Blog
Employer Branding on a Global Scale
Employer branding has gained more attention recently, however creating an employer brand that is meaningful and scales globally is no easy feat. “A company has a reputation in the market for its products and what it sells,” said Jason Seiden, Co-Founder and CEO of Brand Amper. “But companies also have a reputation as employers.” In today’s world, most every business needs to attract and retain top talent. An employer brand strategy explains why anyone would want to join or work at your company. And your employer brand can be one of the most valuable assets of your company, if you...
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San Francisco Branding Agency, Shares CEO Perspective on the Industry
San Francisco branding agency shares POV As co-founder and CEO of Emotive Brand, a San Francisco branding agency, Bella is committed to the Agency promise of helping to transform brands and making the greatest impact possible through our work. Bella works to maintain the highest standard of client services and delivers strategic solutions that meaningfully connect brands with people. We sat down with Bella to get the latest on what’s happening at Emotive Brand and her perspectives on brand strategy globally. In the following, she gives her insight on daily challenges, high-paced growth, and...
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In a World of Chaos, a Meaningful Culture Rules
Why do you need a meaningful culture for your organization? Your brand operates in a messy world. One that’s well beyond its control. Buffeted by random, surprising, and disturbing trends, incidents, and influences. Inspired by sudden, amazing, and lucrative opportunities. Distracted, confused, and tired out by the hyperactivity that surrounds it. Empowered by the need, desire, and passion that activity creates. When you use your brand to cultivate a meaningful culture within your organization, you create new energy, strength, and agility. You unify your people around bold ideas,...
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Brand Storytelling: A Necessary Shift from Plot to Promise
Brand Storytelling Jim Signorelli is the author of “StoryBranding”. I love the way he makes the distinction between the classic marketing idea of “unique selling proposition” and the modern meaningful branding concept, “unique value proposition”. We often refer to plot lines as brag lines, simply because that is what they do. They express the brand’s “how so?” more than its “what about it?” Plot lines are more a manifestation of the brand’s opinion of itself. As such, they lack the believability and relevance of theme lines. And by...
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Meaningful Workplace: Forge a Meaningful Employee Alliance
Last in our Meaningful Workplace Series: Forge a Meaningful Employee Alliance “Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” – Vince Lombardi The focus in the development of a Meaningful Workplace really needs be on self-discovery and self-identification. It’s about helping employees to be aware of, to identify with, and to connect to the ambitions, feelings, and behaviors the business seeks in its workplace. The efforts to build a Meaningful Workplace must not result in dictates, mandates, or rulebooks. There...
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Branding Isn’t Static – Call Off the Brand Police!
How to create a coherent brand and engage the “brand police” Many people strive for “consistency” when managing brands. But that presents the risk of being dull, repetitive and predictable. A better goal is to achieve a “coherent” brand presence. I recently re-watched a video of Simon Manchipp of SomeOne, London in which he advised brands to be “coherent, not consistent”. He talked about people’s desire for stimulation and the need to stay current because, “time changes – branding isn’t static”. The same colorful mix and match elements are always creating new stories Most...
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Are You in a State of Brand Delusion?
“If what you want your brand to be and what others experience and see do not match, you are in a state of brand delusion. This is the most expensive form of marketing madness, an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted and experienced as reality by your customer segment.” Joan Koerber-Walker We believe this problem goes well beyond a mismatch between what a brand wishes and the actual experience of the brand’s “customer” segment. Brand delusion is real for many brands. We believe...
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The Age of Meaning: Break Through the Commodity Barrier
Moving Your Brand Into the Age of Meaning: It’s Not a Trend, It’s Survival The Age of Meaning has significant impact on business visions, brand management, and marketing execution. In today’s fast-changing and competitive marketplace, it is hard to maintain a distinct and meaningful difference in the hearts and minds of people. It seems that as soon as you make a product improvement or change your service offering, your competitors are there either matching you or upping you one. There is another playing field available for your brand; one that most brands are blind to. It’s the...
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Creating A Meaningful Workplace: It Doesn’t Happen By Messaging Alone
Eighth in a series “The words printed here are concepts. You must go through the experiences.” – Saint Augustine It was earlier noted that people today, including employees and prospective recruits, are looking for more meaning in their lives. This shift has not only prompted companies to reconsider their business models, product offerings, and workplaces, it has made them re-think the terms on which they engage people. Messaging alone won’t pull employees in This is especially true when trying to build a Meaningful Workplace. It becomes far more involved than simply sending a PDF of the...
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Time to Reconnect Your B2B Brand to Your Bottom Line
Is your B2B brand disconnected from your daily operations? Do your senior executives consider your brand as they make decisions, sell to clients, hire staff? Are your employees able to draw from your brand the inspiration and motivation they need to be effective and gratified in their work? Do your partners know enough about what your brand is trying to achieve to offer the best possible assistance? Are your investors believing that your brand is building value for them? Do your customers resonate with your brand in ways that distance you from your competition? If your brand is simply a logo...
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Making Everyone a Brand Champion
Developing brand champions is critical Good brand strategies don’t stop at defining why the brand matters. They go further to define the attitudes and behaviors that will define the brand experience in ways that truly matter. Behavior is best defined on two levels: brand and workplace. Brand behavior Brand behavior focuses on the tangible and controllable aspects of your brand. These include the brand’s visual identity and it’s voice in marketing and advertising. Brand behavior identifies the shifts that will generate the feelings with which the brand seeks to be...
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Meaningful Millennials: On Purpose Beyond Profit
This is the fourth installment of “Meaningful Millennials”, our weekly series where we interview millennials on a variety of different subjects that are top of mind for us in the studio. At Emotive Brand, we believe brands that connect with people on an emotionally meaningfully level perform better and matter more to people. We believe that every brand should be meaningful, empathetic, authentic, emotive, consistent, and purpose-led, and we work with brands to help them to act and feel these ways at every touch-point. In the studio, the idea of purpose-led and purpose beyond profit are...
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Meaningful Workplace: Master Plans Create Employee Alliance
Creating employee alliance Seventh in a series. A Meaningful Workplace is built from the company’s master plan – a strategic platform used exclusively by senior management – that defines the three core elements of ambition (purpose), feelings (values), and behavior (building a culture). This master plan drives all subsequent activities, which include: Macro Plans – how the business itself will be evolved; Group Plans – how groups of employees will be engaged; Solo Plans – how individual employees will be personally engaged. Building something great and enduring Macro Planning puts the...
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Doing Good Feels Good – Is Your Brand on Board?
Action for Happiness is a movement for positive social change. We’re bringing together people from all walks of life who want to play a part in creating a happier society for everyone. This video from Action for Happiness spurred some thinking on brands and what people are looking for today. Let’s start by defining “happy”. It can be superficial – like what you feel as you watch a TV ad that makes you laugh or brings a tear to your eye. It can be profound – as in what you feel when you know that what you’re doing is doing good for others. We’ve...
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Building a Meaningful Workplace Culture
Sixth in a series on workplace culture “If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” – Albert Einstein A business’ fate is determined in large part by its culture. A business culture is the reality created by how people act, react, and interact with each other based on their attitudes, beliefs, and ambitions. The most damaging business cultures are those in which aggression, neglect, and punishment leave employees feeling they have no reason to commit their energies and skills, share their ideas, or help the company advance....
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