Topics

Brand Strategy

Naming a New Brand Category is Harder Than it Looks

July 26, 2017 —

Naming a New Brand Category is Harder Than it Looks

Failed category labels are laughable. Before there were snowboards, there was snurfers. PDA phones preempted smartphones. Charga-plates rolled out before credit cards took their place. It seems obvious now why each current category name is so much stronger than its predecessor. But missing the mark with category naming is a mistake that’s easy to make. In our last post about how to define a new category, we left off with what is most commonly considered the fun part of strategy: naming. If you’ve gotten this far, you’ve identified that your existing category isn’t serving your brand’s needs....
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Why It’s Frickin’ Hard for Organizations to Brand Themselves

July 22, 2017 —

Why It’s Frickin’ Hard for Organizations to Brand Themselves

The need for a branding agency is hard to determine sometimes. Many of Emotive Brand’s clients come to us after failed attempts to develop their own brand strategy. Just last week, a client sent us some themes they’d identified in an internal brand survey, along with a frustrated note: “We’ve gotten this far. We’re stuck. Can you help?” Why is it so hard for organizations to brand themselves from the inside? Aren’t the people who live and breathe a brand every day the most obvious choice to articulate it? That’s a logical conclusion, and clients who have tried often feel frustrated that they...
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Feel the “Good Burn” of a Strategy that Surprises

June 13, 2017 —

Feel the “Good Burn” of a Strategy that Surprises

Get out of Your Comfort Zone How do you feel about the brand strategies your agency is producing? Good? Comfortable? If that’s the case, those strategies may not be doing as much for you as they can. Staying in your comfort zone strategically is about as impactful as staying in your comfort zone at the gym. If excellence is your aim, you’ll only get there by feeling the burn. Of course, a bad strategy will make you uncomfortable too. So how do you know when a strategy is pushing your brand uncomfortably toward excellence? Here Are Three Components of a Feel-The-Burn Strategy: 1. Information...
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5 Things Executives Need to Know When Embarking on Brand Strategy

June 5, 2017 —

5 Things Executives Need to Know When Embarking on Brand Strategy

Investing in brand strategy is a big decision for executives to make today.  Plunging into an ocean of the emotional, strategic, and intellectual dimensions and depths of your brand is not what executives often want to spend time and budget on. Preconceived notions about ROI, doubts about the actual value of it, and the more obvious budget concerns to evaluate brand strategy are hugely challenging. Many companies don’t even make it to this place – the place where they accept and understand they actually do need to invest in the brand to address their business problems. But for those that do,...
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Why a Startup Should Invest in the Brand Quickly

May 24, 2015 —

Why a Startup Should Invest in the Brand Quickly

Why we believe founders need to rethink their investment in their startup brand There’s the startup rush. That undeniable startup rush. That adrenaline flow that starts the moment you have an idea worth sharing. An idea that you’re willing to ask perfect strangers to fund. It’s a rush when someone says yes, and another rush when that first check shows up. The one that rents the homely first office and gets you going. After that it gets harder. The technology component of the idea might be easy for you. After all, it’s what you were trained to do. But for many startup founders, the hard part...
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How to Make a Business and Brand Transformation Successful

May 2, 2017 —

How to Make a Business and Brand Transformation Successful

Emotive Brand hinges itself on the power of business transformation through brand strategy, and brand strategist, Jo Schull adds a honed strategic mind to our team. By working directly with clients to help understand the true essence of their business, she uncovers the necessary internal and external strategies needed to transform the potential of their brand into a reality. In this interview, Jo offers her thoughts and expertise on how to make a brand and business transformation successful. People are always talking about business transformation – what does that mean? Business...
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Why are Feelings and Purpose so Important in Business Today?

April 24, 2017 —

Why are Feelings and Purpose so Important in Business Today?

Feelings and Purpose-led brands Why are purpose and feelings so important now for brands? A meaningful brand is the persona-driven presence and experience of an organization that has proactively decided to orient itself around an authentic purpose. Such brands do so with the intent of emotionally connecting to people on a deep level, by addressing core human needs. Most significant, a meaningful brand strives to forge these attitude and behavior changing connections both inside and outside their organizations. To summarize, a meaningful brand is:  – Proactively meaningful across all...
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Positioning Strategy for High-Growth Tech Companies

August 1, 2017 —

Positioning Strategy for High-Growth Tech Companies

High-Tech Companies Have Banished the Word Brand Strategy I’m not sure when it happened. I only know it has. Brand strategy is no longer something the tech world is asking for. Well, let me be clear, they are still asking for it, they just aren’t using the term brand strategy. Positioning strategy is the new brand strategy, at least for high-growth companies where time is of the essence. I’ve felt the shift first hand. As a co-founder of an agency, I’m the person who takes the incoming calls from prospects looking for an agency. It used to be that I would patiently listen for the words...
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Brand Evolution: Keeping Greatness, Adding Appeal

April 6, 2017 —

Brand Evolution: Keeping Greatness, Adding Appeal

What is brand evolution? I think I found a solid example. I recently came across these photos showing two models of the classic Porsche 911. 50 years separate the two models, yet the clarity of the design concept are obvious in both generations. It is a brand “evolved”. Emotive Brand is about taking what is good and great about your business and brand today, and evolving it for a new generation, a new audience, or for the addition of a new product. It is about transforming the presence and feeling of your brand to make it more relevant and appealing, given how the rest of the...
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Creating an “On-Brand” Community for Developers

March 28, 2017 —

Creating an “On-Brand” Community for Developers

The Value of an Online Community Building an online community is a great way for companies to encourage deeper relationships with customers, enthusiasts, and most especially – developers. Technology companies are particularly adept at leveraging active participation, good will, and sheer word-of-mouth power of the cloud crowd. Many sponsor technical communities for developers like teaching, customer support, and newbie coaching. People flock to well-structured, well-run forums for advice, problem-solving, and to share their work and ideas. Some communities spring up of their own...
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