---
title: Balancing Professionalism and Personality
description: Balancing Professionalism and Personality in branding, this blog explores digital advertising and recruiting videos to enhance law enforcement recruitment strategies effectively.
image: https://www.horizonvisualmedia.com/hubfs/6I3A0374-1.jpeg
---
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# Balancing Professionalism and Personality
 [Dave Perlman](https://www.horizonvisualmedia.com/latest/author/dave-perlman) February 24, 2025 4 min read
## The Business Mask.
In business, we're often confronted with situations where we may choose to wear a mask - to intentionally create a specific perception. This same thought process occurs in marketing and it's something that we encounter regularly. I'm always an advocate for staying true to yourself when you're interacting with others, but there are rules to the light hearted and the silly when it comes to marketing. This post deals with processing these hurdles.
### Criticisms of a Strictly Professional Brand
Professionalism is a good thing! We should all want to convey credibility and make people feel confident in our abilities to provide good service. But what do we do? In an effort to set ourselves apart, most of us often do things that camouflage our brand and move us in a counterproductive direction. We talk about our experience, our resources, and use industry specific language. We dress up everything to the point that every interaction we have, online and in person, is just as throwaway as the cold email that promises to 10x your business. What we're left with is a brand that's devoid of any personality whatsoever in a world where people connect with people.
These aren't new ideas, connecting with people rather than just making a sale, but it's something that I have many conversations about when it comes to video production, marketing, and [brand image](https://www.horizonvisualmedia.com/latest/what-is-brand-voice). There's a reason [organic short form video](https://www.horizonvisualmedia.com/socialmediamanagementpackages) has exploded in recent years and the businesses that are utilizing it best are not showing up as stuffy and overly formal with a business only focus. They're showing up as themselves, offering value in the form of education or entertainment. Trust me, people are far more interested in the time that I rented a live reindeer to film a [Christmas commercial](https://www.horizonvisualmedia.com/promotional-video-production) than the fact that I can improve conversion rates on their landing pages.
### A More Lively Brand
So if *too* professional can come off like you're trying too hard to impress, let's explore moving in the opposite direction. We've all seen commercials from Old Spice, Geico, Budlight, and the like. These huge brands have no problem showing the world the more lighthearted side of their business. The result of this is that every single one of you knows exactly what I'm talking about, these commercials are absolutely memorable. So is the takeaway that doing wild, crazy things in your marketing memorable without consequence? Well, no, it's not that simple.
I used the word lively to describe the sillier, easygoing approach to marketing and there are a couple things to note about it. First, lively means different things in different contexts - I'll show you some lively examples from a few of my clients below. Second, lively is not easy in all cases. Hopefully none of us will ever need to look for an oncologist, but imagine finding a practice that had a very lighthearted, silly brand? That would be wildly inappropriate and offensive.
### Professional vs. Lively
The good news is that most of us don't have to fully commit to one or the other. It's important that our clients know we're professionals that can be trusted to provide good service and know what the hell we're talking about. For those of you who spend most of your time in the land of strict professionalism, just know that you can be fun and personable without losing credibility. It all comes down to how tasteful your marketing is, and that's why I have these conversations often with clients. You can be professional and silly, or professional while still sharing a lot of your personality. Many of these conversations result in thinking about the viewer first, what is their perception and what do you want it to be? Know your market and connect with them the way that resonates best with them and comes most naturally to you.
#### Funny Examples
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Horizon Visual Media Commercial
- 
Realtor Social Media Ad
- 
Real Estate Agency Ad
- 
Arborist Retailer Christmas Commercial
- 
Interviewing a K9 🐕
- 
Arborist Independence Day Reel
[Branding](https://www.horizonvisualmedia.com/latest/tag/branding)
Keep reading
## More from the blog
- ### [ Oct 21, 2026 When Should You Refresh Your Digital Media?](https://www.horizonvisualmedia.com/latest/when-should-you-refresh-your-digital-media)
- ### [ Oct 14, 2026 Best Types of Digital Media For Your Business](https://www.horizonvisualmedia.com/latest/best-types-of-digital-media-for-your-business)
- ### [ Oct 7, 2026 Do I Need to Script My Videos?](https://www.horizonvisualmedia.com/latest/do-i-need-to-script-my-videos)
- ### [ Sep 30, 2026 What Makes a Good Recruitment Video?](https://www.horizonvisualmedia.com/latest/what-makes-a-good-recruitment-video)
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