The visibility-rich pyramid is imagined as a pyramid and breaks down into five places from top to bottom. This is essential for your branding journey from a visual perspective.

From your perspective, the pyramid communicates to the world that if you look at the whole five.

The first one is the Invisibles, which know brands and the unknowns.

The second one is what we would call the local expert. It’s a near brand in the development stage. And it’s getting some level of recognition.

The next is what we would call a regional expert, becoming a recognised brand, and the next is becoming a national expert.

The international expert or the global super brand becomes the top of the pyramid with brands recognised worldwide. This is irrelevant on the pyramid, you can be any in any particular spot, or we’ll call that position, you know if we can call the invisible from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and run to the top.

The Invisibles

The first part is the executives, entrepreneurs, and general business, either at the bottom of this particular pyramid or the top. A typical invisible in the corporate world is somebody that might have a job. It’s got a sort of job for life mentality, doesn’t do anything other than the job; they work and have no visibility whatsoever. A lot of organisations, governments, NGOs have a lot of those types of people, including, business in general. Everything in a profession, from law, to management, psychology, real estate, could be in that level, the problem with all of that is, you’re not known, you’re not heard most of the time. Some purposely choose to stay there and don’t want to be known. And have got legitimate reasons for that.

Certainly, super-powerful people have so much power and wealth that has so much money and power that they do not care about it because they already have everything. There are legitimate reasons why you’d want to stay also invisible. And, of course, if you’re a criminal, you probably don’t want too much visibility. And, of course, if you’re a spy, probably the same thing unless you’re James Bond. It’s undoubtedly the aspect of Invisibility. There are also legit reasons why you wouldn’t do that.

The Local-Expert

The next one is what we call the local expert, and that’s the sort of the Neo brand development stage. We’ll call that number two. And what that means is, in that particular moment, you get you’re doing a little bit of development and getting up this pyramid. In most cases, you’ve got a system in place designed to get you high and high about getting known, getting recognition and of course, getting established as a brand, you know, you’re, you’re in his hierarchy right now, and you’re doing the work that needs to be done.

This fits in with an aspiring politician just getting started. They know they need to be known, or they won’t be elected. Unless they’ve been put in there as a stooge. So in most cases are authentic about this, and you want to make a difference out there, you will be look at how to get myself known how to get myself to influence and have some impact.
And you can only do that by, being visible. Other examples of that are, associations and businesses, of course, that we’ve covered many times.

It can also be aspirational; people you know aspire to be more successful. But at times, we’ve just done the hard work without being visible enough to get noticed. So that is the second part. Experience, skills and image consulting companies can help local experts to become regional experts.

The Regional Expert

The third part is the regional expert, the recognised brand. A good example is a recognised brand; from a regional perspective, you might think about your region, state, or city; who’s recognised there might not be recognised throughout the country. It fits in the right across the board and fits in with, health; for instance, you might have a health expert in your state. Still, it’s not recognised internationally; you might have another individual like, for example, a lawyer, a doctor or any professional, a tradesman, that has some recognition, regionally, let’s say, in this state, but is not known nationally.

It also works because if you look at the US, their market is 330 million compared to Australia’s 26. They are over ten times our size in population well over; they can have regional brands that, in comparison to the Australian perspective, would be seen as international experts. Right at the top, but they are that because of their population base.

You can be too. Take New York, for instance, and have that market in New York. Comparing it to Australia, it is international, just on the sheer numbers, and that is from the point of view of visibility.

The regional aspect of forces gets you there. But from an Australian perspective, I believe that’s not enough. Because the market is too small and farther countries, it’s very similar also, that we have similar populations. You need to expand from that and think beyond regional. You need to expand from that and think beyond regional as well as focus on your image development.

With our clients, I always recommend that we go for the moon because the reality is if you can do it in your country. The more ambitious they are the more we can support the reality of that happening from the perspective of getting you to the top of that pyramid.
Jon Michail

The National Expert

The national expert is a brand known throughout the country. And an excellent example of that. Good examples of that from an American perspective. You got Michael Jordan, although he’s also gone global. Bill Gates, of course, he’s International. Richard Branson, again, definitely national and international.

It leaks the moment you hit National, and you become top of that game you start to also then filter into the international. The top what we call as the number one. other examples are Mark Cuban in the US also sort of fits into that if you look at the Australian perspective, a brand now that’s becoming very, very well known out there, Andrew, Forrest.

Many other business tycoons that specifically use branding effectively to get known, with intention, and most of them are international businesses. But remember, it didn’t start that way. It all started, in most cases, very small; it might have been even the power of one guy.

And because of the ambition, aspirations, and hard work involved, they also created success here. If we’ll look at this from a pyramid perspective, I graduated to number four and eventually became number five on this pyramid, right at the top. And that means they’ve become an international expert, a global super brand, and in many cases, iconic brands over time.

The International Brands

Iconic brands, including the ones we mentioned above, fit into internationals. For instance, to this day, Tiger Woods, even with the ups and downs he has had, is an iconic brand. Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa. Another iconic brand might be Audrey Hepburn, a Hollywood superstar. These are all iconic brands from an Australian perspective and some iconic brands as well. Dick Smith is recognised as an iconic brand, maybe not International, though.

David Beckham, to this day, is not the greatest footballer of all time and indeed an iconic brand. We’re even, you know, after his retirement, been an iconic brand today. His business carry his legacy and is worth over a billion dollars.

Another iconic brand is Mickey Mouse, an iconic brand, part of Disney that’s lasted some time. These are all brands at their best international. And if you look at some of the iconic brands, even non-human like Barbie, Lassie, Harry Potter, are all iconic brands. You got Star Wars, all iconic brands that have outlived their initial popularity and become more legacy brands in many cases. While possessing a distinct skill set is essential for reaching the pinnacle of the pyramid, image consulting firms can streamline the entire journey.

To Conclude

It’s a guide to show you how to evolve and get to the pinnacle if that’s your choice. And if you choose to stay invisible, that’s okay as well. That’s a choice. Just know that whatever choice you make, there’s a price to pay for the pros and cons. And that’s something for you to work out.

Jon Michail, Image Consultant | Personal Branding Coach | Business and Personal Branding Strategist | Author | Group CEO and Founder, Image Group International |

Image Group International are Entrepreneurial Activists. Rebels With a Cause!

Jon Michail, Founder and award-winning Chief Imagemaker together with his team at Image Group International help executives and entrepreneurs to build, grow, and monetise their personal brands (online and offline). They help their clients by positioning them to stand out so they attract their ideal clients.

They are committed to maximising an individual’s personal impact, influence, and value in the ever-changing and disruptive business environment.

Image Group International is recognised as Australasia’s leading personal brand image advisory, with over 29 years of proven results.

The Visibility Reach Pyramid- Defining an Expert