PRstore = Henry Ford + David Ogilvy + Barack Obama?

Win a $15 iTunes gift card! Read on to find out how.

Seth Godin’s post about Henry Ford inspired me. Henry Ford didn’t just revolutionize industry; he changed the way we live. Visionary. Innovator. Maverick. Ford’s impact on how the world does business was arguably the most significant in history.

It got me to thinking: Who personifies PRstore? Here’s the formula I came up with:

PRstore = Henry Ford (Inventor of Productivity) + David Ogilvy (“The Father of Advertising”) + Barack Obama (Believer in a Better Way)

Of course, this is just my formula. I’m sure everyone in PRstore Nation could come up with his or her own formula.

So what about some of the other companies out there? Who personifies them? Yes, yes…the founder or owner of the company, but who else? What combination of iconic figures would you mash up to create a picture of your company? Here’s a few I came up with:

Starbucks = Juan Valdez (Coffee Guy with a Burro) + Alex Rodriguez (Overpaid Yankee) + Britney Spears (Identity Crisis/Train Wreck)

Google = Ken Jennings (The Guy from Jeopardy who Knows Everything) + The Wizard of Oz (Mysterious Man behind the Curtain)

ExxonMobil = Jesse James (Frontier Robber) + Don Corleone (Mafia Boss) + Harry Houdini (Escape Artist)

Napster = BlackBeard (Pirate/Entrepreneur) + Warren Buffet (Bazillionaire)

Umpqua Bank = Al Gore (Discovered New Identity: Green) + That waitress at the 24-hour diner (Friendly Service…How Refreshing!)

Ready for a $15 iTunes gift card? Post a comment to this post telling me which iconic figures best personify your company. You’ll be entered into a random drawing for the iTunes gift card. Good luck!

  • http://www.hollystarpr.com HollystarPR

    Hi Scott! I love, love your idea about persona mash-ups to describe a business. What’s my story? I’d say HollystarPR = Audrey Hepburn (Classy Sophistication) + Giovanni Boccaccio (Renaissance Humanist) + James Madison (Copious Notetaker)

  • http://prstore.typepad.com Scott Hepburn

    @Holly…you sure sure you’re not just kissing up to me because my last name’s Hepburn? ;)

  • http://www.smartmarketmovie.com Eric Guerin

    Hi Scott,

    You’ve had me thinking all day about this and I need to get it out or I’ll never get to sleep…so here’s the best I could think of:

    SmartMarket Movie = Jim Henson (creative dreamer) + Buckminster Fuller (inventive designer) + Robin Williams (makes you laugh so hard you start to cry)

    That’s all I got…but if you ask me again tomorrow the list could be completely different!

    All the best!

  • http://prstore.typepad.com Scott Hepburn

    @Eric…love it! Jim Henson = Classic!

    I encourage everyone to check out SmartMarketMovie.com. Talk about a clever way to market a company!