Reading Time: 4 minutesDisclaimers are everywhere. From the websites we visit to the products we buy and the ads we watch, the terms under which consumers read and receive are carefully wrapped in legal bubble-wrap to protect brands from liability. In an age of transparency, such disclosures seem prudent and very much in keeping with the demands of […]
Latest Posts
Perspectives
Don’t brand for now, brand for then
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIt’s a pleasure to announce that Entrepreneur.com have just published a new post by me. “Don’t brand for now, brand for then” discusses developing a brand strategy for the brand you intend to be, not just the brand you are right now. Hope you enjoy.
Changing the brand context
Reading Time: 2 minutesThere’s a tendency to see disruption and innovation as huge moments of significance that shake the status quo to its core. Ultimately though neither is about that at all. It’s often about having the courage, vision and confidence to (gently) do big things. And to do them when and where they were least expected.
How does a brand outgrow its defining characteristic?
Reading Time: 4 minutesTwitter was built on 140 characters. Even though the limitation was serendipitous, it remains a defining characteristic of the brand in the minds of many. Concise thinking, hash-tagged to provide simple, global connection – there’s the Twitter value equation in a little under half the consigned quota. But the question Carl Miller asks is a […]
Refresh or rebrand? Critical brand decisions
Reading Time: 4 minutesEvery brand must change, but the extent of the change, and the size of the calls that accompany those shifts, are very different. So when should you revamp what you have to bring it up to date, and when should you “kill” the brand and start again?
How to integrate purpose and business strategy
Reading Time: 3 minutesIt’s easy to think of what your brand is there to do (purpose) and how your business intends to prosper (strategy) as separate things, different agendas. But more and more brands are looking at ways to bring these two ideas together: building and focusing their business around the wider impacts they intend to have.
3 simple steps to getting buy-in on your idea
Reading Time: 2 minutesEveryone’s got things that they want to share. Whether you’re talking with your business partner or looking to pitch a concept to investors or a senior management team, you absolutely need a process to get people onside with where you’re at. I spend most of my days pitching ideas, developing new ideas or evaluating the […]
Linking brand, reputation and products
Reading Time: 4 minutesMarketers talk a lot about the increasing personalisation that consumers are looking for in their interactions with brands. At the same time though, we know consumers seek endorsement from others on the good brands to be associated with and those that should be avoided. Interesting dichotomy. If you’re a brand manager, where do you invest […]
Finding your brand’s tone of voice
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe language of a brand is really decided by two things: where you are looking to position your brand in the marketplace; and the personality that you choose to adopt.
Inverting the brand story
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe case for brands to engage in storytelling is well made and well documented. Stories are so much more effective than facts, they engage us and in so doing, they motivate brands and buyers alike to get involved and to act.
The ironies of brand attitude
Reading Time: 3 minutesIf you’re a brand leader and you’ve been one for a while, there’s a good chance you know your market and that you monitor and are highly aware of your competitors. All the market intelligence you have tells you where things are.
If the answer isn’t brand, then what is it?
Reading Time: 4 minutesSome searching questions recently from executives who seem to pride themselves on being brand sceptics prompted me to review the parameters of what brands can do, what they can’t and why I still believe that branding is a vital business activity.