ma marketing communications dissertation on human branding

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1 Masters of Arts in Marketing Communications Middlesex University Business School Academic Year 2015-2016 Manjeet Varerkar M00090764 A new human branding model: A critical look at the Dalai Lama and Donald Trump Supervisor: Sukhbinder Barn October 2016 This dissertation is a partial fulfilment of the degree of Masters of Arts in Marketing Communications

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Page 1: MA Marketing communications  Dissertation on Human Branding

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Masters of Arts in Marketing Communications

Middlesex University Business School

Academic Year 2015-2016

Manjeet Varerkar

M00090764

A new human branding model: A critical look at the Dalai Lama and Donald Trump

Supervisor: Sukhbinder Barn

October 2016 This dissertation is a partial fulfilment of the degree of Masters of Arts in Marketing

Communications

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Abstract

The topic of human branding has been one of significant interest to marketers especially in the field of

politics, sports and celebrities among others as well as from the aspect of personal branding. However,

human branding as a separate marketing discipline has limited research conducted and few tools

available for analysis: This paper hopes to add to the conceptual model framework in the area of human

branding. The paper attempts to utilize the current literature and understanding of human brands to

build on and propose a new insightful model to encapsulate and deconstruct human brands. The model

was constructed using a variation of Kapferer’s brand identity prism and Carl Jung’s Archetypes theory

as applied to brands. Powerful and internationally relevant human brands: Donald Trump and the Dalai

Lama were selected to test the ‘Varerkar Human Branding Model’ and its suitability, effectiveness and

clarity in understanding different approaches to marketing. The analysis explores various brand

dimensions by content analysis of reputable secondary data sources demonstrating the power of

marketing communications to shape public opinion and perceptions. The model proves to be a useful

conceptual framework for marketing practitioners and personal brands in their transition phase. Lastly,

the ethical implications of marketing as well as new ways in which the thesis could be further developed are also discussed.

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Acknowledgements

My thanks are due to my supervisor, Sukhbinder Barn who initially suggested to me during my proposal

stage to create a new human branding model. I would also like to thank Tugce Sahin for her

encouragement and advice regarding the project. My fiancée, Sana Badhwar who motivated me and my

parents Deepak and Vrinda Varerkar after whom the Model has been named.

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Page no.

List of Models & Frameworks (i)

1. Introduction 6

2. Literature Review 8

- Brands 8

- Human Brands 10

- Donald Trump 13

- Dalai Lama 14

- Theoretical Framework 15

3. Research Methodology 20

4. Findings & Analysis 22

-Donald Trump 22

- Dalai Lama 30

- Final Analysis 40

5. Conclusion and Recommendations 41

Bibliography 43

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List of Models and Frameworks

1. Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism 17

2. Carl Jung’ Archetype Model 19

3. Varerkar’s Human Branding Model 21

4. Varerkar’s Human Branding Model – Donald Trump 29

5. Varerkar’s Human Branding Model – Dalai Lama 39

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1. Introduction

Topic – A new human branding model: A critical look at the Dalai Lama and Donald Trump

Research question/objective/hypothesis:

I consider human branding, especially when concerning global leaders to be an extremely important

area of study as it is often through individual leadership that our modern world has been shaped. There

has been limited research conducted on this topic usually in the realm of politics, celebrities and

personal branding. Considering that the Dalai Lama and Donald Trump are both dynamic, evolving

human brands with contrasting world views and consumers all over the world, they are ideal candidates

for analysis to implement and test a new human branding model.

Hypothesis:

A new model to understand and analyze human brands can be proposed and applied to the Dalai Lama and Donald Trump

Aims:

1. To utilize the current literature and understanding of human brands to propose a new insightful

model for human brands which can be useful to marketers.

2. To critically analyze marketing content about the human brands from themselves, as well as

legitimate academic and secondary sources.

3. To identify patterns and tools which human brands use to create, sustain and propagate their

brand from a macro perspective helping the reader deconstruct the different elements clearly .

4. To highlight the power and impact of human branding on global affairs and raise awareness of

ethical concerns and public manipulation.

5. To highlight both the positive and negative uses of marketing communications and its impact on society.

The importance of public opinion in driving change has been felt throughout the ages where every major revolution, instance of significant social change and freedom movement has been affected by the combined perception of a large group of people. The notion of ‘leadership’ in these situations has been of vital importance in organizing, implementing and boosting the morale of the group in question who is to instigate this change (Mastrangelo et al., 2004). “The job of leadership is to exercise mastery over the process of social thinking in order to engage workers, to generate innovative ideas and to bring about change where needed” (Ryde, 2008 p. 22). When we think of great leaders, we often forget the dynamic elements which conjure this strong perception and give l ife to what can then be perceived as a powerful human brand. It is from this root desire to understand what makes leaders hold such powerful influence which has stimulated my interest in this project. Human brands, defined as “any well-known persona who is the subject of marketing communications efforts” (Thompson, 2006 p.104) have played a significant role in our global culture and lives not solely restricted to leadership roles but also as prominent and inspiring personalities in diverse fields such as music, art, sports, science and philosophy among others radiating their influence across all walks of life. It could be argued that even before modern mass communications methods were developed, human

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branding has been taking place since ancient times such as the great Pharos of Egypt who consolidated their powerful brand perception by building monuments like the Pyramids in their own honor and glorifying their deeds in battle which still hold power over contemporary consumers of Egyptian history (Newman & Sheth, 1985). Firstly, the literature review will systematically explain the foundations of branding and the various elements and discussions related to the concept from a commercial perspective to illustrate the similarities and differences in the process for companies and people. Secondly, an in-depth discussion of branding will be followed by a comparison between the conventional understanding of commercial brands and human brands who by their own power manage to exert an influence over people and thei r behavior. Studies focused on political branding, celebrity branding, personal branding and the complex psychological and physical relationships that define the interactions between human brands and consumers will be explored. Thirdly, important communication approaches which relate directly to the Dalai Lama and Donald Trump such as altruistic marketing, CEO branding, propaganda techniques, the influence of social media and general information relating to them will be discussed. In order to create a new conceptual framework for this study, the Kapferer’s brand identity prism will be explained in detail with the modified approach from commercial brands to human brands. Secondly, Carl Jung’s theory of archetypes and their shadows will be adapted to human brands and discussed which together with the Kapferer modified model will form the basis of the new model proposed for this study: ‘Varerkar’s Human Brand Model’. Various frameworks and theories will be used to carry out a critical analysis helping to develop the findings of the factors which drive, create and sustain human brands ultimately implementing and testing the new model. With a focus on the varied aspects of human branding, two prominent contemporary figures, the Dalai Lama and Donald Trump will be analyzed after a justification of the two choices in an attempt to showcase the difference in approach to communication, behavior, target audience and ideology and the impact it has on the overall human brand perception. Each aspect that affects their brand will then be discussed in detail with a breakdown of their distinct approaches contextualized by different time periods in which they were carried out and the impact it had on their brand. The discussion will also cover different articles and their views on the respective human brands and an analysis of secondary and qualitative data from reputable sources to clearly identify their brand characteristics. This subject is one which has limited literature and research conducted yet is significant to nearly all people in the world because the power to shape geopolitics and economies are often concentrated in the hands of these few, iconic or influential personalities who have been elevated to power by the use of successful marketing communications in many cases.

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2. Literature Review Brands Thomson (2006) has been an authority and pioneer in the study of people as brands at a period when limited research was done in the field and created an opportunity for academics and marketers to investigate further. He aimed to find the reasons for attachment to powerful personalities who will henceforth be termed as ‘human brands’ which he defined as “any well-known persona who is the subject of marketing communications efforts” (Thompson, 2006 p.104). In order to understand the mechanics and implications of human branding, it is first necessary to have a clear and thorough understanding of what a brand is and how it relates to consumers. Branding has evolved from its conception of being a way to mark livestock as a symbol of ownership to the exploding phenomenon of the modern brand identity where corporations selling products and services identify themselves by a symbolic representation of a brand (King, 1991). In the fast passed globalized business world, it has been argued that advertisers and marketers have often simplified the branding process to merely a logo, corporate identity, advertising or marketing material to represent this complex concept but rather it seems to be an amalgamation of these factors and others signifying something much greater: a promise (Graham, 2001). The promise once fulfilled creates a reputation and becomes synonymous with what the company is known for (Dun, 1997). An often cited example is the Volvo brand for automobiles which is famously known for its safety features and markets itself on this core strength (Aaker, 1996). The brand appeals to their target market of people with children and families who pay special attention to safety standards and protection in the event of an unforeseen accident (Aaker, 1996). A brand attempts to forge a relationship with its consumers to instill varying degrees of feelings of confidence, passion, belonging, action and security depending on its line of product/service and target audience (Erdem, 1998). It attempts to instill a set of values which can then be transmitted across its range by identifying with its core beliefs (Erdem, 1998). Others such as Assael (1998) have argued that a brand is formed whether the company wishes it or not with the consumers’ opinion of the company being the final decider of what the brand is and where it stands: positive brand e quity would mean that people’s perception of the brand is favorable. This can be summed up in the statement that the brand is not what you wish it to be, but how it is actually perceived in reality by the people. A striking example points to the valuation of the famous beverage company Coca-Cola which for example was valued at an astounding figure of $70.4 billion in 2010. In recent times Coca-Cola has lost its position as the leading global brand to the likes of technology giants such as Apple, Google an d Microsoft who are now worth $154.1 billion, $82.5 billion and $75.2 billion respectively while Coca-Cola is now valued at 58.5 billion (Forbes, 2016).

These figures alone stand testament to the fact that brands wield incredible power and financial clout

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(in some cases even larger than entire countries) which are significantly affected over time either positively or negatively based on a variety of factors. The observation that the top three leading brands in the world are technology companies which have been used and integrated into nearly all modern businesses is a clear indication of the direction the world economy is moving towards considering that a large degree of business and trade is now facilitated by computers, the internet and smartphones. An interesting area for further research would be the impact, control and steering ability these leading multinational technology based brands have on global culture, business and communications. This also opens up the discussion of the amount of influence and power being concentrated in the hands of multinational brands and in essence the people (human brands) that stand at their helm such as the late Steve Jobs of Apple and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook as opposed to that of powerful governments. The exact definition and importance of branding has been debated extensively over the years with varying perspectives relating to different industries, contexts and cultures (Keller 1998). From the businesses perspective, a brand is an extremely valuable element which can create perceived value for their products/services and allow them for example to charge a higher price or secure the loyalty of customers over other competitors (Keller 1998). From a psychological perspective, the consumer decision making process which is foundational to consumer behavior relies heavily on brand perceptions and the ability to filter out competitors based on a brand preference (Assael, 1998). Due to the process being psychological in nature with a high rate of variable factors which are nearly impossible to track and measure, branding has been a subject of great interest for marketers to delve deeper into and has left ample room for innumerable studies to discover new theories, models and data to understand the importance and influence of brands. The leading brands identified above such as Apple, Google and Coca Cola are the ones which have been successful due to a variety of reasons so their success and the power of their brand is extremely difficult to pin down in a purely quantifiable sense apart from their financial value. For example the impact of the Apple iPod on the music industry and the iPhone on the smartphone industry are responsible for large scale cultural transformations in business and society and heralding the creation of a culturally iconic and transformative brand. The interactions of brands with consumers indicates that the brand has to relate to consumers personal beliefs, experiences, pre conceptions, culture, lifestyle, financial status and a wide range of other phenomena which could influence their behavior. The first step then is the brand promise which is followed by the brand perception which is completely in the power of consumers. This leads to consumers having expectations of a brand rooted in the promise and perception which has been created. An often cited example of a powerful brand with high expectations is Rolex who are famous for expensive watches. The Rolex watch is a high end luxury product and is expected by customers to be expensive, which is the defining factor of creating its value and prestige as well as its social implications (Aaker, 1996). If the price was however to be reduced it would not fit in to the brand expectation and would create confusion among customers as well as reduce the value of the brand as a whole because it is deeply connected to its pricing structure and the fact that it can only be af forded by very wealthy people. The most important factor in conventional branding which relates to this study is the idea of a brand

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persona. The idea of creating a personality for a brand relates back to the fact that a personification is taking place by merging human attributes with products and services (Aaker, 1991). Marketing communications attempt to create these human attributes by using all the different tools at their disposal such as using branding elements, advertising, PR and social media to reinforce the brand image and dimensions of personality (Aaker, 1991). This is clearly illustrated by the definition of brand personality which is a “set of human characteristics that are attributed to a brand name. A brand personality is something to which the consumer can relate; an effective brand increases its brand equity by having a consistent set of traits that a specific consumer segment enjoys” (Erdem, 1998, pp.14). Brand identity is then formed and becomes the face of the business. It can represent the company’s ideas, values, personality and services. It has also been known to generate high levels of brand loyalty among consumers (Adock et al. 1998). During the formative period of the brand, an important decision is made wherein the name is selected as a symbolic representation of the entire company and its associated product for all future purposes. This brand name, once selected, is developed and bui lt by the use of various communication tools to evoke the desired feeling in the mind of consumers since ‘‘Ultimately, the power of a brand lies in the minds of consumers or customers’’ (Keller, 2000, p. 157) . One of the factors which affects brands is the country of origin. It was been discovered that one of the factors influencing brand perception has to do with the stored conceptions of consumers about the brand and its country of origin or production which assists them in their evaluation and decision making progress (Scott & Keith, 2005). A famous example of this phenomenon is the perception that Germany is a leader in the luxury automotive industry, which implies when consumers look at a German brand, they may form a positive opinion with the preconceived knowledge that German luxury cars are of premium quality as compared to Korean cars (Scott & Keith, 2005).

Human brands According to intensive research conducted by Thomson (2006), consumers seemed to have increased levels of satisfaction trust and commitment to a human brand based on their level of attachment. Within this paradigm, three key factors have been defined, namely: Autonomy (when the person feels that their activities are self-elected and from their own choice rather than through coercion), Relatedness (when a person does not feel isolated and is rather a part of a social sphere) and competence (the persons innate feeling of seeking out excellence and thus being attracted to these qualities). Another significant factor that affected consumers in a large way was the ‘affective richness of experience’ with the human brand for example attending a lecture or rally and being in the proximity of the person. These 2 factors play a significant role in the publics’ perception of the brand apart f rom various other factors such as trust, satisfaction, attitudes, endorsements among other things . Human brands often reach iconic status when their cultural meaning adapts, transforms and survives changes in society (Holt, 2004). This ability to transcend meaning within narrow time periods and contexts allows potent human brands to cross the threshold into becoming a cultural icon (brown et al. 2013). Structuration theory argues that human brands (agents) and the structure they are involved with (society/culture’s arrangements and behavior) work together in varying levels of agreement and neither share exclusive power. The human brand structure is thus “considered through the interactions and knowledge between media, market, audience, and human” (Thyroff & Belk 2015 pp.314). This core idea

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of the complex interaction which takes place between the human brand and the structure in my opinion is fundamental to understanding how human brands are formed and empowered. “Human brand icons then are the consequence of the agentic actions of human brands to reconcile their public/private selves and their forming, fixing, and shifting associations within an ever-changing and dynamic system of production, media and audience” (Eager & Lindrage 2015, pp.305). This dissertations premise is that human beings can also be considered ‘brands’ and follow several characteristics and methods used by commercial brands (products, services, corporations) on a functional level in our modern world and have the ability to yield a far greater influence. Sports Celebrities have often been considered the obvious target for analysis as they usually sign up with a brand for a considerable period and seem to affect sales in a powerful way, simply by association. This is of great interests to brands and marketers alike as the attributes of the human brand are easily transferred onto the commercial brand and penetrates the perception of the consumer.

Celebrities are known to achieve brand status through the mass consumption of their identities and personalities through the media (Milligan, 2004). In an informative journal ‘consumer attachment to Human brands: “The Oprah Effect” Loroz and Baig (2015) discuss the immense impact Oprah Winfrey has had as one of the most powerful human brands and culture influencers in the modern world. They shed light on an existing model of human brand attachment which covers autonomy, relatedness and competence as antecedents to understanding the strength of attachment to human and forms the self -determination theory. Competence refers to the innate desire to have mastery and a form of control over the environment and an understanding of the results ones actions will yield. Relatedness deals with the urge to be connected to others by form of interaction or association and form a bond. Autonomy is the sense of free will a consumer desires to have and the feeling of acting by deliberate choice and not under any form of coercion. Building on this research, an expanded model of brands (based on Thompson, 2006) was introduced to include sub-dimensions of favorability, originality and clarity as key factors in ascertaining the relationship to celebrity attachments.

From a psychological perspective, human brands tend to exert a strong influence on their consumers and form parasocial relationships which are “one-sided relationships, where one person extends emotional energy, interest and time, and the other party, the persona, is completely unaware of the other's existence” (Horton & Wohl, 1956, pp.35). These relationships have several significant implications such as being part of a social group who feels the same way, creating emotional bonds and feelings of being understood by the persona, alleviating feelings of loneliness and need for social interactions along with a variety of other factors. However, with the blossoming of social media and the opening of two way communications between brands and consumers, people now have a chance to develop a more personal bond and express their feelings as well as be heard and on occasion responded to by their idols. This has drastically affected the relationship between human brands and their followers. Malkin (2010) discusses how research placed the blame of an Australian political party’s loss on the prime minister whose human brand was said to be damaging the party brand by association and co-branding. The understanding was that by re-branding the leadership, electoral prospects could be positively affected and this decision was confirmed and thus taken due to the research conducted by polls, interviews and focus groups. Co-branding and brand associations have an important role to play in shaping human brands: “This approach argues that the political leader is a human brand, and that the political offer is a co-branded entity between leader and party. Such a model suggests that the political

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party can reposition effectively by changing leader” (Malkin, 2010, pp.1).

The leader of an organization (CEO/President/Spiritual head) has an extremely important role to play and helps to achieve the strategic goals of the organization (Mastrangelo et al., 2004). It is suggested that “Effective leaders engage in both professional leadership behaviours (e.g. setting a mission, creating a process for achieving goals, aligning processes and procedures) and personal leadership behaviours (e.g. building trust, caring for people, acting morally)” (Mastrangelo et al., 2004, pp. 435). This factor also extends further into ‘thought leadership’ and becoming a credible source of information to be valued (Ryde, 2008). Great leadership, can be the defining factor in movements and culminates in influencing various stakeholders as well as public perception of an issue. “Human Branding In Political Marketing: Applying Contemporary Branding Thought To Political Parties And Their Leaders” (Speed et al., 2015) discusses how human branding is becoming an important topic in main stream marketing while it has always been the main concern in politics. The notion of a person’s brand equity is discussed in detail with conventional marketing thought applied to political parties. A noteworthy fact discussed by Ariely & Norton (2009) is the way human consumption needs have evolved over the course of history with the advent of new technologies and changing socio -cultural paradigms. They argue that since our primary needs of food and shelter have been made more accessible, there has been an increasing shift towards ‘conceptual consumption’ . O'Shaughnessy ‘s (2009, pp.16) ‘Selling Hitler: propaganda and the Nazi brand’ argues that “Nazism functioned as a brand, and that this is key to our understanding of the extraordinary success of the Hitler regime in galvanizing German public opinion. Nazis understood and manipulated the power of the brand, creating what amounts to a parallel universe of imagery and symbolism.” He goes on to add that Hitler projected himself as the messiah and stressed on creating the idea of a threat to the German way of life.

There has been significant research done on other popular culture icons such as Che Guevara, who has

become symbolic of revolution, communism and left wing politics. In ‘Che Guevara: Revolutionary and

icon’, Ziff (2006) discusses the myth of Che and how he has been popularized by several films,

documentaries, books and is now sold on commercial merchandise in capitalist economies. The ironic

marketing of the Che icon and how it has generated a vast amount of publicity and brand equity been

discussed in detail and is very useful in deconstructing the Dalai Lama and Donald Trump human brand.

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Donald Trump

The persona and brand of Donald Trump has evolved over the years at a steady pace. He has been a

global symbol of a successful entrepreneur and can also be considered one of the dominant archetypes

of the CEO brand. Comprehensive articles and analysis from prominent news sources were researched

which will be discussed further in the Research Methodology and findings section and shaped the

direction of readings related to them.

Fetscherin (2015, pp.2) proposes a model to study the CEO brand which includes the “4 p’s of the CEO

branding mix – The CEO (person), personality, prestige(reputation) and performance.” He elaborates

further on the different ways the CEO, now acting as a ‘Human Brand’ can impact the company in a

variety of ways. Famous CEO’s such as Steve Jobs, Richard Branson and Bill Gates among others have

also been iconic CEO’s who have had an impact on their respective companies in terms of sales, brand

image and reputation, relatability and PR among other things.

An interesting concept which is relevant is the ‘efficient contracting hypothesis’ which argues that CEO’s

will often take decisions which are in service to the companies define d brand objectives and will thus

help enhance the brand. However, CEO’s may be tempted by what is known as the ‘rent extraction

hypothesis’ which states that CEO’s may take decisions which serve themselves and their own

opportunity to enhance their personal brand value in a quest to enhance their own career

opportunities.

In the case of Donald Trump, since he owned the Trump Corporation, his own image was completely

merged with that of his family business and the empire he was attempting to build and sustain. This has

helped keep the Trump brand name sustainable and evolving over a long period of time as opposed to

for example the case of Steve Jobs and Apple: His resignation as CEO in 2011 caused Apple stock drop of

nearly 3 percent amounting to closely $10 billion. In the case of Trump, investing and merging the fate

of his personal brand with his company was a sensible and long term investment as there would not be

a case of resignation or distancing himself from the brand. In the case of Donald Trump, he falls in the

category of a ‘Celebrity CEO’ who are categorized as such by their attributes of seeking media attention

due to their narcissistic personality or being “singled out by the media because of some idiosyncratic

behaviour or management practice” (Barnett and Pollock, 2012, p.225). The negative branding related

to Trump however in light of his provocative comments have also had an impact on his business in a

significant way and will be explored in the main findings.

Considering Trump is also running as a Republican nominee for the elections in America, it is necessary

to cover the factors influencing his election campaign briefly as well as various insights from news sources, political commenters and academics.

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Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama’s call to action is diverse and ranges across several global issues apart from Tibetan

freedom and Buddhism. A large number of his books and speeches focus on changing people’s

perspective and eventually their behavior so that individuals and societies can benefit as a whole. This

entails an aspect of Social Marketing which utilize word of mouth and try to start grass root movements

such as the ALS ice bucket challenge which capitalized on social proof: the positive influence created

when people find out others are doing something and get encouraged to do the same (French, 2015).

Harnessing the unique power of storytelling and creating brand evangelists to be the human face of a

cause can have a significant impact on charities and social movements (Dahl et al. , 2013) and is

especially relevant to the topic of how the Dalai Lama’s personal brand affects all the issues he is

associated with. Both authors place a high importance on content creation and the strategic and tactical

use of social media to disseminate information and interact with potential supporters.

Milewicz and Saxby (2013) discuss the use of social media by leaders as a part of their marketing

communications and how this new personalization and accessibility opens up a brand conversation as

well as direct interaction with stakeholders. The online article ‘Music Stars To China: Free Jailed Tibetan

Singers’ (2013) highlights recent celebrity support received by Free Tibet from prominent musicians o

help free other imprisoned artists. Several more celebrities have given their support to the campaign

acting as an official celebrity endorsement and usually show their support via online platforms such as

Facebook and Twitter which then garners international coverage from news reports (Neuhaus, 1997).

Websites such as www.dalailamaprotesters.info claim that they are “correcting misinformation spread

by the anti-Dalai Lama Protesters” and attempting to stop these propaganda efforts. These sources can

be used to collect information and materials regarding his image. In fact, there was an interesting case in

which Lululemon, a brand which sells yoga accessories got negative feedback from consumers for trying

to leverage on a personality such as the Dalai Lama by partnering with one of his NGO’s (Religion

Dispatches, 2014). The brand received a severe backlash on twitter where they were accused of

tarnishing the Dalai Lama’s name by associating him with a commercial enterprise showcasing the

pristine public perception of the Dalai Lama as a brand in itself.

Altruistic and Cause Marketing are useful areas to research as they try to deconstruct the motivating

factors about how and why people actually get involved in movements and donate to charities (Guy &

Patton, 1989). Additionally, the growth of corporate social responsibly and how it affects the reputation

of brands is discussed in Smith & Alcorn’s (1991) ‘Cause Marketing: a new direction in the marketing of

corporate responsibility’. A parallel can be drawn between these strategies and the Free Tibet

movement’s use of selected communication to provoke a response from the public especially

concerning human rights issues. The Dalai Lama’s involvement creates a positive association and is used

to market and enhance the movements agendas.

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Theoretical Frameworks Over the years, academics, marketers and researchers have made many attempts to understand brands using models to simplify the various elements of a brand, its identity and perception. While brands have been analyzed and interpreted using a variety of methods, one such relevant method is Kapferer ’s brand identity prism which has 6 aspects of analysis (Kapferer, 1995): While this model has been created for conventional brands, it applies well to human brands as well since the process and factors shaping both human and conventional brands is very similar. The classic definition will be explained with the modified adaptation for human brands as well to illustrate its convergence and usability for the purpose of this study.

External Factors

1) Physique

The physique of the brand refers to the actual product or service, how it is designed and what connection it holds to the brand, such as use of a logo or other elements. Striking physical features can often be the landmark trait of the brand and its products. Human brands can be identified by their physical appearance, fashion, body language and speech.

2) Relationship

This aspect covers communications campaigns promoting their products and effectively communicating with their target audience. Sponsorship of events, celebrity endorsement, corporate social responsibility initiatives among other things have been a key promotion tool which helps establish a relationship with the consumer. The same applies to human brands who may participate in events, have prominent personalities and celebrities make public appearances with them, or in the case of politicians endorse them. Their communications may be extensive in the form of books, public speeches, Tv appearances and other marketable content.

3) Reflection

A stereotypical user of the brand is imagined and identified in order to streamline the brand identity and personality in order to communicate effectively and secure consumers. Powerful human brands can also imagine the people that resonate and connect with them and the set of values which would define their connection to the brand Internal Factors

4)Personality This factor relates to the brands character and can be defined by their use of writing, tone, design features, color schemes and in other ways. Brand ambassadors are often used to enhance and define

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the personality of brands. In the case of human brands, their actual personality and behavior can shape how they are perceived be their consumers. 5)Culture This can be defined as the set of values and basic principles on which the brand bases its behavior, products and communication. Human brands bring with them the values of their country, religion, ideology and philosophy which creates a context within which they can be understood. 6)Self image

The image that consumers have about themselves when using a product is an element which brands will

try to create and propagate such as when consumers use luxury products and by extension feel they are

now wealthy and successful.

A human brands set of values and the meaning they create by association with them in the consumers

mind can be understood to be a powerful force which defines their relationship.

While we have established that regular brands try to take on a human personality to communicate

better with their target audience, we find that actual human beings who possess such desirable qualities

hold significant power as a brand in and of themselves (Eager & Lindrage 2015). It is remarkable that this

field of study has not been explored in as much depth as it deserves as it is one of the important driving

factors in shaping the future of the entire planet. It must be acknowledged that we are largely

dependent on prominent figures and leaders who become human brands to guide and shape the

world’s economy, politics, culture, environment, and spirituality.

The chief difference in this issue of a human brand and a regular commercial brand is that the human

brand has a far more complex history, character, behavior and several factors of the past which

determine its brand and value. Their character and personality are shaped just like all people by factors

such as genetics, family, environment, culture, nationality, ideology, and life goals among others unlike

brands which are constructed and made alive spontaneously or evolve from a starting point to a new

brand identity and image usually for commercial purposes.

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The Brand Identity Prism (Kapferer, 1986).

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Archetypes and Shadows

Roberts (2010) and Shadraconis (2013) discuss an extremely important and relevant aspect of human

brands using the framework of ‘archetypes’ as proposed by the eminent psychologist Carl Gustav Jung.

Jung (1984) discusses his theory in relation to the human psyche and used the concept of archetypes to

categorize personalities and mythological motifs. He proposed that such archetypes and characters

often portrayed in mythology form a basis of the ‘collective unconscious’ and can be understood to

relate to people across different cultures and countries. He considered these constructs as

representative of the fundamental human experience and thus have the power to evoke deep emotions.

This powerful concept was then customized to fit brands by Roberts (2010) and Shadraconis (2013) and

serves as a relevant model and framework to understand how consumers relate to human brands. The

theory includes a breakdown of different archetypes as sub categories under different types: The Ego

Type contains: Innocent, Everyman, Hero and Caregiver. The Soul Type contains: Explorer, Outlaw, Lover

and Creator. The Self Type contains: Jester, Sage, Magician and Ruler. This forms the basis of Jung’s

model of archetypes as illustrated below (the relevant archetypes will be discussed in detail in the

Findings section). Building on Jung’s theory, the shadow aspect of a person is the repressed or avoided

subconscious material which the conscious ego disassociates itself from. Similarly, for human brands,

there are darker elements, mistakes, misperceptions or controversial events which can damage the

entire brand value. This Shadow element is given significant focus within the new brand model to

provide clarity regarding the reality of the brands perception and to allow marketers to identify

solutions to tackle them.

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(Shadraconis, 2013)

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3. Research Methodology

The research aims to discover how human brand perceptions have been formed and maintained and

proposes a new model to understand human brands. Considering that the human brands in question for

this research (Dalai Lama and Donald Trump) are public figures with research being conducted on them

on a daily basis, there is ample verifiable data collected from global organizations as well as official

government sources and reputable media outlets indicating their public perception and image in a clear

way. The polling results have been tested and conducted by experts in the field and by reputable bodies

such as governments, research institutes and international bodies, all of whom are stated as acceptable

sources (Finfgeld-Connett, 2013)

The core emphasis therefore is on the critical analysis and understanding of this data to help shed light

on the central premise of this research concerning human brands and their potent power to influence

consumers. Primary research for this particular research would be non-representative due to a various

reasons: Both the figures in question are global personalities with millions of followers holding strong

opinions and a questionnaire sample size less than a thousand at a minimum would be extremely

limiting and non-indicative of mass sentiments. The research is an attempt to understand the mass

perception, consumption as well as creation of human brands and thus relies on sources which can deal

with significantly large numbers such as official sources as well as those presented by reputable media

and news sources. Primary research would also become irrelevant in the face of high credibility

information already available and could safely be assumed as an inefficient use of time. The focus is

therefore aligned with the aims of the research and relies solely on secondary research as conducted by

reputable sources as well as a case study style dissection of communications used by the human brands

in question.

The next phase will utilize previous models of understanding commercial brands and apply them to the

human brands in question in an attempt to illuminate the factors which are which make human brands

unique in different contexts. This then be followed by research conducted in human branding which

have largely dealt with the attachment theories and how idol worship is formed as well as how political

brands are created and re-enforced. The models in use will be Kapferer’s brand identity prism however

it will be modified and implemented to fit human brands. This analysis will then be merged into Jung’s

archetypes to prove that a certain aspect is being focused on and develop a new model which forms the

basis of the human brand and allows for a clearer understanding.

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Varerkar’s Human Branding Model:

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4. Findings & Analysis

The humans brands selected for this project were Donald Trump and Dalai Lama for very specific

reasons. Firstly, they have both been globally influential and have strong personalities and an

infrastructure which helped create and grow their brand. Secondly, they possess starkly different traits

and have juxtaposed world views as well as varied brand perceptions globally. Thirdly, their importance

and complex brand image has evolved across time periods building on their previous success and clout.

When iconic human brands take center stage, it has often been the case that along with ardent fans,

supporters, followers and well-wishers come the opposite side of the spectrum. I would like to propose

within the new model to describe brands, the figurative ‘shadow’ cast by them where they have

detractors and people who focus on the negative elements of the brand and try to devalue them. A few

famous cases in history are Che Guevara who is globally considered the face of revolution and justice yet

his shadow side reveals that he is hated by many for his use of violence and being in charge of

executions after the Cuban revolution. Similarly, Michael Jackson has been an iconic music personality

and entertainer loved all over the world yet his strange behavior and accusations regarding child

molestation damaged his brand and reputation in a big way. In more recent news, Tiger Woods, the

world renowned champion golfer lost his advertising sponsorship contracts after news of his scandalous

affairs damaged his human brand in the eyes of consumers for whom he was a role model. From these

examples, we can see that powerful and even iconic human brands in most cases possess a shadow side

and it will be discussed in relation to Donald Trump and Dalai Lama to see its far reachi ng implications.

The next aspect to implement into the model is the idea of Carl Jung’s archetypes as applied to brands

to help categorize and understand human brands and their behavior which leads to their set brand

image and perception.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump was born in 1946 to a wealthy family and began his remarkable career in New York where

he began working for his father in the real estate business and soon took over after his father’s death

(Thefamouspeople.com, 2016). He was responsible for key developments and projects such as the

opening of the Grand Hyatt in 1980 which catapulted him to fame and brought with it celebrity status.

He has since been loved by the media and has made regular appearances on television. Biography.com

(2016) confirms that Trump has always been a power oriented business leader and celebrity, possessing

an autocratic leadership style. His extravagant lifestyle and outspoken manner have earned him a

celebrity status which is amplified by the success of his NBC reality show, ‘The Apprentice’ which also

became an offshoot for ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’. He became an ever better known celebrity and

household name in America and around the world planting the seed for new political ambitions.

Donald Trump began to show a keen interest in American politics and made his initial impact with the

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‘Birther’ controversy regarding President Obama’s country of birth. His high profile claims and

investigations garnered a significant amount of publicity for Trump and resonated with the Republican

voter base (Newsmax, 2016). He finally decided to run for President of America and become the

frontrunner for the Republic party.

This analysis takes into account his 3 periods of transformation: Real -estate Business leader, The

Apprentice TV Show Celebrity and controversial Presidential candidate.

Physique

Donald Trump has been seen in the media from the period of 1970 until the present day. In recent times

since his appearance on the Apprentice, news channels and talk shows, Donald Trump has always been

seen in his trademark suits and brightly colored ties as well as his unique and distinguishable hairstyle

(Givhan, 2016). Time magazine has discussed Trumps style of suit being over-sized and often broad

framed with his bright ties as being too long and have linked it to his image of being a powerful

chauvinistic figure representative of wealth, status and male dominance (Beckwith, 2016). His robust

physical demeanor and imposing height of 6 feet 3 inches coupled with his style add to his appe arance

as a larger than life personality reflective of his campaign messaging in the political arena. His website

terms him as the “archetypical businessman” and the “definition of the American success story” which

has been his defining element of his brand and his clothing and appearance play an important role to

sustain that image (Trump.com 2016). He has drawn much attention for his physical appearance and

look which have been interpreted by magazines, news and comedy shows and have even remained

distinct talking points for decades. He has been particularly targeted for his unique hairstyle and tan and

been mocked across many popular American comedy shows for his very distinguishable and memorable

appearance.

During his time on The Apprentice, he used the signature catchphrase “you’re fired” while pointing at

the contestant who was to leave the show. This distinctive gesture and powerful body language

reinforced his authoritative image and supplemented his fledging human brand. Donald Trump’s

presidential nomination has entailed rallies and speeches given in front of large enthusiastic crowds all

of which have been notably marked by his body language and hand gestures ( Euronews.com, 2016).

Personality

Donald Trump’s personality has been the subject of discussion since he became a well-known

personality as a real estate business mogul. He was seen as a charismatic young businessman who

changed the skyline of New York, brandished his name all over prime real estate and began expanding

his range of influence into different industries. His celebrity iconic status has also led to him being a

colorful and sociable person often seen interacting with other high profile personalities as well as having

several marriages to models coupled with numerous affairs branding him a womanizer. His reputation

was further fueled by his numerous affairs and marriages which became popularized by the media.

His best-selling novel ‘art of the deal’ consolidated his image as the ultimate deal maker whose

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intelligence, business sense and persuasion power made him an inspiration and role model for aspiring

businessmen. Following this, his character became synonymous with that of a person who is driven to

be successful at all endeavors. A revealing biography of Donald Trump has cite d her personality and life

to be driven by ego, ambition, money and power (Kranish & Fisher, 2016).

Her personality received more media attention during his appearances on his successful Reality TV

show The Apprentice in which his famous persona of CEO of Trump had several high achieving

candidates competing to work for him. An interesting article about the personality of Trump in the

Atlantic reports that a Harvard psychologist classified Donald Trump as “remarkably narcissistic” while

another said that “so classic that I’m archiving video clips of him to use in workshops because there’s no

better example of narcissism” (McAdams, 2016) . The article then goes on to point out that Trump’s

behavior throughout his career as well as his persona has been that of inflated ambitions and narcissism

which is “conceived as excessive self-love and the attendant qualities of grandiosity and a sense of

entitlement. Highly narcissistic people are always trying to draw attention to themselves. Repeated and

inordinate self-reference is a distinguishing feature of their personality.” (McAdams, 2016)

Other sources point to his personality being calm under pressure and being decisive and authoritative.

He has been famous for not backing down in an argument and never apologizing for his mistakes or

offensive comments showcasing his leadership skills branding himself as decisive and bold.

Culture

The effect of country image on brand image is moderated by both brand and country reputation (Hui &

Zhou, 2003). In the case of Donald Trump, he has come to represent what is known as the American

dream in his pre-election years reputation. Considering the unique history of America and the fact that it

was a new country built on values unique to the world at the time, Historian James Truslow

Adams popularized the phrase "American Dream" in his 1931 book Epic of America where he affirmed

that “the American dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for

every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” He goes on to add that “It

is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and

each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be

recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”

In the case of Donald Trump, he represented this American fantasy of becoming a bil lionaire in America,

the land of opportunity and being celebrated for it. Brands, when selecting a name and image have

often had to consider the implications of the associations their consumers will make with the country of

origin. In the case of Donald Trump, his name has become synonymous with America, being a successful

businessman and an icon of capitalist economics which is one of the factors shaping his public persona.

His political ambitions and call to action has been centered on his campaign slogan “make America great

again” which seeks to restore national pride, grow America power and influence and command the

respect of the international community. During the iconic election of President Barack Obama, Donald

Trump has shown his resentment which culminated in the ‘Birther Controversy’ which he participated in

from 2011 until this year during Obama’s re-election phase. They controversy claimed that Obama was

not born in America and thus was not technically allowed to run for President of the country . His

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investigation and media appearances captivated Republicans and the target demographic of voters

which now finds appeal in his nationalistic, right –wing human brand image.

Self-Image

The relationship Donald Trump has with his customers is very unique and striking. His name has been

used to signify wealth and success and is used to brand all his various business ventures and products

resulting in his commercial brand being an extension of himself, his human brand and personality.

People who consume his brand are often from a higher income segment and consider it to be luxury

brand consumption.

The grandiose of his brand and image is apparent in his pricing strategy and high quality of his real

estate projects and other ventures. While this aspect of appeal is linked to his business brand which has

become inextricably connected to himself, his presidential nomination is targeting a different base of

people who feel disgruntled with the current political and economic situation and wish to “make

America great again” in coherence with Trumps campaign slogan.

Reflection

In the earlier days, Donald Trump was extremely popular and adored by celebrities, politicians and

businessmen as well as regular consumers to aspired to become like him or simply consumed his

products. Their association was one with luxury, success and ambition. Following the success of The

Apprentice, being associated with Donald Trump was much like that of a famous film star with the

regular appeals to celebrity and star status.

However in recent times with his political endeavors and strong shift in appeal, he has been perceived

very differently. It has been noted that his main supporter base is predominantly white males and that

he “does better with lower earning, less educated voters” who feel threatened by immigrants and the

current state of American politics (Gimein, 2016). He is said to also receive votes from middle class

workers averaging $72,000 a year of household income (Gimein, 2016). As his controversial comments

have caused waves of anxiety around the world regarding xenophobia, a consumer who associates with

the Trump brand physically by for example wearing a t-shirt with his face on it or supporting him publicly

over social media channels may possibly find a strong negative reaction from segments of society that

have more liberal views. Due to the high impact of his human brand, association with him would

translate to association with his views and policy claims.

Relationship

In an earlier period, he was famous for his real estate empire and communicated himself through his

real estate projects bearing his name. He was loved by the media and featured regularly in interviews

and general news coverage. His human brand then evolved to have a greater focus on his image by

launching the hit TV show ‘The Apprentice’ in which contestant compete to work for Donald Trump and

face him after each episode of tests created to judge their business and managerial acumen. “ In Time to

Get Tough, a book he published in 2011, Trump wrote that he did The Apprentice “not for the money,

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mind you, but because it creates such a powerful brand presence and is a lot of fun to do.” He used the

show as an opportunity to showcase himself and enhance his brand image as well as that of his

associated properties and products. This was considered an ingenious marketing effort and an

innovative way to increase brand equity and promotion while simultaneously generating revenue.

Trumps foray into mainstream reality TV also put him in front of millions of viewers who became

conditioned to seeing him as an authority figure who has been largely successful and living out the

maximum potential of the American dream. Many have speculated that The Apprentice actually gave

him the popularity and familiarity he required to run for the office of President of America in 2015.

About running for president there were claims that this was a marketing exercise to boost the Trump

brand. He however concluded that it was irrelevant for his brand which he considered already powerful.

A remarkable aspect that made Donald Trump a sensation was the use of his Twitter ( Petulla, 2016). It

was discovered that his more aggressive and controversial tweets were sent by him personally while the

more general ones were sent by his staff (Griffin, 2016). Trump was said to have received great exposure

and could even defend himself against attacks by tweeting about it (Politico Magazine., 2016). He

currently has over 12 million followers on Twitter.

During the course of his short political career, he has used the usual tools of the trade such as rallies,

speeches, debates, media interviews and political advertisements.

Archetype

The brand archetype can be defined based on finding the thread that runs through the different

elements of the brand identity prism upon analysis. Human brands tend to be far more complex and

multifaceted which is a key factor in differentiating human brands from commercial brands and their

general one dimensional approach.

Donald Trump has been touted throughout his professional and media focused life as a powerful brand

in and of himself and maintained his image of an ambitious real estate mogul and defined his initial

archetype as a Magician. He often said that everything he touched turned to gold and cited many

famous reconstruction projects which became iconic in New York. He also expanded his business into

various different industries and became a successful TV star and celebrity.

The next archetype which he resonated with after tasting early success was that of the Ruler. This

archetype has been re-enforced by his repeated communication of him being the best in the business as

well as his image in The Apprentice which further added to the perception of him being the Boss and

decision maker who judges the contestants with his now famous and iconic phrase “you’re fired”.

He has repeatedly positioned himself as an authority and has made no attempts to hide his ambitions to

secure greater power, influence and control which culminated in his announcement to run for the most

powerful position in the world, the President of America under the republican party banner, while

having no experience in politics whatsoever. He has often cited his Magician like ability to transform

America into a winner as he has done in his life with all his projects.

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While embarking on this journey towards becoming the republican nominee, he had to differentiate

himself from the other republican nominees and create a niche brand within the political context in a

disgruntled American public. His entrance was marked with the Outlaw/Rebel Archetype and his

communication and antics resonated with one who is not part of the establishment, is there to

overthrow the current system and create a new one in his own image, leveraging on his previous

business success. This differentiation proved very useful as he was consistently seen as the candidate

who is unconventional and different which helped him secure a strong base of voters. Upon securing

these voters, he embarked on a new journey where he and his supporters could now change America

and in essence “Make America Great Again”, his campaign slogan. Once this phase was completed and

he finally secured the Republican nominee, now facing off against the democratic candidate Hilary

Clinton, his archetype has returned to that of the Ruler and leader of the Republican party with

elements of his rebellious nature supplementing his image. Donald Trump’s aspiration and purpose is to

consolidate more power, influence and wealth. His current goal is to become the President of America

and to promote the Trump brand.

Shadow

In this section, the implications of taking a position or committing an action and the negative fall out as a

result is discussed. In the case of all human brands, this is an inevitable part of their experience as is

figuratively known, every light casts a shadow. In the same way, when a human brand builds up equity

and supporters, there will be those who fall away from the brand or have a strong resentment or anger

towards it leading to a negative correlation. Donald Trump has won the support of many American

voters but in the process of leaning towards one side and representing his brand in a certain way, he has

been ostracized and received a negative feedback from others. I will discuss a few key points leading up

to his winning the nomination of Republican nominee which have defined his shadow side and damaged

his overall brand. This has resulted is tangible losses for his company which is entirely linked to his human brand and which has been a big factor in his success thus far.

During a speech in immigration policy, Donald Trump specifically referred to the issue of Mexicans illegally crossing the border into America and taking American jobs as well as having a high rate of criminals (Gabbatt, 2015). In an attempt to galvanize xenophobic views held by his constituency and voter base, Donald Trump gave a controversial speech on the subject in whi ch he referred to Mexicans and said “they are bringing those problems to us. They are bringing drugs, and bringing crime, and their rapists” (Gabbatt, 2015). As a solution, he put up a plan of building a wall across the entire border to keep illegal Mexican immigrants out of America much to the dismay of the Latin American community in America as well as around the world (Gabbatt, 2015). The news story became controversial and brought in a lot of negative responses across the media as well as across social media channels (Tesfaye, 2016). The backlash of that was widespread criticism and Mexicans, South Americans, Liberals and those supporting immigration around the world to have a negative perception of his human brand. This result culminated in his planned visit to Mexico to meet with the president where he was met with protests and outrage from the Mexican people and prominent government officials (Tesfaye, 2016). As part of a similar attempt to galvanize voters strong negative sentiments towards Muslims after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the proceeding War on Terror, he has also targeted the Muslim community in his speeches and claimed that he would ban them from entering the country and impose stricter rules to

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increase American safety (Burns, 2016). This led to a backlash from the global Muslim community perceiving him as spreading Islamophobia as well as accusations of him demonizing a religion and community similar to how Hitler had done with the Jews before World War Two ( Burns, 2016). These controversial remarks also reached their tipping point when the Khan family (parents of a fallen Musim-American army captain who died in the Iraq War) spoke out against Donald Trump at the Democratic National Convention. Trump responded by pointing out that Mr. Khans wife “had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say. You tell me.” His insinuation of the diminished role of Muslim women triggered the old Islamophobia accusations and created negative publicity for the Trump brand. During Donald Trump’s rallies, there were cases when he instigated the crowd to use physical violence against dissenters in the crowd as well as going so far as advocating the use of firearms against his opponent Hillary Clinton if she was to beat him in the final race (Howell, 2016). This has resulted in damaging his brand value as well and had a global impact on how he has been perceived drawing parallels with fascist ideology with aggressive elements. In fact, his co-author Tony Shwartz who spend a significant amount of time with him writing Donald Trump’s famous book ‘the art of the deal’ has made claims that “I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilizat ion” (Cain, (2016).

Donald Trump being a human brand himself as well as being connected to his commercial brand in such

a strong way has resulted in several negative results such as a 14% reduction of customer visits to Trump

properties in America according to MSNBC from an analysis conducted by the social networking check-in

app Foursquare (Medium, 2016). Due to the backlash to his provocative comments, he also lost lucrative

deals such as Univsion deal, Macys deal and The Celebrity Apprentice with the NBC Network (Bukszpan,

2015).

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Dalai Lama

Tenzin Gyatso is famously known in the world today as His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, a title

which means ocean teacher implying his vast resource of wisdom and compassion ( Otero, 2010). In

Tibetan culture, the Dalai Lama is selected as a spiritual head and leader of the people and is bestowed

with powers similar to the Pope of Catholicism as well as the Prime Minister of a modern nation

entwined in one person (Otero, M. (2010)). In order to understand this tradition, it is necessary to

understand certain aspects of Tibetan Buddhism and their cultural practices. The Dalai Lama is

considered to be a reincarnation of the bodhisattva of compassion taking form in human lives to guide

and protect the Tibetan people and is the 14th of his kind with the 13 previous Dalai Lamas preceding

him and ruling over Tibet for centuries in an unbroken lineage (Bbc.co.uk., 2016). The heir to the throne

is selected in a unique way where the previous Dalai Lama notifies his monks that he will reincarnate in

a certain location after which children from that area are tested in various ways by senior monks to

ascertain whether they are the chosen one to lead the Tibetan people. In this way, the tradition of

spiritual and political leadership has continued with the current Dalai Lama being the 14th incarnation

(Bbc.co.uk., 2016). Within the various sects of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama belongs to the Gelugpa

tradition also known as ‘Yellow Hat’ due to the headgear they adorn during ceremonial practices

(Bbc.co.uk., 2016). Thus, within Tibet the Dalai Lama has a demi-god status and is worshipped by the

people and referred to by the honorific title: His Holiness (Otero, 2010).

As part of the Tibetan freedom movement, a wide network of Tibetan organizations have coordinated

their efforts to raise awareness about Tibetan issues while utilizing the pristine reputation of the Dalai

Lama to initiate several campaigns (Freetibet.org., 2016) being part of the structural process which

supports his activities along with the exiled Central Tibetan Administration . For example, Free Tibet

initiated a campaign for world leaders to meet with the Dalai Lama despite Chinese efforts to threaten

economic sanctions on anyone that does so.

In 1959 after a dramatic series of events which led to the Chinese invasion of Tibet, the Dalai Lama fled

Tibet and arrived in Dharamsala, India to set up the Tibetan Government in Exile and lived under the

protection of the Indian government while China took over control of Tibet as part of its official territory

declaring a communist revolution and government takeover (Otero, 2010). Since that point, the Dalai

Lama and the Tibetan government in exile have been working towards negotiating with the Chinese for

greater autonomy for Tibet and reaching out to the international community to support Tibetan

freedom and raise concerns over human rights and environmental damage. Over the years, the Dalai

Lama has become an internationally recognized figure with vast support from countries, celebrities and

communities all over the world. He revered as a compassionate leader and representative of Buddhism

in the international community while having an affinity towards religious harmony and accepting

mainstream science as working in synergy with religion (Bbc.co.uk., 2016).

In 1989, the Dalai Lama received international attention and a flood of support after received the Nobel

Peace Prize for "the struggle of the liberation of Tibet and the efforts for a peaceful resolution" and "in

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part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi" (Nobelprize.org, 2016). The association with

Mahatma Gandhi, his non-violent approach towards the Tibetan liberation movement and highlighting

the suffering of the Tibetan people consolidated the human brand of the Dalai Lama which has persisted

from that pivotal moment until today (Bbc.co.uk., 2016). He has also proclaimed that he now follows the

Middle Way approach (a systematic way of thinking prescribed in Buddhism to avoid extreme positions)

and feels that Tibet can remain a part of China provided that his people are free to practice Tibetan

culture along with the language and traditions and if human rights violations and subversion by the

Chinese government are addressed and resolved (Dalailama.com., 2016). This idea of mutual benefit

and peaceful co-existence has been a message the Dalai Lama has repeated over decades.

The approach of this analysis will be from a perspective that tries to paint a holistic, macro picture

highlighting specific elements of the human brand for simplification and ease of understanding. The

Dalai Lama’s traditional and modern aspects which make up the core of the brand are explored and the

timeline used is his entire life until 2016 with a focus on the media –centric moments which came into

the public eye stirring acclaim or controversy as these are the key influencers in shaping his human

brand perception.

Physique

The Dalai Lama has been famously clad in Tibetan monk robes since his earliest days as it is a part of the

Tibetan culture and traditions for monks. The basic robe is a strong symbol of their simplicity and non-

attachment to the material aspects of society as well as a signifier of their monastic vows ( Samphel,

1988). His monastic life has also meant his simple appearance, balding head, spectacles and prayer

beads consolidate his image of a spiritual personality and a monk among consumers of his human brand.

His Tibetan accent, simplified English, playful hand gesturing and trademark laughter has also been a

noted part of his charisma as Isabel Hilton confirms in the New Yorker, "It is certainly an agreeable

laugh. It is a great full stop of a laugh, putting an end to further pursuit of a line of inquiry and deflecting

impertinence and hostility." (source 4)

Personality

The personality of the Dalai Lama, apart from his stature in the world as a spiritual leader has been a

great source of his charisma and appeal. He is famous for his bouts of joyful laughter and light

heartedness, a trademark of his international appearances which puts the audience at each. He is seen

to have an exalted status as a leader of his people yet proclaims that first and foremost he is a down to

earth “simple Tibetan monk” showing his humility. The Dalai Lama has been described as “impish, self-

deprecating and an infectious giggler” and “an unorthodox exemplar with an insatiable scientific

curiosity” who “is prone to choose science...when science contradict faith" (Hays, 2016).

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The Dalai Lama frequently gives talks all over the world and is greeted by devotees, fans and well -

wishers in the same way a celebrity icon is received. His teachings on compassion, non-violence and

tolerance have resonated with so many people across the world that is has begged the question as to

why his simple teachings are greeted with such an immense response. The answer lies partly in the way

his human brand is perceived and the adoration of his strong character and values as exemplified over

the course of his life (Freyfus, 2016). “The experience of seeing a person who has devoted himself to the

well-being of his people and hence whose life is to a large extent in agreement with his words is itsel f a

great source of inspiration” (Freyfus, 2016. Pp. 5). This shows that his character and life have infused

power in his simple teachings to be perceived as more profound and empowering to listeners and adds

to his human brand value. When the Dalai Lama shows people a new path and a new perspective for

their lives, people respond to his vibrant charisma, compassion and communicative skills (Freyfus, 2016)

Culture

Dalai Lama and the rich heritage of Tibetan Buddhism and Buddhism in general have become

inseparable. His entire human brand is based on him being the leader of the Tibetan people as well as a

world renowned Buddhist monk who practices the central tenets of Buddhism, namely compassion and

non-violence as well as advocating the practice of mindfulness and meditation on a global scale. ( Hays,

2016)

His culture has been his defining quality as he is revered within Tibet as their spiritual leader and is even

worshipped by many. Internationally, he is respected for his blending of modern democratic values with

the principles of Buddhism (Samphel, 1988). Due to the context and situation of Tibet where their only

hope of increased autonomy and any chance of cessation from China is dependent on pressure from the

international community, the Dalai Lamas efforts focus on bringing awareness of the Tibetan cause b y

using his powerful human brand is the accusation made by China who have referred to him as ‘a wolf in

monks clothing’ indicating that he has created an association between his positive image and that of

Tibet as an innocent nation of compassionate monks oppressed by a militant, communistic china

(Phayul.com, 2016).

Considering Tibet’s geographic and economic isolation in the past and the fact that it is based near the

snow clad mountains of the Himalayas with a rich tradition of monastic life and Buddhi sm, Tibet has

often been viewed as a mythological equivalent of paradise which has managed to steer clear of

capitalism and material over-consumption leading to the preservation of its natural environment and

rich heritage (BBC 2010). Tibet also managed to capture people’s imagination to the point of becoming a

topic of interest for the west especially since they have moved further away from spirituality. In his book

Prisoners of Shangrila, Lopez (1998, pp. 8) refers to Tibet being viewed as "cure for an ever-ailing

Western civilization, a tonic to restore its spirit." This positive national image has been further leveraged

and highlighted by the Dalai Lamas association and propagation of the Tibetan way of life.

It is important to note that the Dalai Lamas cultural significance has many aspects as related to the

Tibetan people as well as a different perspective in the international community. His demi-god status

among Tibetans has led to him being worshipped by a large group of the population who would keep a

photo of him in their Buddhist shrines in the same way that Christians all over the world would adorn

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photos of Jesus Christ (Lopez, 1998). Chinese suppression of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan traditions have

amplified the longing for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet and he acts as a pivotal link between the

people and their culture and religion. This love and adoration has manifested in his photo and worship

being banned within China-controlled Tibet even being punishable by imprisonment illustrating his

significance and impact for Tibetan people and the threat he possesses to China. “The overwhelming

majority of Tibetan protests are peaceful, following the path of non-violence established by the Dalai

Lama.” Despite the harsh punishments “people walk calmly down the street with the Dalai Lama's

banned image”, (freetibet.org, 2016)

He is also seen as a Traditionalist with his link to the yellow hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism and fulfills his

role by leading the famous Kalachakra initiation ceremonies, a set of complex esoteric Tibetan Buddhist

practices which confer blessings and inclusion into the sect, held publicly all over the world as an annual event (BBC, 2010).

In the international community, he is hailed as a charismatic, intelligent and benevolent global leader

who travels the world giving lectures on the importance of compassion, non-violence, forgiveness and

tolerance.

Self Image

Tibetans within Tibet and around the world find their connection to their culture and country by keeping

alive their traditions, language and religion. The Dalai Lama institution being a central and pivotal part of

their cultural dynamic has resulted in the worship and adoration of their leader as being a part of their

identity and who they are (BBC 2010). Similar to how devout Catholics may find themselves connected to the Pope, Tibetans consider the Dalai Lama as a central part of their belief system and identity.

In the international community with the propagation of modern Buddhism being stripped of its cultural

trappings, Westerners tend to see him as an iconic representation of Buddhist values which are open to

reformation based on the current time period and discoveries in science ( News.bbc.co.uk., 2016). The

Dalai Lama has often reiterated that he does not wish to convert anyone to Buddhism in a religious

sense and preaches tolerance of different faiths. His lectures often consist of universally applicable

values such as compassion and non-violence (Dreyfus, 2016).

Reflection

The target consumers of the Dalai Lama brand can be quite diverse as his universal message and appeal

is applicable to all people of different faiths and nationalities and has become more of a spiritual brand

(Religion Dispatches, 2014). However, his appeal lies in his humanistic and moral values which appeal to

the conscience of people. He is therefore targeting people of all ages, religions and nationalities who can

grasp his message and find themselves aligned to his general cause of increasing compassion, solving

problems by using non-violence and being tolerant of one another in a peaceful manner (Psychology

Today, 2016). Others who may be interested in meditation and learning further about Buddhism are also

a prime target market for several books he has written on the subject. Conside ring his principles and the

principles which he espouses, adherents of the Dalai Lama human brand must share some or all of his

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values or at least aspire to them otherwise they would be incompatible (Psychology Today, 2016).

On the other hand, his traditional practice appeals directly to Tibetan people seeking to preserve their

own culture and find the Dalai Lama as a symbolic representation of the Tibetan way of life ( Samphel,

1988). For them to relate to the Dalai Lama would be considered a normal practice while those who

denounce him or speak against him would be seen as ostracized from the largely pro-Dalai Lama Tibetan

community and would usually be assumed to be either supportive of Chinese rule or disenchanted by

the Dalai Lamas middle path and use of non-violence in increasing Tibetan autonomy.

Relationship

The Dalai Lama has developed a very special kind of relationship with his followers and fans alike. The

human brand is that of a leader, teacher and guide and his consumers are students gaining from his

insights and wisdom. This relationship has been defined through his communication with his consumers

through various means.

The Dalai Lama has traveled extensively visiting over 52 countries and met with influential people such

as presidents, prime ministers, Kings, religious leaders, scientists and celebrities. “He has authored over

50 books and received over 57 honorary doctorates, awards and prizes, including in 1989, the Nobel

Peace Prize” (Nobelprize.org., 2016). His various books detail his experiences and Tibet’s cultural and

religious practices as well as more detailed explanations of Tibetan Buddhism illustrating his sage -like

wisdom and deep knowledge of Buddhism.

The Dalai Lama has also met and charmed several prominent celebrities across Hollywood, Bollywood

and the music world who have supported the movement for increased Tibetan autonomy ( Baria, 2016).

The British comedian Russell Brand said "He's an amazing diplomat, an incredible activist, a wonderful

human being and an inspiration to us all," (BBC News., 2016). After his meeting while Hollywood

celebrity Richard Gere, he said "It completely changed my life the first time I was in the presence of His

Holiness. No question about it (Barlow, 2014, pp.33).

There was even a Free Tibet concert held to raise awareness of the issue featuring prominent musicians such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, R.E.M and Beck among others (Rolling Stone., 1996). These celebrity endorsements have a large impact on reaching a wider audience by the association. In recent news, Lady Gaga endorsed and hosted the Dalai Lama at an international conference to the outrage of the Chinese government which resulted in the cancelling of her concert in China ( Phillips, 2016).

The Dalai Lama has also acknowledged that he has spent a great deal of time with prominent scientists and stated: “I am deeply indebted to the hours of generous time spent with me by Carl von Weizsacker and the late David Bohm both of him I consider to be my teachers in quantum mechanics and in the field of biology, especially neuroscience by the late Robert Livingstone and Francisco Varela” (Dalailama.com., 2016). Drawing on keenness to merge science and religion, specifically Buddhism and his ability to adapt to modern understanding, the Dalai Lama has also publicly claimed that “If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims” (Dalailama.com., 2016).

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Social media has transformed communications and allowed the public to interact and connect with human brands. In the Dalai Lamas case, he joined twitter in 2008 and gained a large fan following over the years. In fact, in 2014 he became the most followed twitter user in India over taking the hugely popular prime minister of India, Narendra Modi (Dutta, 2016). The Dalai Lama currently has over 13 million followers on Twitter and regularly tweets about compassion, tolerance and non-violence.

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The international Campaign for Tibet (2016) conducted a poll across countries in Europe and in America so ascertain who ranked the highest among Noble Peace Laureates in the values of humility, peace and non-violence. The results indicated that Dalai Lama had the highest votes among all countries beating out the other candidates which included Malala Yousef, Barack Obama and Desmond Tutu among others: France (54%), Germany (50%), Netherlands (31%), UK (33%), Italy (57%) and America (36%)

The Dalai lama was also topped the list as the most admired man in Mexico (Tibet.net., 2016) as well as a list of the world’s 100 most spiritually influential people (Tibet.net., 2016) indicating the power and reach of his human brand power. Archetype Tenzin Gyatso was brought into a role of leadership at a very young age and this began in his early life (without a choice in the matter) as the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. This powerful position as the chosen leader automatically cast him as the Ruler Archetype for much of his life. He was bestowed great power over Tibet not only politically but more importantly, spiritually. This granted him status to be considered a Ruler but also a Sage as he was required to conduct extensive study and develop the qualities of Buddhist leadership, namely wisdom and compassion. His role in political matters ceased to effectively exist when China took over Tibet in 1959 and remained only an aspiration henceforth with the exiled Tibetan government based in India and recognized by few in the international community. However, Tibetans still considered him an authority as did the rest of the world with his increasing popularity, consolidating his archetype and influence.

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As an international cultural icon, the Dalai Lama has in recent times re linquished his power over Tibet and has taken on the archetype of the Caregiver whose primary concern is to spread happiness and compassion all over the world with an aim to alleviate suffering. He publicly announced in 1993 that “We have recently embarked on changes that will further democratize and strengthen our administration in exile. For many reasons, I have decided that I will not be the head of, or play any role in the government when Tibet becomes independent (Dalailama.com 2016). His aspirations and purpose can be seen to make themselves apparent by his actions. His duties to the Tibetan people and to regain autonomy for Tibet which is currently under the iron grip of China. His self -professed aim is to spread compassion and religious harmony while promoting positive human values around the world. Shadow While the Dalai Lama has had a largely positive reception in the world, there have been cases and events which have strained his powerful human brand. Due to the political situation between China and Tibet, Chinese authorities have often blamed and accused the Dalai Lama as a ‘splittist’, traitor, hypocrite and secret instigator of violence and protests in Tibet and around the world. They have often projected him as a ‘wolf in monks clothing’ classifying all his deeds and words as subversive propaganda aimed at Tibet’s separation from China (Phayul.com., 2016). They have also systematically implemented a policy whereby countries that meet or support him will face economic punishment and diplomatic issues with China and celebrities are often banned from entering China once meeting with the Dalai Lama ( Fuchs & Klann, 2013). Within Tibetan Buddhism’s sub-sects, there is a practice where the worship of a wrathful spirit deity named Dorje Shugden, considered a Dharma protector of Buddhism is carried out (Reuters, 2016). Controversially, after following the practice for decades the Dalai Lama renounced his affiliation with the worshipping of this deity and banned its practice officially even requesting that followers of this sect not attend his gatherings. This was met with protests during his visits around the world and accusations of hypocrisy (Reuters, 2016). The protesters handed out leaflets exhorting that the Dalai Lama is “first and foremost a politician and uses this position as a veil to conceal his true actions and intentions, exploiting his celebrity status to further his own personal and political ambitions” ( Morning News USA., 2015). There have been accusations made by Dalai Lama supporters that these protests are part of Chinese propaganda efforts to undermine his reputation and generate negative publicity. During major protests in Tibet during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a clash with Chinese authorities resulted in many deaths and imprisonments as well as widespread violence and destruction. As reported by the BBC (2008), in response to this, Chinese senior officials accused the Dalai Lama with the inflammatory statement: "There is ample fact and plenty of evidence proving this incident was organized, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique. This has all the more revealed the consistent claims by the Dalai clique that they pursue not independence, but peaceful dialogue, are nothing but lies."

A central principle of Buddhism is non-violence and compassion for sentient beings and is often preached by him. Yet, The Dalai Lama’s diet includes meat (he has claimed it is because his health was ailing during a period of vegetarianism) which has received accusations of hypocrisy from people such as Paul McCartney since many Buddhists practice a vegetarian diet in accordance with those principles

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(Hays, 2016). Regarding his reincarnation, he stated the next Dalai Lama could be a woman but she would have to be attractive otherwise there would be “no use”. This statement triggered reactions on social media as a sexist statement and cast the Dalai Lama in a negative light (Reuters, 2016).

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Final Analysis

The Varerkar Human Branding model has been a useful tool to analyze and interpret human brands

while clearly indicating the key characteristics and dynamics at play. While some may feel that it is

cynical to classify people as brands, it has been clearly illustrated through this exercise that people in

fact do function as potent brands which have the capacity to form consumer attachments. Consumers

can be manipulated and steered by the use of varied communication tools and tactics which are maintained and facilitated by modern mass communications.

While there is a critical view taken of how these processes occur, it is evident from this deconstruction

using the model that over a period of time, human brands may not be able to hide their true nature and

become exposed to the view of the public. The juxtaposed human brands of the Dalai Lama who has

come to represent human qualities such as love and compassion as opposed to Donald Trump’s qualities

of ego and ambition lay in stark contrast. It has also been shown, considering the amount of influence

and power wielded by both these famous personalities that iconic human brands represent more than

commercial value, entertainment and cultural transformation but that they may represent the very

nature of their consumers.

The media role in the creation and sustenance of a brand is also an important factor. Donald Trump’s

success for example would have been impossible without the amount of news coverage he receives by

the American media.

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5. Conclusion & Recommendations

With an in-depth review of the literature in the field, it became apparent that branding has spread from

the commercial sector as it was previously understood into the fairly new study of personal brands and

human brands. Personal brands tend to be on a much smaller and more personalized scale where it is

applied to people to help them start a business, increase employability, position themselves as artists

and a wide range of fields. This clout once increased may reach a much wider audience and receive the

attention of the media which creates mass awareness of the person allowing them to wield a

significantly larger influence and capacity to impact people. The truly powerful human brands then go

on to become icons and help to define and shape culture depending on their context and impact. This

study aimed to create a new model that focuses on the larger aspects of prominent human brands and

allows marketers to analyze and understand the mechanics and impact of their brand to provide

organizational clarity. The ‘Varerkar Human Brand Model’ uses a modified version of the Kapferers

Brand Identity Prism changing each factor to fit human beings instead of commercial brands while

utilizing Carl Jung’s theory of Archetypes as applied to brands. This is then discussed with an important

addition, which is the Shadow aspect of prominent human brands which covers their negatively

perceived elements. As illustrated with the analysis of Dalai Lama and Donald Trump, the model is

extremely versatile in its elements and can be used to fit prominent human brands across the spectrum

from altruistic to narcissistic brands and everything in between. The model would be applicable to any

famous personality dead or alive across any time period and would help provide a holistic understanding

of the different elements which construct the complex human brand and their relationship to their

target audience and the world.

On a practical level, the model would shed light on human brands and allow their image to be carefully

handled using the analysis. For example, a deeper analysis of the shadow aspects could help a human

brand prepare crisis communications plans in a Public Relations context or to change the tone of

communication to adhere to the archetype. It is also important to note that personal brands of a smaller

scale can often make the transition to become larger human brands such as upcoming music artists,

actors and politicians. This was perfectly exemplified by Barack Obama who went from state senator to

cultural icon and President of America in a short period. During such turbulent and dramatic increases of

brand value, it would be useful to have a clear understanding of the human brand dimensions to

streamline communications and behavior in perfect alignment with the human brand Archetype while

being prepared for the Shadow.

From a commercial perspective, commercial brands who select prominent personalities for

endorsement can apply this model to their candidate of choice to ascertain the benefits and risks

involved. It is often the case that brands haphazardly select a candidate using a basic level of

understanding and later come to regret this decision when the candidates shadow side comes into

public awareness and damages their entire brand as well as that of their associations who are involved with them.

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A significant concern in recent times has been the reputation of industries such as marketing,

advertising and public relations who have often been accused of manipulating the publics opinions and

in most cases involved in work which promotes over consumption of goods and services. Altruistic

marketing techniques offer a way out for those with ethical concerns about the field.

The purpose of this study was to help marketers and have a useful framework with which to analyze

prominent human brands, and in my opinion the objective has been achieved as there is currently no

single model from previous studies which has provided a framework to understand the various

dimensions of a human brand in a concise and clear way. \further research can be undertaken in each

aspect such as cross cultural communication, leadership dynamics, transitioning of brand values and

other such areas to understand how Human brands function.

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