Now, answer this: why should people care for what you do?

Behind every successful brand, whether personal or corporate, there is something more than visibility, professionalism, or clever communication. There is meaning.

Meaning is what makes people care. It’s the answer to the silent question everyone asks when they come across a name, a post, or a proposal:

"Why does this person matter to me?"

Personal brands that succeed over time are those that are not only seen, but understood and felt. They stand for something. They make people think, feel, or act in a certain way. They resonate. That resonance is brand meaning, and it is the foundation of influence, loyalty, and trust.

Now, meaning is a rather ethereal concept. It's abstract, subjective, often hard to grasp, and that’s where the trouble begins. The risk, both for corporate brands and for personal brands, is to feel puzzled or even paralysed when it comes to managing meaning.

Can we really be strategic in the creation of meaning?

The answer is yes, but as always, we need a theory before we can design a strategy. And this is where the work of Oriol Iglesias and Eduard Bonet, professors at Esade Business School, can help.

In their article Persuasive Brand Management, they propose a clear conceptual framework for understanding how brand meaning is built, not by control, but through:

• Relationships
• Stories
• Experiences
• Touchpoints

They describe a major shift in paradigm: from a product-centric, one-way communication model to a more dialogic, multi-stakeholder model, where meaning happens in the mind of the stakeholders, and is fluid and negotiated. And they highlight rhetoric, narrative, and storytelling as essential tools for influencing internal and external stakeholders.

The managerial implications are clear: managers must persuade rather than control, listen actively, co-create meaning, and align culture and identity with the evolving perceptions of the brand.

It’s a powerful contribution that helps us move from confusion to clarity. And while their work is written in the context of corporate branding, it has deep implications for personal branding too.

Brand meaning in personal branding

If you're building a personal brand, you are not just promoting your expertise. You are shaping how people understand your value.

In short and practical terms, creating brand meaning means giving your stakeholders a reason to consider you, engage with you, and ultimately do business with you.

The work of Iglesias and Bonet lays strong foundations for this. It shows that brand building is not a one-way communication game. It is a strategic, participative process that affects how we:

• Build and maintain relationships
• Craft and evolve our story
• Promote ourselves across platforms and communities

Let’s take a closer look at one of these areas: relationship building, the often-underestimated heart of personal brand meaning.

The power of relationships in creating meaning

In personal branding, relationships are not an outcome of communication, they are the result of how we act and communicate over time and across different contexts (both digital and physical).

Over the years, I’ve developed a simple framework that helps people build strategic brand relationships at four progressive levels. Understanding the four levels of relationship will help you decide how you relate with your audiences, how you shape your value proposition and how this is perceived in the market.

• Attention

This is the most basic level. You are visible, and people know what you do, but the relationship is transactional. You're chosen because you perform, but you can be easily replaced if someone else does it faster, cheaper, or with a shinier profile. Think of marketplaces like Fiverr, or professionals whose value lies in execution. Visibility matters, but it doesn’t build loyalty.

• Affection

At this level, people start believing in how you do things. You build credibility through structured approaches, and your methodology becomes your brand. You’re no longer just a pair of hands, you are a system. This space is crowded with consultants and coaches who anchor their value on proven frameworks or proprietary tools. It's more convincing than attention, but still largely rational. A new methodology, a better execution a faster result will endanger your success.

• Appreciation

Now the relationship becomes emotional. It's not just your method, it’s the experience of working with you that makes a difference. People feel seen, understood, and supported. You create resonance. This is where communities emerge around your brand, not because of content alone, but because of the connection. A good example is Anne-Laure Le Cunff, whose Ness Labs newsletter has built a loyal following through openness, vulnerability, and intellectual intimacy.

• Acceptance

At this final level, you become part of how people define themselves. Your brand is no longer just followed, it’s internalised. People see in you a symbol of who they want to be or what they believe in. Simon Sinek is a clear case: once known for strategy frameworks, he has become a leadership icon whose values (purpose, trust, humanism) are woven into the identity of his audience.

Each level of relationship creates a different kind of brand meaning. There’s no need to operate at the highest level to succeed, but there is a need to be intentional. Know the type of relationship you want to build, and make sure your strategy, voice and actions are consistent with that choice.

Managing meaning through relationships

Iglesias and Bonet argue that brand meaning is constantly reinterpreted by every stakeholder who interacts with you. That includes your clients, peers, students, partners, mentors, collaborators. Every email, meeting, post, comment, or referral is a moment where your brand is lived, not just described.

This means that building a personal brand is not a campaign. It’s an ongoing, relational act of meaning management.

And the primary tool for this is not design. It’s not slogans.

It’s how you show up in human relationships:

• Do you listen well?
• Do you follow through?
• Do you make people feel seen?
• Do you bring clarity, not just content?

These are the small signals that move someone from awareness to trust, from interest to commitment.