What Adele, Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga Know About Magnetic Personal Branding (That You Don't)
This World Music Day, let's create a better personal branding playlist for you! 🎵
You walk into a room, and conversations stop. Everyone's suddenly paying attention.
That's not your title—that's magnetic personal branding.
Here's the secret: the most unforgettable leaders build their presence like hit albums. Ed Sheeran turns stadiums intimate. Adele vanishes, then owns the world with one song. Lady Gaga constantly evolves yet stays authentically herself.
These aren't lucky breaks. They're strategic choices about how to show up in the world.
Your personal brand is already playing in meetings you're not in, conversations about your next promotion, decisions about who gets the big opportunities. The question is: are you composing it, or letting it play random notes?
Time to create a playlist that makes people lean in. Let’s look at the three global music stars and how they create a magnetic personal brand.
Track 1: The Ed Sheeran Method
Scaled Intimacy - Making Millions Feel Like One
The Sound: Authentic, approachable, consistently genuine
Ed Sheeran's genius? He makes 80,000 people feel like an audience of one.
Whether he's filling Wembley Stadium or chatting on late-night TV, every interaction feels like a conversation with a friend. He's the guy who could be your neighbour, except he writes songs millions sing along to.
Sheeran calls this "scaled intimacy." He shares stories about his stutter, awkward teenage years, and busking on street corners. Same flannel shirt, same guitar, same unpretentious vibe that says, "I'm just here to play music." Even his Instagram feels like a friend's feed, not a celebrity's PR machine.
This authenticity gives him permission to collaborate fearlessly across cultures. His recent hit single, Sapphire, in collab with Indian icon Arijit Singh, blends British pop with traditional Indian instrumentation, featuring both artists singing together in Punjabi.
It's not a calculated move to capture markets—it's Ed being genuinely curious about different musical traditions, which makes the collaboration feel authentic rather than opportunistic.
The Business Lesson: Authenticity becomes unstoppable when it's consistent and intentional.
Sheeran doesn't code-switch for different audiences—he's always recognizably Ed. Same voice, every platform, every interaction.
You don't need a flannel shirt and a guitar. You need to find your authentic voice and use it everywhere.
Track 2: The Adele Approach
Strategic Silence - When Less Becomes More
The Sound: Timeless, emotionally weighted, worth the wait
While artists flood streaming platforms daily, Adele vanishes for years. Then drops one song and breaks the internet.
This isn't accidental—it's strategic scarcity. Her disappearing acts turn every release into a cultural event. She titles albums after her age (19, 21, 25, 30), making each one feel like a life chapter we all recognise. What’s more, she often shares about the darkest and most vulnerable times of her life—heartbreak, divorce, loneliness—which gives her music more relatability and encourages (at least me) to be more courageous in putting my work out there.
Her visual brand stays consistent: elegant, classic, often black and white. No reinvention needed because her promise isn't about novelty - it's about emotional truth that never goes out of style. No wonder she has been called ‘the celebrity’s celeb’.
The Business Lesson: You don't need to be everywhere all the time. Sometimes the most powerful move is knowing when NOT to speak. Let your previous work resonate, then make your next appearance count.
In oversaturated markets, quality over quantity isn't just viable—it's magnetic.
Track 3: The Lady Gaga Formula
Fearless Evolution - Reinventing Without Losing Your Core
The Sound: Bold transformation anchored by unwavering values
Lady Gaga is a pop provocateur, jazz singer, Oscar-winning actress, and mental health advocate—sometimes all in the same year. Yet she never feels scattered.
Her secret? Reinvention without abandoning core values. I must confess: I became her biggest fan when I watched her in the movie A Star Is Born. Her screen presence simply blew me away!
Whether she's in avant-garde fashion or jeans at a piano, three things stay constant: advocating for marginalised communities, artistic fearlessness, and vulnerability about her struggles. These values give her permission to experiment everywhere else.
Take her jazz albums with Tony Bennett. She transformed from pop rebel to crooner alongside a legend 30 years her senior. Not a career pivot—a natural extension of her commitment to pushing boundaries. She didn't just sing jazz standards; she inhabited them.
The Business Lesson: Change your tactics, your presentation, even your medium. Just keep your mission crystal clear. When people trust your values, they'll follow you anywhere.
The Thread That Connects Them All
Sheeran makes you feel understood. Adele makes you feel less alone. Gaga gives you permission to be boldly yourself.
All three create emotional connections that transcend their medium—and that's what makes personal brands truly magnetic.
Your Personal Brand Playlist
I love Perfect by Ed Sheeran; Hello by Adele, and Shallow by Lady Gaga. I love the storylines of each song and the authenticity in each of them because they are personal.
Your personal brand works the same way. Pick your lane.
Will you go with Sheeran's intimacy, Adele's strategic silence, or Gaga's fearless evolution? Create your personal brand style and own it completely.
Because people don't buy products or services. They buy into stories and values.
Make sure yours is worth listening to on repeat.
This World Music Day: Which approach speaks to your leadership style? Hit reply and tell me. I read every response.
P.S. Forward this to one leader who needs to hear it. Great brands, like great songs, are meant to be shared.