As You Can See, It’s Kind of a Primitive Seesaw

As designers (and aware humans in general – I’m not leaving any of you out), we understand and appreciate companies than create and expand upon their own brand. It’s an essential piece of a successful business. People have to recognize and relate to the brand if a company is to survive in this ‘cut-throat’ world of advertising/marketing/branding/capitalism. Rarer, however, is the occasion when an individual person comes around whose personality is so strong and distinct that he/she becomes a brand himself/herself.

Athletes most commonly fall into this category. Stars like Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and Peyton Manning have all created brand-like awareness for themselves outside of the sport they play in. Whether it be a line of shoes or an appearance on Saturday Night Live, these individuals understand the importance of their exposure beyond sports (especially considering that a lot of pro careers only last around 10-15 years).

Mike Rowe has proven that this ‘branding’ is even possible for those not in professional sports. Widely recognized for his I’ll-do-any-job-once mentality on Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs, Rowe’s likeness (or voice) can be found anywhere from Ford Commercials to Shark Week.

Rowe’s trademark wit and improvisation skills have become more than just his personality. It’s now his “thing”. I was watching Planet Earth Extremes a few weeks ago (to hold me over until the US premiere of Life – or, as I call it, Planet Earth 2), and Mike Rowe’s voice was instantly recognizable. I remember thinking to myself, “Man, this guy is everywhere.”

It wasn’t always so easy though. Just like many brands have to go through their ‘tough times’, Rowe wasn’t always Discovery’s poster child, err… man. Bouncing around from job to job, Mike Rowe landed a gig as an on air personality (salesperson?) for QVC. See, I didn’t realize this until last week, so I did some looking through YouTube and found some absolutely hilarious clips from his stint on the shop-from-home-at-two-in-the-morning channel. What I was really amazed by, though, was that this Mike Rowe from the 90s is the exact same Rowe that we know and love from the show where he had to artificially inseminate a cow, or catch and check a flock of geese for the bird flu. His personality – his brand, if you will – has transcended any show or commercial he’s done to genuinely create an awareness for the individual. If Dirty Jobs ever runs out of disgusting endeavors, or if Ford stops building trucks, Rowe can sleep easy knowing that there will be another job out there for him because he’s built a brand for himself. One that people love, and appreciate.

Okay, so that’s all well and good. But really, these videos are amazing. Which one is your favorite? I’m torn between ‘Precious Moments’ and ‘Noah’s Ark’.