Creativity is not copying: this sentence is a masterpiece because it embodies the art of meme-making and tells almost all about the person who said it: Ferran Adrià.
Adrià is not just a chef; he is a radical innovator, a disruptor who reshaped the culinary world with his relentless pursuit of originality. The phrase encapsulates his essence—his refusal to imitate, his obsession with pushing boundaries, and his constant reinvention of gastronomy. But beyond describing Adrià’s creative philosophy, the sentence itself is a perfect example of a meme: a concise, memorable, and highly transmissible idea that others eagerly adopt and propagate.
When your brand speaks in absentia
Personal brand promotion is often thought of in terms of direct actions: how we present ourselves, the strategies we employ, and the messages we craft. But an essential and frequently overlooked dimension of personal branding occurs when we are not in the room—when others speak about us. This is what I call the brand in absentia. Like a legal trial conducted without the defendant present, our personal brand is often evaluated by third parties in situations beyond our control.
The way others talk about us has immense impact. Studies in marketing and psychology show that peer recommendations are exponentially more effective than self-promotion. This principle applies equally to corporate and personal brands. Consider the Net Promoter Score (NPS), a widely used metric to gauge customer advocacy. It hinges on a single question: On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend this brand to a friend or colleague? Those who score a 9 or 10 are “promoters,” while detractors (scoring 0 to 6) actively damage the brand’s reputation. The same logic applies to personal branding: our ability to inspire strong recommendations from others determines how our brand spreads and solidifies.
The power of the meme in personal branding
While we lack precise measurement tools like the NPS for personal brands, the underlying mechanics remain the same. We need others to talk about us, but more importantly, we need them to say the right things. Ideally, when someone mentions our name, they should accurately convey our unique value proposition, reinforcing our credibility and positioning us as experts in our field.
This is where memetics—the study of how ideas spread—becomes a powerful tool. Richard Dawkins first introduced the concept of the meme in The Selfish Gene, suggesting that ideas replicate and evolve much like genes. Susan Blackmore expanded on this in The Meme Machine, explaining that successful memes must be easy to remember, simple to transfer, and valuable to both the sender and the receiver.
Applied to personal branding, a well-crafted meme ensures that when others talk about us, they spread the right message—without us having to be present.
Crafting a personal brand meme
For a meme to be effective, it must meet four criteria:
Memorability – It should be short and striking.
Ease of transmission – People should find it effortless to share.
Intrinsic value – It should offer something meaningful to those who pass it on.
Emotional resonance – It must evoke curiosity, admiration, or inspiration.
Take Ferran Adrià’s “Creativity is not copying”. This phrase is simple, direct, and instantly recalls his core philosophy. It positions him as the ultimate innovator in his field. Even though he openly admits that he did not invent the phrase, it has become attached to him—so much so that it encapsulates his entire legacy.
The network effect: why people share your narrative
A meme spreads not just because it is interesting, but because sharing it benefits the person transmitting it. People share Adrià’s phrase because it makes them sound knowledgeable about creativity. The best personal brand memes work because they give social currency to those who propagate them.
A viral tweet captured this idea perfectly:
"If a woman tells her friend about your brand, it’s not because she loves your brand—it’s because she loves her friend."
This is the essence of brand memetics: people don’t spread your message for your sake, but because it enhances their own relationships, identity, or social standing.
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