Which Should Come First: The Content or The Brand?

I recently reviewed an interview with Tim Ferriss, author of 4-Hour Work Week, on bnet.com. In it, Ferriss declares:

...don’t focus on “personal branding.” Focus on building and sharing great products, services, or actionable content.  The personal brand is a side-effect, a natural result, of doing something valuable for others.  It’s not the objective.

Personally, I believe Ferriss is only partly correct in his personal branding philosophy. It's true that your focus should be on building and sharing great products, services, and actionable content BUT your personal brand is the driving force behind those entities. Without a personal brand you have nothing to measure your success against. The foundation of every brand is self-discovery- your purpose, vision, passion, values, principles, and goals. These attributes determine what products, services, and content you produce- not the other way around. Although a large part of your personal brand is what others think and say about you, it can be altered through the maintenance (public relations/ online reputation management) of your personal brand. Your brand is a living, growing entity that will change due to your actions but in order to stay authentic and on message, you must have a solid personal brand already in place before you start "doing things."

A great example of this is found in a March 18, 2011 article in The Week Magazine. The article is entitled "Snooki's Sense of Shame" and it talks about how even Snooki is disgusted and tired of "Snooki." Nicole Polizzi (aka Snooki) is one of the stars on MTVs Jersey Shore reality TV show. In the article she explains how disgusted she is with a lot of her actions and wishes she could take a lot of her drunken escapades back. She comes to terms with the fact that she can never "hold a real job" after being on the show. Although Nicole is making bank now (over $30K per episode) it wont last forever and one day her kids will have to see their mom on Jersey Shore re-runs. Now how is she supposed to set a good example or discipline her kids when she is on national television committing sinful acts?

My point is this- Snooki took Ferriss' advice and focused on "building and sharing great (and I use that word loosely) products, services, and actionable content" BUT, by her own admission, did not stay true to who she is or would like to be. Snooki's reputation and personal brand has been solidified since she signed on the dotted line. Her actions have resulted in a personal brand but it is not authentic. That's why you MUST concentrate on developing yourself (purpose, vision, values, principles, goals, etc) before you begin producing products, services, and content.

I would love to hear your take on this philosophy. How do you view the age old question- Which should come first, the content or the brand?