Odds are, this post isn’t about you. Odds are, if you have ever worked as a Brand Ambassador, you know exactly who I’m talking about, and it drives you crazy as well. The promo world is full of some amazing individuals who have personality and professionalism for days. To some degree, the vast majority of Brand Ambassadors out there fit that description.
This is such a fun, easy and generally very rewarding job. The basic requirements are to be outgoing, responsible and knowledgeable. Without a doubt, the best BA’s exude much more than the bare minimum. Those folks pleasantly surprise me just as much as their inverses disappoint.
A bad personality trait to have as a Brand Ambassador that irks and baffles me more than all others: the Brand Ambassador with no personality.
For a recent, long-term promo, I really liked this guy’s resume. He had Nintendo, Verizon and Army on there, along with a good bit of management experience. While I learned a long time ago that resumes in the promo world really don’t mean much (your promo resume alone won’t generally get you hired, but it will certainly get you not hired, so make it look nice), this one was particularly well-organized and impressive-looking. He was my first phone call for the program, and he did not set the tone very well for the rest of the group:
Me: “Hi, Pete (of course that’s not his real name). This is Tony from Pro Motion, calling about the [really awesome] promotion. Is this a good time to chat?”
Personality Pete: “Yeh.” (I took out the “a” because the sound that came out of Pete’s mouth wasn’t long enough for 2 vowels.)
Me: (thinking that’s a good thing because this is the time we both agreed upon) “We’re looking for candidates to interview in-person next week, and your resume really stuck out. What is your favorite thing about doing promos?”
Personality Pete: “I don’t know. I like the money and not having to work too much.”
Me: (thinking even if that’s true, you should still come up with something better) “That’s a new one. Do you have a favorite promo?”
Personality Pete: “No, not really.”
Me: (pausing to wait for his recovery, which never comes) “Well, Pete, I don’t think we have a good fit here. I’m going to stop wasting both of our time.”
How does Pete get so much work? If I hadn’t called him, I would have made the same mistake that the experiential agencies for Nintendo, Verizon and Army made. How does that happen?
