Continuing with “Celebrity Day” on Casual Fridays…

There’s a lot of criticism and curiosity swirling around Tom Cruise and his abrupt change in public image. I’m no armchair publicist, so I won’t try to give my advice on what Tom should/should not be doing. Who knows, maybe teenny-bopper love and couch jumping are celebrity status symbols now.

With his previous publicist, Cruise was fairly sheltered. Interviews were select and so were the questions. In the vacuum of personal knowledge, Tom Cruise was identified more by the characters he played, than by his own personality.

Now, with his sister as his publicist, Cruise is opening up the curtain to give us a glimpse of his personal beliefs and passions. He has been gushingly open about his relationship with 26 year-old Katie Holmes, jumping on couches and performing Will Ferrell-like cheerleading drills during talk show interviews. He then jumps all over Matt Lauer discussing psychiatry and mood-altering prescriptions on the Today Show.

What effect did this have? War of the Worlds was still a box office hit and Cruise is in the spotlight for better or worse. We’ll have to wait and see the longterm effects of Tom Cruise’s latest publicity circuit, but for now the public is confused as to whether they should hang on to their previous perception of Cruise or accept the new one he’s presenting.

What do we learn?

1. Letting your performance speak for you, instead of your words, can be powerful.

2. When you change that tune and your voice begins to center around what is important to YOU, it can confuse people.

3. Changing from a professional image to a personal image is dangerous, but may have upside

Remember #3 if you’re thinking of adding a blog to your company website. Blogging is personal. Do you want customers to see that side of you? If your answer is no, maybe you’ve got some internal issues to work out.