Managing a personal brand: Fast Company’s 196-point guide for leaders

When I first encountered a Staples Baddie video on TikTok, I was flummoxed. I haven’t set foot in a Staples in years, so why should I watch Kaden Rowland, the Staples Baddie in question, showcase how to use Staples’s equipment to print a “glorp cat”—a neon green feline with snail feelers stuck on its head—on mugs, mousepads and coasters? Doesn’t everyone know the internet is full of more interesting things, like gyrating musicians, penguins waddling on elevators, and flying spaghetti monsters? After my third Staples video, I wondered why I never realized Staples has such a large cornucopia of services. By my fifth one, I had an uncomfortably persistent hankering for my own “glorp cat” merch. To date, Rowland’s videos have generated tens of millions of views and inspired thousands of customer posts. Staples declined to share financial information about the impact of Rowland’s content, but Bob Sherwin, Staples’s CMO, says, “There was a measurable impact.” This kind of marketing is worth millions and Staples got it for free. But the first time one of Rowland’s Staples videos went viral, she worried she’d be fired. Technically, posting was against company policy. There’s also an ignom…