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Brand Transformation

Credit Union Brands are Ripe for Transformation

April 11, 2016 —

Credit Union Brands are Ripe for Transformation

Credit Union brands take note. There is a huge opportunity for credit unions to invest in a brand transformation initiative to more meaningfully connect with people and communities. According to Gallup more than 70% of people are customers of a bank, yet only 30% have confidence in banks. The key question comes down to why? Perhaps it’s because we feel like we’re just a customer at a bank. And banks make profit from their customers. Profit is their purpose — the answer to the question of why they exist. The mission of credit unions is different. The purpose of credit unions is to meet their...
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The Role and Impact of Brand Purpose

March 30, 2016 —

The Role and Impact of Brand Purpose

Brand Purpose I recently reread an older HBR blog post by Graham Kenny that details the difference between the increasingly popular idea of brand purpose and the traditional corporate drivers of vision, mission, and values. His conclusion echoes our beliefs about the role and impact of a company purpose: “If you’re crafting a purpose statement, my advice is this: To inspire your staff to do good work for you, find a way to express the organization’s impact on the lives of customers, clients, students, patients – whomever you’re trying to serve. Make them feel it.” Mr....
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Are You in a State of Brand Delusion?

March 16, 2016 —

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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How Global Enterprise Tech Companies Can Re-brand

July 1, 2015 —

How Global Enterprise Tech Companies Can Re-brand

In the San Francisco Bay Area, it’s impossible to escape the blinding pace of technology. Ideas, innovations, and companies emerge like skyrockets, lighting up the sky and sometimes the world. We’re used to the speed because we live here, and because many of our clients are start-ups. We build meaningful brands to guide their stratospheric growth. Then there are companies that have been around for a while. Venerable tech brands that have stood the test of time. Some dating back to the days when Silicon Valley was populated not by software geeks on corporate campuses, but by apricot and prune...
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Winning Leaders Change the Conversation

October 14, 2014 —

Winning Leaders Change the Conversation

We recently came across an interview with Lee Clow, who has been responsible for a slew of famous ad campaigns, including the landmark 1984 Apple commercial. In the interview he talks about how he now describes his role: “Finding a voice as a tone for a brand is the art of what I do. I want to consider myself now as a media artist, not an advertising person, because advertising is kind of defined these days and has a negative stigma attached to it. But to be a media artist is to take a brand and find its voice and tell its story and make it interesting and likeable. I think brands are...
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