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In this interview, the first video installment of The Personality Project, Rohit interviews Scott about how he uses his personality (and some of the ideas from Personality Not Included) to get his business to stand out. Scott covers the thinking behind his recent site redesign, his newfound passion for online video, and tackles the tough questions on the real ROI of personality.

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When I first started writing the blog, I tried to be all business, keeping my personality under wraps. After all, I wasn’t just representing myself on the blog, I was representing my company. But after a while of striving for stodgy, impersonal writing, I realized that as a consultant, my personality IS the company’s personality. And by letting my own authentic voice come through, potential clients are able to get a sense of who I am and what it would be like to work with me.

Of course, if I tried to be someone who I’m not — say, a hip trendsetter — I would quickly be exposed when my words and actions don’t quite match what I say I am. Many companies have found that they can’t just talk the talk, but also have to walk the walk in matching their branding efforts. The old writing maxim of “show, don’t tell” captures how a company’s personality should come through to its potential customers. It’s the difference between reading someone’s computer dating profile that says he is “spontaneous, romantic and athletic” and having the guy surprise you on your first date by taking you to the beach at sunset to run through the surf together.

A personality is not something you can just decide on (“Let’s see, I’ll have a wry sense of humor, a dose of humility, perfectionism that doesn’t quit, a congenial ability to bring people together, and a broad sense of optimism.”) As an introvert, I know that I can emulate an extrovert for a while but my true proclivities come back out as soon as my guard is down. Similarly, any company that does not have the desired qualities as an organic part of the organization can pretend for a while, but its true personality will eventually emerge in its interactions with customers.

Why is personality an important aspect of marketing? People prefer to deal with individuals and companies they like and trust. When they have a good sense of who you are, they can better figure out whether they like and trust you. A personality does not have to be unfailingly positive, and in fact, showing some personal quirks or how you respond when things go wrong can contribute to the sense of authenticity. Perfection can be boring.

A company’s personality, like an individual’s personality, comes down to how others feel when they’re with you. Do they enjoy spending time with you? Do you make them feel good about themselves? Do they notice that you’re even there? Or are you barely tolerable? Find tangible ways to make the positive aspects of your personality shine through, and just like the rest of us mere mortals, work on the parts of your personality that need improvement. Ultimately, the outward image your company projects will reflect the inward qualities it possesses.

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The glut of voices in the marketplace creates even greater challenges for organizations and professionals looking to build and promote their brand in the marketplace. Too many in business are looking to differentiate themselves by discovering the “secret formula” to get the microphone or camera turned in their direction. Well, I hate to break it to you – but there isn’t a secret formula. The answer, in fact, is right in front of you on the air, online and in newspaper columns across America every day – you just have to pay attention and recognize the source of the music.

What is the common personality characteristic shared by Al Sharpton, Nancy Grace, Bill O’Rielly, Dr. Laura, Richard Simmons, Steve Jobs, Jack LaLanne, Oprah Winfrey, Ron Paul and even anti-war protestor Cindy Sheehan? Before you assert that they represent a level of annoyance, remember that one person’s static is a symphony to another. The answer is that they are all on a very public and passionate crusade. They have a personal mission and they’re shouting from the rooftops. Moreover, they have honed their message and in doing so, communicate their personality clearly, concisely and consistently. They stay on message and look for any opportunity to espouse their beliefs, or make their case to their audience. They bolster their message by tying current events and hot news stories to their subject. And above all, they have strong opinions and don’t mince words. They don’t say: “Here’s the subject, what do you think?” They tell you what they believe and you are free to agree or disagree.

Developing and marketing a dynamic business personality follows the same formula. There is no mistaking the personality of such business greats as Ben & Jerry’s, Nordstrom, Google, The Ritz Carlton, Chuck-E-Cheese, Virgin Airlines and Apple. It’s more than simply espousing and promoting a business philosophy or organizational message. These highly differentiated and unique companies are consistently walking-the-walk as well as talking the talk! They live the message in everything they do – and everything they don’t do.

They are on a crusade for innovation, customer service, community service, luxury, fun or fitness. It’s more than an approach, it’s a mission, and their personality is always on display.

But it’s important to avoid confusing a strong opinion with a credible crusade and an engaging personality. The difference between the messages and messengers that make it beyond the blogging in your bathrobe at 2:00 am, and the ones that make it to the airwaves, is three distinct qualities: relevance, credibility and passion. This triumvirate is the three legged stool that companies need to stand upon to make it to the big media stage.

Time for a gut check: Does your crusade pass these tests? Expertise aside, are you really differentiated, opinionated and bold enough to compete for the throne in your category? Are you “speaking” to a niche market, or have you found the hook to create a relevant and captivating persona to a broad audience?

Here’s a test: You have a TV camera pointed at your face. You have 90 seconds to say everything about your subject, your passion and crusade that you’ve been dying to get off your chest. In your perfect world, what needs to happen or change? What have others consistently gotten wrong that you have addressed and corrected in your business? You need to fill the entire 90, uninterrupted seconds with relevant, passionate and articulate points that excite people and move them to action. Ready? Go.

Could you do it? If not, turn off your cell phone, close your door and put pen to paper. It’s more than an elevator speech. It’s what you’d scream from the top of the mountain if you got there. One short elevator speech get’s you a business card. The other puts you on the road to revealing your unique personality to the broad marketplace and becoming top-of-mind with your top prospects. To make it to the big media stage, crank up your expertise and passion, and bring your engaging business personality to the masses.

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1. Be the first
2. Be the expert
3. Be the leader
4. Be the anti-leader
5. Be preferred (as in we are the preferred partner in a venture)
6. Own an attribute (this can be aspirational as well)
7. Own a cause (for example to eradicate poverty through micro lending)
8. Be special (proprietary technology falls in this category)
9. Use its history (for example craftsmanship from the hills of Romagna)
10. Use a carefully planned pricing strategy (for example Tiffany’s)

There needs to be a grounding in truth, of course, even when aspirational. Each one of these strategies signals that something is different, unique and special. This distinction will give people a reason to choose that company instead of another. Determining what the company or you are about is the first step. Then you can decide what symbols to use to signal your point(s) of difference.

Take for example flags. They are symbols of the countries they represent. Flags have a meaning, too. For example, the Italian flag depicts three vertical colors – green, white and red. They represent hope, faith and charity, in this order. I bring it up as the flag flew first in Modena, my home town, in 1797 as the banner of the Cisalpine Republic. A flag has personality. It represents and stands for something in the minds and hearts of the people it reaches. It creates an emotional connection with them.

So should your brand. We form the strongest bonds with rands we like, identify with, and feel connected with emotionally. A powerful brand comes with personality – something that makes us feel more in control and self-assured. Personality does not need to be perfect, nor does it need to be polished. It needs however to be believable.

Did you see the first Dirty Dancing movie? Jennifer Grey’s nose had so much personality that when she went ahead and changed it a little later, people would not recognize her and parts where hard to come by. The nose she came with was seared in our memory. The lesson here is don’t change just for the sake of changing. Ground your brand expressions in your company personality. Personality is something you come with.

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When I joined The LEGO Company in 2001, the makers of those ubiquitous plastic bricks had all but flat ignored the adult LEGO fans (AFOLs) for decades. These talented enthusiasts were artists, choosing an odd medium to be sure, but artists nonetheless. Because LEGO was a kid’s toy company, most colleagues didn’t see much reason to support this small market segment. But with the rise of internet and online community, they had begun to collect and connect and their minority voices were carrying new weight.

Almost immediately after I started, I began building a relationship with the adult LEGO fans (AFOLs). I sat in rooms around the world with small groups and large groups hearing complains and concerns about the way they’d been treated for so many years.

As we used to say, “turning a battleship doesn’t happen quickly” and despite my best efforts to make big change happen fast, changing decades of corporate behavior didn’t happen quickly. But change was happening, I just had a hard time getting the AFOLs to believe my claims to that affect. Unless they met me in person, and even then, there was a commonly held and completely untrue assumption that every positive thing I did for the community had ulterior motives.

In 2003, I created a series of comic strips to showcase the mindset, issues, and interests of the adult fans for people inside the company. It was a fun and comical look at some fairly complex issues, distilled into four-panel strips and complete with punchlines. Eventually we took the comic into print form and distributed them to the AFOL community. Our main goal for that print run was to give the AFOLs a tool that they could use to engage “sleepers” (adults interested in LEGO building but who weren’t yet part of the community).

But distributing the online and print versions had a strange side affect: AFOLs started to show increased public and private support for my activities. Within a relative short period of time my trust level within the community took a serious leap upwards. One enthusiast told me, “I wanted to believe what you said, that you had good intentions; but now there’s no question.”

If this project taught me anything, it’s that personality is more than just telling customers what you or your company are about; personality is showing that you’ve learned something and doing something about it.

(You can find a PDF version of the comic in several languages at http://www.legofan.org/links/links.html)

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A few months later I got a call back. I happened to be in SF visiting my girlfriend at the time and I went down there and got a tour and told the business development person, Dan Bomze the story of Pangea, he quickly went and got a writer and a designer and a few more people, I told the story to them as well. A few weeks later I got an email from Dan expressing IDEO’s interest in branding Pangea. After a few rounds of negotiations we struck a deal. Coming to the plate with many concepts and ideas myself, they partnered me with two designers a writer and a materials expert, together the Pangea Organics brand was found. Earlier that year I was sitting in Joshua Tree National Park for my annual visionary meeting with myself when I decided to introduce the concept of plantable packaging to the world. It took two years but finally we found success.

When it came time to process the patent for the process I decided not to. My vision is that through design the world will be saved, but it is my vision that if we are to save our future we must not let the ego and greed be the dam in the river. The history of the future will be told by the children of
those who cared for them more than they had for the status symbols they died in.

Our brands personality is defined by intension, inherently Pangea is a means to an end, constantly exploring the vast tributaries of consumption while learning to feed the river with less and not more. It is a facet of branding that is being seen more and more, its a conversation not only from the
creator, but the farmers and the consumers as well. This conversation is one that helps all parties involved in the experience to part of the problem as well as part of the solution. Empowermental consumerism. Though not yet a phrase or a word it is quickly be realized and developed by the market.
People want to know more about the brands that they chose to support, the strongest vote in the world is the one of the dollar spent.

In addition to the brown bottles keeping the integrity of the ingredients via not allowing the decomposition of the ingredients through the exposure of UV rays, but brown is also just plain sexy.

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We don’t talk about companies that we like. We don’t talk about companies that deliver quality service, day in and day out, for a reasonable price. We expect that. You’ve never called a friend and said “Did you know that Ritz hotels are really nice?” You need to give people a reason to talk about you. Word of mouth starts with the topic of conversation. (It doesn’t start with a MySpace page or a viral video). Bland companies never give us a reason to talk, so we don’t talk about them.

There are seven emotions that cause someone to make a recommendation:

We talk about companies that give us a reason to talk.

• Zappos taking returns for 365 days
• Something extra - Red Envelope’s amazing wrapping paper
• Surprises - When Blendtec destroys an iPhone
• Sincerity - The JetBlue Apology

Companies with personality constantly start conversations. These conversations lead to referrals. Referrals make you money.

A customer gained through word of mouth is free. As you get more and more customers for free, you change the fundamental cost structure of your company. And you can always beat a competitor who is paying for customers with expensive advertising. This is a competitive advantage that is permanent and sustainable.
Zappos gets 75% of their customers for free through word of mouth. Their competitors pay an average of $30 per new customer. That in a huge amount of free cash that Zappos can reinvest in customer service, innovation, and fun. Which furthers their advantage. They will sell $1 billion of shoes this year.

Start asking: Why would anybody talking about you?

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We spend an awful lot of time meticulously defining and fashioning “brand.” What do we want people to think about us? What is the promise our companies and products make to their publics? We talk about storytelling. We agonize over the visual experience of a brand, and so forth. All of this is valuable stuff. It drives business. But it’s not the same as personality. I don’t believe that personality can be manufactured. Look at the staff, I mean “cast” at Disney Parks. By the time you actually arrive at your hotel via the airport bus, you have been told to “have a magical day!” by no less that three people. That’s not personality although it may be on-brand. Don’t get me wrong, I pefer people to wish me a magical day over those who are silent or even hostile. But I lean towards brands that express their personality, that are more open and inviting, brands that do not dilute or hide their personality in the pursuit of broad appeal.

Personality has to come from somewhere organic. Sometimes it’s a founder or entrepreneur. Sometime its the customers. But I do believe it comes from people and not from a staged set of experiences. What can companies do to nurture personality? Well, thanks to Rohit, we have a solid guidebook. The biggest step is to embrace a culture that promotes employees to be human beings with customers (people being human to other people - what a concept!). Create a culture that encourages personality.

Here’s a great example from an airline. It happened to me last week. And it has nothing to do with Southwest Airlines.

Recently, I spoke at Ogilvy’s Verge event in Toronto. That’s where we host thought-leaders and innovators from our clients, ourselves and smart people from all sorts of other places. Mark Sniderman from Air Canada gave a really smart presentation on how they have optimized their webSaver email program. Sound dry? It was actually really smart.

I have my own Air Canada story from that day, a story that has made me a fan of the airline. “Choice and freedom” are the current brand keywords. mark told us that in his presentation. The email program flows from that. I am sure the ad campaign is “integrated” and “aligned” with the current brand position. My experience had nothing to do with ‘choice’ although you could argue that it did involve ‘freedom’. It had to do with a kind act, personality and the freedom for an employee to be a human being.

I was talking to a colleague at the conference. He flew up on Porter. Never heard of it? I hadn’t. Turns out it’s a small regional airline that folks are flocking to. My colleague’s comments were - “no lines, fast-enough-and-new turbo prop, landed at the strip in the city, glassware vs. plastic.” I like this stuff, too. It speaks to the quality and convenience of the experience.

What tipped me over to Air Canada, their competitor, was a nice guy at the counter. He did something unexpected, unrequested, and something that made sense to him. It wasn’t written in the brand book. It almost felt a little naughty until I found later from Mark at Air Canada that it came from the culture. If Air Canada is listening, give him a raise - don’t punish him. He convinced me to prefer your Airline whenever possible.

Personality at Work

I got to the kiosk at the counter and started the whole credit card-dunk-thing. The counter wasn’t busy. Our man at Air Canada was concluding one passenger’s arrangements. I was a bit flustered and stressed. He asked me if I was doing all right with the echeck-in. Could he help? I was in the last row on an apparently packed jet. I sighed out loud about it.

Without asking, he interrupted his exchange with the other customer who was quite cheerful and casual about what became a nice three-way conversation. He said, “Oh, I’ll just put you next to this guy in Executive class.” I assumed he was joking. He returned to punching keys on his computer terminal (Ever notice how many key strokes it takes for them to get stuff done? It’s almost like they are programming COBOL when you ask for a seat assignment)

I was ready to get off to security. He reached out for my 35D seat assignment and tore it up. He handed me a ticket in the front of the plane. And he was really funny about it. I am not a frequent flyer. I have only flown the airline twice. He did it because he saw I was stressed and because he could. This is far better than the Disney-esque goofiness of Southwest. This felt real. I felt special. I liked that he was bending the rules. I don’t expect that to happen every time I fly or maybe never again. Doesn’t matter. As I fly Air Canada more, I hope I see that personality and humanity in other small and big ways in the service. If I don’t, I may lose interest in the airline and call this a fluke.

I asked Mark from Air Canada about this exchange. He told me that employees are encouraged to “do whatever it takes” and to use their judgment. Their culture allowed for the kindness of my ticket agent to shine through. He wasn’t following a rule book. If anything he was breaking the rules because in his judgment, he knew he could help make my day better.

A small act of kindness from one person to another. That’s personality and that’s huge.

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The hair is genetic (and often unruly), but the other four words accurately describe my personality, a worldview and way of being that burns itself into SMITH Magazine. I can even distill my personality further, all the way down to one word: infectious. I bring a passion to SMITH’s mission—our belief that everyone has a story and everyone should have a place to tell it—that is unwavering and infectious. I spread my love of what I do fast and furiously. I don’t know how to do it any other way. SMITH and so many other media outlets are fighting to capture the attention of an audience with many choices and much to do. When I infuse this audience with the infectious spirit that lifts me up and fuels SMITH Magazine, I know I have won over new readers—new “SMITHS” so to speak.

This devotion to storytelling, and the joy that surrounds what I approach with a missionary zeal, is at the heart and soul of SMITH. And I think that’s what makes the site so appealing. Readers may like one story more than another, or prefer our photo-driven stories to lengthy memoir pieces; some readers will become storytellers themselves—even if in only six words—while others may not. But my hope is that the passion that I bring to SMITH, and SMITH sends out to the world, inspires others to tell their story. Even if someone chooses not to tell it on SMITH, the goal is to leave each person with this belief: my story is interesting. The sad reality is that this simple notion is one not shared by a lot of people. SMITH Magazine is here to tell you that everyone has a story and everyone deserves a place to tell it. That’s why I started SMITH. And if even a small fraction of this belief that’s burrowed deep into my bones rubs off on our growing reader base, SMITH will have met its mission.

People ask me all the time: Why the name SMITH? Well, it’s my name, sure, along with millions of other Americans. However, in my mind it’s really my grandfather’s, a Russian immigrant who arrived with little and found his American dream through hard work and unwavering optimism. He was a wonderful storyteller in his own right, and a true Smith in the sense of the word meaning one who creates—like a wordsmith or blacksmith. His way of living infected my father, and my father to me. I decided to put our last name in all caps and start a magazine with the hope that SMITH Magazine’s infectious, addictive and passionate spirit will spread to all of us: one person, one story at a time.

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We had these brand new customizable photo bags we were gonna put up for sale. They looked beautiful, and you could upload any photo to have it baked into the fabric with heat. High quality finish, for $100+. It was perfect for moms, so we scrambled to get it up fast so our customers could order them for Mother’s day delivery (the bags take a couple weeks to create.)

We stayed up all night, but we got it done. And aside from a few early glitches, it worked! The orders came in, and people started writing in to tell us how excited they were to be getting a custom bag. It went on like this for a couple weeks before we found out. Almost a third of our orders had never gone into manufacturing. A technical glitch had prevented us from seeing them, and with a week left until M-Day, it was impossible to get to deliver on our customers’ promises. We were about to have a bunch of very angry customers (and moms!) on our hands. I didn’t know what to do.

I made calls to find out if there was any way we could get the bags done faster. There wasn’t. I went back through our systems to see if we were reading them wrong. We weren’t.

Finally, one-by-one, I started writing emails to our customers. I explained what had happened. I apologized and said this was completely our fault, and that there was no excuse. We’d let them down and I felt terrible. That we would make a complete refund if they didn’t want it anymore, or express ship the bag at no cost (though it still wouldn’t arrive in time) or do anything else that they deemed appropriate.

I gave them my cell phone number in case they wanted to talk to me personally, and I offered to call their moms and apologize and take the blame. I couldn’t sleep that night. Images of massive customer revolt replayed in my head. All the time we’d spent building goodwill for naught. I imagined all the angry phone calls I’d be fielding the next day, the demands to send free bags, or canceled orders… all the Moms I’d be calling to sheepishly apologize for our folly.

It never happened.

Nobody canceled their order. A handful asked for a shipping upgrade … most just wanted their bag. People were upset, understandably, but the emails I got back weren’t spiteful—they were surprised. Surprised that we’d been so honest and owned up to the mistake and offered to make good. Only one person called… to say he’d never gotten an email from a company like that, and to tell us we had his business for life.

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So, what is the DRY personality? We’ve worked hard to create a brand that we believe meets the needs of today’s consumer, and as such, our brand personality is a direct reflection of our target’s desires for simplicity, individuality and versatility. The traits we associate with the DRY brand are: smart, sophisticated, simple, modern, unique, innovative and engaging. What DRY is not are: serious, elitist, playful, irreverent, folksy, aloof or average.

In building a brand from the ground up, there are many opportunities to lose sight of what we are and want to be — if we’re not careful, if we don’t consistently ask ourselves if X promotion or Y executional element fits with the brand, we risk altering our personality and losing relevance to our customer base. Our personality is our brand. And we protect it — everything we do is evaluated against our positioning and our personality, from the design of our headquarters and soda tasting room (simple, modern, innovative. . . when was the last time you saddled up to a bar for a flight of sodas?) to our promotional materials, to the product serving suggestions on our packaging (we recommend serving DRY in a champagne flute, without ice or garnish, for maximum enjoyment. . . simple and sophisticated).

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As it turns out, the same is true in the world of microcredit. When Kiva.org first went live in March of 2005, it was an experiment to see if people in the developed world would be willing to loan money to low-income entrepreneurs clear across the globe – individuals they would never speak to or meet. We strove to build what human connection we could through profile pictures, background stories, and progress updates from the borrowers.

The experiment worked, and it worked in ways Matt and Jessica Flannery, Kiva’s founders, could never have imagined. Today Kiva has facilitated over $25M in loans in over 40 countries – and this success is in large part due to the relationships that are established between the lenders and borrowers. Microcredit is not charity; it’s empowerment and it’s a partnership, and there’s something incredibly tangible about living in Iowa and lending to a farmer in Afganistan through Kiva.org. As it turns out, “people loan to people”.

In Kiva’s early days (and even now, to a degree), it was as much about connecting borrowers and lenders as it was about figuring out how to keep the lights on and the servers serving. Kiva wasn’t (and isn’t) taking a penny from the loans and so needed a source of revenue. Then it struck us – maybe we could build a relationship between Kiva’s lenders and the Kiva.org team? Maybe “people donate to people”?

We took a team picture at the office, uploaded it to the site, and then began asking lenders if in addition to their loan to the borrower would they want to donate money to us – Kiva.org the non-profit – to help us keep going; again, it worked. To be fair much of Kiva’s financial support today comes from institutional donations, but it’s safe to say that without support from Kiva’s lenders the organization would not be where it is today. Further, I have not heard of any other non-profit asking for online donations in this very offline way: with a smile.

It’s finally worth noting that Kiva’s “personality” is derived not only from our lenders and borrowers, our staff, and our broader team, but also from the thousands of supporters who evangelize Kiva at their offices, in their communities, and through their social networks. Whether it’s Bill Clinton championing Kiva in an interview or it’s a student emailing her classmates about us, we’ve empowered our fans to get others involved so that lending on Kiva.org becomes a thing people do together and feel a part of together; it’s people helping people fight poverty, one loan at a time.

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Because hospitality is mainly about one very important ingredient…Personality! When we originally started this hotel company, it was called Hotel Group of America. As the company grew and we continued to open more hotels, so many of our guests would comment on how much personality each property had. So, we took this feedback from our guests, and renamed the company Personality Hotels. And that’s very true - each of the properties definitely has its own unique style and personality so there’s always a perfect fit for each of our guests’ individual needs. I can’t meet all of my guests, but I do feel that I get to know a little bit about them just by the hotel where they choose to stay.

2. How did the idea to use the Personality Profile comment cards come around?

Six years ago I was brainstorming what kind of comment card would inspire my guests to fill out and give me their honest feedback. My older daughter, who was 10 years old at the time said “Make it like a paper doll that guests can fill in and make sure to give it a heart & mouth so it comes alive!” Don’t you just love kids and their honesty? and has it increased the number of comments you get overall? I can barely keep up with the number of cards that we receive from our guests! I especially love they ones that are decorated and become original pieces of Personality art. The cards really allow people to express their artistic side and have fun. Do people take theirs with them? No, they love turning them over to us. I post the most original ones in the corporate office to remind my staff why we’re in this profession. I also post them on PersonalityHotels.com for all the world to enjoy.

3. One could argue that every hotel brand, to a degree is trying to demonstrate a certain personality. What sets your brand apart?

Being a hands-on owner. Keeping up with the day to day pulse of EVERYTHING! Listening to my guests, making changes that they request or comment on. Having the ability as a privately-owned company to make any new change I want without having to get a final approval from a huge home base office somewhere else. Feeding our hotels with creative energy all the time i.e. hotel packages, in-house promos for the day, reading a comment card and acting on the great advice, talking to the front line team and hearing what the guests are telling them. The list could go on and on.

4. How important is design to your personality, versus the actual people who work at your hotels?

The people/ team make the design. If my front line staff and housekeepers do not create a fabulous stay for a guest and/or show no PERSONALITY while meeting and greeting the guest, then even the most dynamic hotel design in the world has no real purpose. It is the staff that creates the personal design…the design of hospitality.

5. What advice would you give to brands who have not built their companies around personality as you have?

Always take the time to listen and consider the advice and feedback given to you from your guests and staff – they’re what makes the true personality of a hotel.

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2000: $ 1.6 million
2001: $ 8.6 million
2002: $ 32 million
2003: $ 70 million
2004: $184 million
2005: $370 million
2006: $597 million
2007: $840 million
2008: $1 billion (projected)

We’ve been asked by a lot of people how we’ve grown so quickly, and the answer is actually really simple. Our top priorities are company culture and customer service, which has resulted in repeat customers and word of mouth being the #1 driver of our growth. We believe that one of the most important ways for us to deliver “above and beyond” customer service is by letting the personality of our call center reps shine through. This means that, unlike most call centers, we don’t have scripts and we don’t measure call times. Each of our reps are are encouraged to let their individual personalities shine when talking with our customers, because we don’t want to come across as just another faceless company.

Another way we connect with our customers it through our blogs. We have a unique culture at Zappos, so we thought it would be great for customers to get an inside look at what our company culture is like. We give our customers a peek inside of our company almost every single day:

http://blogs.zappos.com/

By reading through the blog postings, customers can learn how we treat each other internally at Zappos, because ultimately that’s a pretty good indicator of how we’re going to treat our customers. We also publish a culture book once a year. We ask all of our employees to write a few paragraphs about what the Zappos culture means to them, and except for typos, it’s unedited, so you get to read about both the good and the bad. If you’d like to get a copy of our culture book, just search for “culture book” on the Zappos.com web site.

At the end of the day, we believe that our culture is our #1 competitive advantage. Competitors can eventually copy everything else that we do, but they can never copy our culture. Therefore, we believe that the more we can convey our culture and our true personality to our customers, the more successful we will be in the long run.

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The Bee Logo, the cornerstone of our brand, was developed to near perfection in under an hour, but we spent days refining it. He looked terribly upset. We messed with his forward-arching eyebrows, but every variation made it look like our bee was high on ecstasy, so the glowering low eyebrow look stuck.Whenever anyone told us the bee looked irritated, we responded by saying, “he’s not angry, he’s just determined.” Our brand was memorable, sure; but without even realizing it, the germ of our personality had begun.

Personality is the dialogue that happens around a brand, and the reasons that a consumer can feel connected to it. Sure, a brand can be updated and upgraded and new-era-ized such as when Burger King’s logo went from square and rigid to all curvy, bulbous and hip, and but that’s not personality. All the plastic King masks’s and Suberservient Chickens in the world won’t create personality. What your friends think of BK’s new 730 calorie breakfast sandwich or whether the CEO backdated stock options is where personality comes from.

So while BzzAgent’s brand stands for WOM, our personality is comprised of something incredibly different: innovation and transparency.

The innovation part is the very fabric of the business, as our model is distinct and pioneering in an industry that is still very much in its nascent stages. People have to theorize, postulate and debate about what it is we do. Media trendspotters like Chris Tuff from Moxie/Zenith educate their clients about it. Pundits want to argue that WOM can’t be coordinated. Professors use BzzAgent to teach cognitive dissonance. Moms who participate use their involvement as a badge of honor. Regardless of your interest, innovation is a natural output of what we do.

But while a personality of innovation was organic, transparency was an equation we needed to work at. Early on, the WOM industry was plagued by the history of shill marketers seeking to deceive consumers. Mention WOM in 2003 and people imagined busty Bud girls buying brews in bars, Avon ladies and Tupperware parties, or creepy actors dressed up as tourists to sell us mobile phones. The reality is pure WOM is all about trust, but the distinction was unclear to most. So we focused on actions that would help people understand the model differences, and the only way to do so was to be the most transparent company possible. We were the first company to implement and enforce a disclosure policy – and we openly kicked 10,000 people out of our network that weren’t willing to be open with their friends about volunteering to share their brand experiences.

But capturing transparency requires much more than smart business model decisions. On our corporate blog, we stretch the boundaries of what it means to have access to restrictive data by publishing things like company meeting notes, investor evaluation documents, client interactions and debates about potential job candidates. For 90 Days, an author – and outsider - sat in our office and openly blogged about what was happening in real time. Our artist-in-residence, Seth Minkin, shows up at speaking events and paints ‘randy bees’ for participants. People feel like they’re walking our halls. Like they’re part of our culture and are connected closely to what we do everyday. Transparency like this is unusual – and that’s worth talking about.

Most companies want to believe their personality can be shaped by revamping their logo or updating their website. But these are superficial adjustments; behavior is the foundation that creates personality.

We recently launched a new product called Frog. At launch, a friend of the company emailed to say, “I don’t want to be a Frog. Frog is totally the opposite of the aggressive bee that’s going to sting everyone and spread your message.” Like so many others, he’s missed the point. It’s not about the look of the brand, it’s about the dialogue that’s created by it.

And the bee isn’t angry, he’s just determined.

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Here is a list of the first ten contributors:

1. Rohit Bhargava (the post you’re reading!)
2. Dave Balter (CEO/Founder of BzzAgent)
3. Tony Hseing (CEO/Founder of Zappos.com)
4. Yvonne Lembi-Detert (CEO/Founder of Personality Hotels)
5. Premal Shah (President of Kiva.org)
6. Sharelle Klauss (CEO & Founder, DRY Soda)
7. Amit Gupta (Founder of PhotoJojo)
8. Larry Smith (Editor & Founder, SMITH Magazine)
9. John Bell (Head of Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence)
10. Andy Sernovitz (Author, Co-Founder of WOMMA)

These will be published over the next few weeks, and I will also be sharing the next 10 contributors signed onto the project on the first of every month (so the next ten will be announced on May 1st) on the Personality Matters Blog (the official blog for the book). You can read a bit more about the team behind this effort on the About page, but we have already invited more than half of the contributors to the project and will be seeking out others over the coming months. If you know someone who you think could have a great point of view to share here, check out the Join the Project page for more details on how to nominate them. Personality is the difference between good brands and great ones … and this site will give you an inside look at the power of personality through the stories of some of the people who have managed to use it effectively already to build their brands.

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