Even when you take out the fact that this is brilliant brand communication, this is a fantastic piece from Mother, NY and Stella Artois about the under-appreciated art of painting billboards.

Don't ask me why, but a line from an early U2 song, Walk to the Water, has been one of those bizarre, obscure things that's forever stuck in my head since I first heard it 20+ years ago: He said he was an artist, but he really painted billboards. Seems like the song's got it backward.

As usual, Matt nailed his analysis of the components that make up a product brand's universe. Very well put, and well worth the read.

Find it here.

As in, people singing about you without you paying them to?

Or sticking around hours after an event in hostile territory

No? Don't stop trying.

At GROUP1201, we give every employee a pile of reading when they come on board. Included in it is a great article written by Tom Peters titled The Brand Called You. In it, Peters writes about the power of developing your individual business personality and cultivating an identity for yourself as a professional.

The central argument is that, by developing a strong personal brand, an individual builds trust in those whom they work for and with, which in turns creates the necessary latitude to allow for the type of risk taking required to truly move business forward under said employee's stewardship. Beyond simply building on success, an individual must also cultivate a unique business personality and become known for something invaluable to the entire enterprise. It's down and dirty separating from the herd kind of stuff, but frequently overlooked.

Read the article here: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

... And who better to exemplify the power of personal brands than The Godfather of Soul, The Hardest Working Man In Show Business ... the one, the only ... Mr. James Brown. Seriously, anyone who's Wikipedia profilehas a subsection and four paragraphs dedicated to their legal issues, yet remained beloved and worshiped throughout life knows a thing or two about personal branding. He had more than a great voice and cool moves. He had a vibe. When you watched James Brown, you knew what to expect, but were always surprised when he took your expectations one level higher.

James Brown never veered from his personal brand. He just kept improving it. Watch these videos and tell us you don't feel instantly better about your day. Personal branding at its best.