What Ozzy Osbourne Teaches Us About Personal Branding

Ozzy Osbourne’s new album is a miracle.

Partly because Ozzy’s been really sick the last couple years, and it looked like his 2020 album Ordinary Man would be his last.

That album included collaborations with Elton John and Post Malone. When I wrote about that album I noted that Ozzy’s staying power over 50 years is because of his imposter syndrome, not in spite of it.

Here we are in 2022 with another full-length album from the Prince of Darkness. This time it’s Patient No. 9 and has a guest star on every single track.

Instead of singers, however, it’s guitarists: Jeff Beck, Zakk Wylde, Mike McCready, Tony Iommi, and Eric Clapton.

What really makes this album a miracle?

Every single song sounds like an Ozzy song. The songs featuring Eric Clapton sound like Ozzy. The songs featuring Tony Iommi sound like Ozzy.

These are some of the greatest guitarists of all time, each with a unique, distinguishable sound.  But here, every song sounds like Ozzy Osbourne. Eric Clapton sounds like a guitarist on an Ozzy record.

That’s what it means to have a personal brand. To make a promise and live up to it, create an expectation and fulfill it, over and over and over.

What is a personal brand?

Most people think personal branding is a set of fonts, colors, and design elements. But it’s got nothing to do with that.

A personal brand is the set of promises you make and expectations you create.

It’s the question: Do I recognize you every time I see you or encounter your work, no matter what the context?

As solopreneurs, we get bored of saying and doing the same things over and over. So we get distracted by shiny new projects and opportunities that take us off message and ultimately confuse our audience.

But you’ll notice that the most exciting, enduring, and endearing personal brands stay on script. They make a promise and live up to it. They create an expectation and fulfill it.

Grab one bell and ring it until your arm falls off.

And if you’re Ozzy, that means a healthy dose of “All right now!” paired with over-the-top lyrics and a devious cackle.

Ozzy Osbourne’s personal brand is not bats, black clothes, inverted crosses, and that special font they use for his name.

It’s the fact that a song featuring Eric Clapton and a song featuring Zakk Wylde both sound like Ozzy Osbourne.

We love you, Ozzy. Keep being you.