I've seen some interesting cover letters in my time. My work in manufacturing guaranteed I'd have stories for life. The biggest issue though, is that many people misinterpret the purpose of a cover letter. It is not just a summary of your resume in sentences, it is an illustration of who you are outside of the resume, it is connecting the dots outlined in the resume in a way that makes you (a) a human being (b) of interest. So it is even more important that you highlight anything memorable about you in it, including, if you've chosen to undertake the task, your self brand.
In some ways you can get pretty creative with the cover letter in that way. You can incorporate the style of the brand into the content of the letter, using even the verbiage of the letter to remind the reader of who you are. The main point is consistency. If you've chosen to brand, just make sure it's highlighted on every piece of literature you submit to the company, so they can connect the resume, cover letter, and whatever else you send them.
And of course, make sure it's consistently good, too. The biggest mistake you can make is spend 90% of the time you devote to job searching just refining and tweaking your brand, because at the end of the day HR still does read the resumes and cover letters of the people they hire (they just might not remember doing it at the interview). If your brand is fantastic, you'll get their attention, but if there's no content to back it up, you still won't get the job.
Up next, Self Branding Part 3 - online image.
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