managing your brand - Russian style

In 1762, Catherine the great of Russia became the empress of a land which she recognized needed to 'come into the modern era' and began to emulate such states as France and other western European countries. Once she was crowned, in a world which did not respect the power a woman could yield, she decided to present an image of the power men created. She had a gown designed with characteristics a military man would be wearing during those times. Upon careful review of the image below, you can see that she managed her brand here in the way she presented herself to the world, strong, confident and powerful.

Catherine appears as an enlightened progressive monarch. In a documentary called 'Empire of the Tsars', Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces in London, England, discusses the world of Catherine the great. It is here I learned from history about a new twist on one's brand.

The word brand is defined as a unique design creating an image which identifies a ‘product’ allowing it to stand out from the crowd or it’s competitors. Well, in this case, Catherine was the product and her brand was to be visually defined by the style in which she chose to stand out from her crowd of the majority of female royalty of the era and locale, she dressed ‘like a man’ with the fashion of her dresses as seen above. This is a sample of her fashion direction but you can also correctly guess that her attitude and governmental solutions, followed suite.

One’s brand whether it be for a new product, a new app, or a new way to present oneself as a royal leader in the year 1762, you must stand out from the crowd and it must be done right!