Topics

Purpose

A Brand’s Purpose is Not a Tagline!

March 2, 2015 —

A Brand’s Purpose is Not a Tagline!

Once again drawing from our white paper, “Transforming your brand into an emotive brand”, we explore another of the key drivers of our thinking, “Purpose Beyond Profit”. Here’s how we recap this idea in our paper: As an emotive brand, your brand lives to a promise that embodies a purpose that goes well beyond profit. As such, you use your brand’s promise to establish and reinforce the higher-ground connection that customers and employees find emotionally meaningful. By thinking beyond profit, you reveal your commitment to connecting with people in truly...
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Where Does Brand End and Reputation Begin?

February 17, 2015 —

Where Does Brand End and Reputation Begin?

Confusing Branding Terms It seems so many ” branding terms ” are being rendered meaningless these days and we tend to blur the difference between them. We use specific words in a broader context than originally intended. Often, we use words as umbrellas to bring together a multitude of ideas. But, among us, we’re not consistent in the way these words are used. As a result, if you ask three business people what a particular word means, you’ll get no fewer than five answers. Take these two words as examples: “Brand” and “Reputation” What does...
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What it Means to be a Meaningfully Different Brand

February 13, 2015 —

What it Means to be a Meaningfully Different Brand

Youngme Moon teaches business at Harvard and is the author of “Different – Escaping The Competitive Herd”. In her closing she points to three characteristics of the brands of tomorrow – as they are driven to differentiate in order to succeed. Here we summarize: “They will offer something that is hard to come by…restraint will be the new desire; whisper can be the new shout; there will always be a place for brands offering something that is hard to come by.”  “They will reflect a commitment to a big idea…which is to say they...
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How Do You Create a Product that Matters?

February 10, 2015 —

How Do You Create a Product that Matters?

Whatever industry you are in, whatever kind of buyer you target, whatever distribution system you use, whatever your promotional budget,you can’t afford for your product to be a lemon. It needs to stand out from the field in unique and meaningful ways. This can be hard to accomplish when you’re working to business-as-usual. After all, your competition is generally using the same technology, same ideology, and same processes to create, distribute, and promote its products. And, even if you are able to jump ahead of the competition in some significant way, they’re able to...
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Why Every CEO Should Pursue a Purpose Beyond Profit

January 21, 2015 —

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 truly...
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Culture Shock – Will McInnes Envisions Truly Meaningful Work

January 8, 2015 —

Culture Shock – Will McInnes Envisions Truly Meaningful Work

The power of meaningful work is  topic we have been writing on for years. When Culture Shock was released, we were more than intrigued. Culture Shock: A Handbook for 21st Century Business is a fascinating read from Will McInnes. McInnes provides an insightful and helpful guide to leaders who are challenged by today’s turbulent environment. Exploring the concept of the “social business”, he covers a breadth of topics relevant to leadership in the 21st Century, including “purpose and meaning”, “conscious leadership”, “change velocity”, and...
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The Purpose-Pivot

December 9, 2014 —

The Purpose-Pivot

Why smart brands are adding meaningful metrics We recently came across a Huffington Post article, “Meaning is the new money,” that posits the notion of the  purpose-pivot.  According to the author, Blanca Rothschild, the term is a combination of “pivot” (being capable of turning around fast based on new knowledge, from Eric Ries’s book “Lean Startup”), and “purpose” (working to an ambition that transcends the goal of making a profit). In summary, a purpose-pivot is an idea that is “applied in a multi-dimensional way across all stakeholders, and involves redesigning HOW we succeed to include...
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Purpose-Driven Business

November 13, 2014 —

Purpose-Driven Business

McKinsey’s Vision of Businesses as Problem Solvers We recently came across an older and rather interesting article from McKinsey that speaks to the imperative of business to become increasingly purpose-driven. The article starts with the words, “Capitalism is under attack.” It then offers new definitions for prosperity, growth, government, and capitalism itself: a conscious capitalism. Then it goes on to explain what business needs to do: “We believe that a reorientation toward seeing businesses as society’s problem solvers rather than simply as vehicles for creating shareholder...
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Purpose-led Business Leaders Gain Competitive Advantage

September 27, 2016 —

Purpose-led Business Leaders Gain Competitive Advantage

Long ago we fell in love with this Fast Company article about purpose-led business leaders who are changing the way business works by embracing purpose. Here we recap its main points, and add additional perspective. Generation Flux is a group defined less by age than by attitude. According to the article’s author, Robert Safian, Generation Flux “refers to the group of people best positioned to thrive in today’s era of high-velocity change.” Safian continues, “Fluxers are defined not by their chronological age but by their willingness and ability to adapt. These are the people who are...
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Win by Going Beyond Features and Benefits

September 7, 2016 —

Win by Going Beyond Features and Benefits

Convincing minds by capturing hearts: the new brand-building approach What comes first? The rational decision to take the next step on the path to purchase, or the emotional trigger that gets them started on that path? Aren’t we humans cool? We pride ourselves on our cognitive skills, our ability to weigh pros and cons, and our decision-making power. After all, these factors separate us from other life forms. We also prefer to emphasize our thoughts because we are able to talk about them, explain them, and defend them. However, what is clear is that we are emotional beings. We navigate...
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