, but the people behind it.
That’s when you get what brands really need today: credibility with a face.

In the next section, we’ll look at how companies can put this into practice without ending up in chaos or arbitrariness.

Best practices: How corporate and personal branding work together

Corporate and personal branding are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary: they only really work well when they complement each other like a good espresso and a delicious biscuit. The brand creates the framework, the people provide the content.

It doesn’t take rocket science to make this work, just clarity and courage.

1. Integrate personal brands strategically, don’t just let it happen

If you encourage employees to be visible, you shouldn’t leave it to chance. Successful companies consciously rely on personalities in sales, recruiting and management.

The message: ‘You’re not just part of the brand, you’re an active amplifier of it.’

2. Guidelines instead of muzzles

No, personal branding does not mean that everyone can now post whatever they want. But instead of imposing bans, rules help: Which topics fit the brand? How do you deal with critical questions? And what is allowed, desired, or even celebrated?

The right framework provides security without stifling creativity.

3. Promote visibility, don’t demand it

Many employees don’t post because they feel insecure: What should I write? Will anyone even be interested?

Small incentives can help here: LinkedIn training, templates, internal storytelling workshops or simply a pat on the back for the first post.

If you want to promote personal branding, you have to lead by example instead of just making demands.

4. Make success visible

The best motivation? Results. If a thought leader in the company generates leads, attracts applicants or is quoted in a trade magazine, this should be celebrated internally.

Personal branding is not an end in itself. It pays off in employer branding, sales and customer relations. And that can (and should) be shown.

5. Curate good examples

Not everyone has to be a show-off. Some people prefer to write specialist articles, others prefer to speak on podcasts, and still others prefer to post clever comments on LinkedIn.

Allow diversity and show how different strong personal brands can look.

Companies that combine corporate and personal branding get the best of both worlds: trust and recognition. Proximity and structure. Humanity and brand management. And that is precisely what makes the difference between attention and genuine relevance today. Aha!

Conclusion: Building brands without faces? Not really.

Brands need attitude, character and recognition. But above all, they need one thing: people.

Because people make companies tangible. They tell stories that stick. They create trust where logos only shine. And they can often convey the values of a brand much more authentically than any glossy campaign.

Corporate branding sets the stage. Personal branding brings the stage to life.

The path to get there is not a sure-fire success. It takes courage, structures and a culture that sees personal visibility not as a risk, but as a strategic advantage. But the effect is enormous: companies with strong personal brands are closer to their customers, more visible in the market, more credible in competition and often more exciting as employers.

So what does that mean for you specifically?

• Who in your company has the potential to become the face of the brand?
• What stories are waiting to be told?
• And what do your colleagues need to feel confident enough to do so?

At the end of the day, it’s quite simple: people buy from people. And good brands know this and use it to their advantage.

Notes

Dominik Kuemmel supports start-ups and scale-ups with sustainable and scalable marketing measures. You can easily contact him via his attractive website.

[1] Social Media International: LinkedIn Unternehmensseiten – Erkenntnisse aus der Algorithmus-Studie

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