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Brand Strategy

December 10, 2013 — Tracy Lloyd

What Is Your Brand’s Future State?

Why talk about the future state of your brand? Look ahead and dream about what would make your brand a kick-ass success. Now start planning for it. What if you could turn the clock back 5 years? Thinking about the state of your brand and business today, what would you have done to make your brand either stronger today, or more fit for the future it faces? If we had this magical power, we would be able to go back and pull the strings, turn the dials, and change the gears of our complex brand workings. With the power of hindsight, we’d be able to avert many of the business problems that plague...

December 2, 2013 — Jerry Holtaway

Why Every CEO Should Pursue a “Purpose Beyond Profit”

It’s textbook management practice to formalize a company’s “mission, vision, and values.” And while these are important steps in helping form a direction and way of being for a company, many CEOs are nonetheless challenged with a litany of business issues: Unengaged employees An inability to attract the new talent needed Customer defection Lack of marketplace differentiation Dissatisfied shareholders This list goes on and on, doesn’t it? Behind each of these business challenges is a big question: How can my business matter more to people? When your business...

November 13, 2013 — Jerry Holtaway

Why Recruits Say, “No Thanks”

I came across an interesting article on recruiter.com the other day entitled, “7 reasons I’ll turn down a job after interviewing with you”. Two caught my eye: 1. You’re too negative – If you’re bad-mouthing the company, other employees, your workload, or even yourself, then chances are slim that I’ll come on board as your newest employee. Why? Because negativity is toxic. It tells me that morale is low and that you don’t enjoy your job. I recognize it’s possible that you’re just having a bad day, but it’s just too big of a risk to take. 5. You don’t tell me...

August 9, 2016 — Tracy Lloyd

It’s Time to Re-Value the Value Proposition

The creation of the value proposition has a long history. Businesses are absolute wizards at coming up with new products and services, figuring out how to make and distribute them, and backing them up with service. Ironically, they often are unable to craft a value proposition for their offering that couldn’t be easily used by their competitors. They write bog-standard, uninspiring, business-speak statements, filled with jargon that go in one ear and out the other of both employees, prospects and customers. As such, they end up saying nothing significant to the people vital to their...

August 14, 2013 — Tracy Lloyd

The Future Is Now – Humanize Your Product Or Service Or It Simply Won’t Sell!

Brands often look to the future for clues on how to adapt to changing technology and culture. But much of what futurists say is coming can be acted upon today (e.g. human-centric branding). To learn about what the future may bring to digital marketing, Dana Rousmaniere spoke with Gerd Leonhard, “one of the leading media-futurists in the world.” What this futurist envisions Here are a few salient points from the discussion on the HBR blog: “You’re going to stop buying things from companies that don’t fit your values, just because you can’t see giving them the money.” “All of the companies of...

April 22, 2013 — Jerry Holtaway

Rebrand? A Perfect Time to Adopt a “Purpose Beyond Profit”

A rebrand is a great opportunity to scratch below the surface to discover how your business can truly matter to people. Seize this chance to do more than simply apply a new layer of paint over your business. There are numerous reasons why companies choose to rebrand. It might be due to a merger, acquisition, or divestiture. It may be because of tired sales, a less-than-desirable image, or heated up competition. It might be a change in guard at the CEO level. Whatever the reason your business needs an update, the rebrand process offers a unique opportunity to go beyond a new name, logo, and...

March 24, 2013 — Jerry Holtaway

Capitalizing on the Human Dimension of Professional Services

I find it ironic that many of the most people-driven enterprises in our economy – law, 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, institutional websites of professional...

March 4, 2013 — Jerry Holtaway

Rational vs Emotional: With Brands, It’s Not “Either/Or” It’s “Both/And”

Neuroscience is telling us that every “rational” decision is surrounded and influenced by emotions. As such, brand decisions are neither rational or emotional – they are invariably both. But how do you work with an insight like this? How do you bring an emotional dimension to your brand, especially if today it is emotionally neutral? How do you change the behavior of your brand – and the people behind it – so that every interaction is either striking, or responding to, a relevant emotional chord? How do you do this in a way that isn’t seen as exploitative,...

January 15, 2013 — Jerry Holtaway

Brand Strategy for Professional Services Can Be Emotive

Professional services, like law firms, would do well to move beyond the rudimentary basics of branding such as identities, symbols, and colors, according to a blog post on Forbes.com. We couldn’t agree more. Like all businesses, professional firms face a challenging future with hyper-competition, commoditized knowledge, and accelerating change all looming on the horizon. These firms clearly need to get fit for the future – and their preparedness plan needs to include a major tune-up for their brands. However, we believe professional firms need to also leapfrog over the traditionally...

June 21, 2012 — Jerry Holtaway

“We Cannot Solve Our Problems With the Same Thinking We Used to Create them.” ~Albert Einstein

One of the challenges of modern business is to get people engaged, motivated and gratified to either work for you, or do business with you. For numerous reasons, people (formerly known as employees and customers) are more demanding of whom they work for, what they buy and whom they buy from. This sea-change of popular attitude, beliefs and behaviors have caught many businesses by surprise. Why? Because they haven’t begun to adapt their way of doing business to the reality of how people think, feel and act in this, The Age of Meaning This is a critical time for business. It’s a...

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