Blog
The Key To Better Engaging Your Employees
The workplace is in crisis. And engaging your employees is not easy. Workers are not engaged. Productivity is down. Morale is low. Many employees obviously don’t see the point of what they, or their employer, are doing. How can a business turn the tide of employee dissonance? How can it become fit for a future that’s bound to be more competitive, complex, and commoditized? How can it connect with people who are no longer blindly accepting corporate propaganda — people who are more “we” than “me” focused? People who are more discerning about the ideas, products, and brands they buy into, the...
Read more >
Does Your Brand Exude Meaning?
An emotive brand can’t simply advertise its way into being meaningful. It has to exude meaning at every opportunity. All too often brands seeking to appear more meaningful rely purely on tactical communications like an ad campaign. We are as likely as anyone to say, “that’s nice” after viewing an emotional commercial or a touching video on a company website. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there? Well, there can be. Sadly, these brands often come off as being superficial. They wear their feelings on their sleeves. And they use advertising to claim to be something...
Read more >
The Human Dimension of Law Firm Branding
Law firm branding is not easy. I find it ironic that many of the most people-driven enterprises in our economy – law firms, architecture, consulting, and engineering firms – are often the most superficial with branding. For most professional service firms, “branding” is only about logos and color palettes. It seems branding’s only goal is to project a serious, professional, and trustworthy identity. Unfortunately, this limited view of branding leads most professional service firms to the same bland destination. Indeed, the Internet is littered with the drab, me-too,...
Read more >
Your Emotions Are Shaping Your Thoughts
I can imagine two ways you might be feeling as you read this. If you’ve never before heard about, or experienced, the thinking of Emotive Brand, you may feel a tad skeptical as you read this. After all, you have no reason to trust what you’re about to read. On the other hand, if you do know about us, and have perhaps worked with us in the past, you probably feel more comfortable as you read. Deep down you probably have some expectations about what this experience will be like, and the hope that the connection you feel will be strengthen as a result of the time you invest with us...
Read more >Wishing You a Lite & Brite Holiday Season
This holiday season, we wanted to shed light (or in this case, lite) on our abundant holiday spirit and illuminate all that we hold dear – playfulness, bold design, teamwork, creativity, and a desire to make all brands glow with promise and purpose. We hope this video adds a bit of brightness to your day. Call us lite-brite fanatics or nostalgic kids, but we believe in the little bit of promise held in each single peg. The promise of light, of building something new, of fresh beginnings. This holiday, the world is yours. Dance in the light. Blast music. Build things. Play games. The holidays...
Read more >
Inspiration from Purpose-Led CEO of Givesurance, Jennifer Rasiah
We had the pleasure of sitting down and speaking with Jennifer Rasiah, founder of Givesurance and the Emotive Brand epitome of a purpose-led leader. Starting as a claims evaluator at Prudential Financial and working her way up to Senior Executive at Hub International, Jennifer had 15 years of experience in the insurance industry under her belt when she decided to make a change. A meaningful change. She wanted to make a real difference in the world and saw an opportunity to leverage her deep knowledge of the insurance industry and her innate desire to give back. So, Jennifer created...
Read more >
Transforming Business: An Empathetic Approach
There are many factors that add meaning and purpose to a brand, and they all stem from a single source: empathy. Empathy is the ability to walk in another person’s shoes. That is, to see and experience the world from a perspective different from your own. Here we explore how empathy plays a vital role in shifting brands from a bland and vulnerable position, to one that is robust in meaning and purpose. Empathy as a driver of brand strategy When you’re close-in to a business’s daily operations it’s hard to see how your brand is perceived by the people you serve, both as customers and...
Read more >
The Meaninglessness of Logos as Brands
Hugh McLeod once again hits the nail on the head with this cartoon. Logos only have value when people associate something they value with them. A logo alone does not convey meaning. When a company, product or service has an established brand promise and a meaningful way of being, people start to ascribe that meaning to the logo (and the company, product or service behind it). A brand promise matters when it relates to the needs, beliefs, interests and aspirations of people, and promises to make their lives better and more gratifying. A brand promise matters when it creates positive feelings...
Read more >
Can Your Brand Tell An Employer Brand Story Like This?
We’re willing to bet that more C-suite bottoms sit on Herman Miller chairs than any other brand chair. We’ll also go as far as to bet that a majority of those well-seated C-suiters would have a hard time telling an employer brand story as compelling and meaningful as Herman Miller’s. As they say in their videos, Herman Miller is more a company you work with, than one you work for. You may say, we just don’t have such a great story to tell. And we would say, “You don’t? Really?” We think you probably do more good than you’re aware of, because...
Read more >
Thoughts for CEO’s
Business is hard. Companies face a never-ending stream of challenges. Ask a CEO, “What’s the matter?”, and he or she is likely to talk anxiously about need to scale faster, recruiting top talent, lagging innovation, disgruntled customers, growing competition, the threat of commoditization, investor concerns, and a litany of other issues. These are real issues and concerns. They are often complex issues that are difficult and expensive to address. And, try as they may, many CEOs have trouble implementing the changes needed to counter these disruptive and destructive...
Read more >
Why Leaders That Matter Look Outward
One of the biggest challenges for any leader is to maintain a holistic perspective of the world. Too often, the pressures of the market, of shareholders, and the organization, keep the leader looking inward. This inward-looking behavior extends to the rest of the organization, because people “follow the leader”. As a result, the organization continues to spiral down into egocentric, myopic and self-serving behavior. Unfortunately, this self-serving attitude, and way of being, puts the organization in the class of “most” businesses, and therefore, dilutes whatever...
Read more >
Purpose Beyond Profit – A Shift in Perspective
At Emotive Brand, we’re big on the concept of Purpose Beyond Profit. Apparently, people interpret this phrase in interesting ways. Some jump to the conclusion that it means “purpose instead of profit.” That’s a valid approach for B-Corps, perhaps, but most companies – including this one – would prefer to make some money. Some people think the phrase means “profit plus being good to the environment.” We’re okay with that definition, but it’s still too easy for many brands to dismiss for one reason or another. The deeper definition applies to all brands, if they can make a simple shift in...
Read more >
How I See Our Culture – David Ogilvy
I worked for Ogilvy and Mather for nine years. At the beginning of my time there, it was still a privately-held company – though within a few years of my tenure, it was absorbed (and changed forever) by WPP. I came across this piece written by David Ogilvy (whom I had the pleasure of meeting once), about the culture of Ogilvy back in the day. I think all leaders should use it as a culture check-list for their companies. From The Unpublished David Ogilvy. Here is how I see our culture. A NICE PLACE TO WORK Some of our people spend their entire working lives in our agency. We do our damnedest...
Read more >
Employer Brand: It Doesn’t Happen by Messaging Alone
“The words printed here are concepts. You must go through the experiences.” – Saint Augustine People today, including employees and prospective recruits, are looking for more meaning in their lives and in their work. This is why there has been a rise in budgets directed to more meaningfully connect with employers and an increase in budgets to develop a company’s Employer Brand. Messaging alone won’t pull employees in This is especially true when investing in your Employer Brand, and trying to build a Meaningful Workplace. It becomes far more involved than simply sending a PDF of the...
Read more >
Why Don’t More Companies Value Their Values?
Corporate Values This question comes up for us often because we’re engaged with brands at an emotional level, not just intellectually or strategically. We’re working hard to connect brands to humans who make lasting emotional decisions a lot faster than they can come to logical ones. One of the strongest emotional binders for human beings is shared values – they’re the basis of religion, among other things – so it’s logical to conclude that companies with strong brands put a lot of value into their values. But often, they don’t. More likely, they neglect them for long stretches of time, and...
Read more >