Does Steem Need a Locomotive?

^Source

In his latest Tuesday Noob Night CryptoCast, Jon reminded me something I knew. All top cryptocurrencies have prominent figures that assume the roles of leaders and spokespersons / marketers for their blockchains, coins and communities and they can easily be identified with the respective projects.

I called such a person a locomotive, because that's what they are, they are pulling their project ahead, and it's not by development alone, but also by sharing their vision everywhere, defending it and sometimes launching their own spears (not particularly a fan of that, but many people like it).

We don't really have that, as Ned seems uncomfortable in such a position.

The question is what needs to be done?

Do we really need such leaders? And if so, can someone that is not from Steemit, Inc. lead the way for the Steem blockchain?

Looking at the Top 10 crypto by market cap, it seems we do need it, if we want to be in the spotlight. But let's dig deeper...

What's the alternative? Let's have a look at some well known companies and how they handle things.

Tezla identifies with Elon Musk.
Amazon identifies with Jeff Bezos.
Apple identified with Steve Jobs (it is probably still in the shadow of his memory).
Microsoft identified with Bill Gates, but seems they broke away from his image as a CEO.
Ford identified with Henry Ford.

Now, those are all companies branded by leaders, at least up to a point, some being or becoming in time great brands themselves, but still in the shadow of the leader.

Now let's think of Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

Hmm, I don't know their leaders, whether they are the CEOs or majority stakeholders. Maybe they are well known, but I don't know them. Possibly if I google it, their names will ring a bell for me, but on the top of my head I don't know them.

I think in this case the brands are more powerful than the leaders. These companies are probably recognized better as a tandem by their long time rivalry, which fueled both brands, than by their leaders.

So where do we stand with Steem?

• not a leader blockchain
• practically with all the confusion over time between Steem and Steemit, not a brand blockchain either, but probably in a better position than a leader blockchain

The Steem name is picking up though, in various ways, like the Twitter initiatives of Nathan Mars or Dan (theycallmedan). And generally in any way the name is being seen elsewhere than on Steem.

We also benefit from having a token with the same name. While this might be confusing for new people in the crypto sphere, the brand of Steem is being built this way too.

And of course, the fact that we have highly used dApps, will continue to put Steem in the center of attention to those interested.

Will that alone build Steem brand? No, I doubt it! We need coordination, at least.

Can Steem Alliance foundation fill such a role? It seems the best proposals included marketing as one of the areas where the foundation would be involved.