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I came across an article on FastCompany.com that posted that modern business should look for people who are better able to deal with ambiguity, know the value of learning through failure, and who can think creatively. So, out with the MBA and in with the MFA (Master of Fine Arts). I graduated with a fine arts degree from NYU. Since that time I’ve been a “creative” in the advertising/branding field. But that job description doesn’t really capture all that I do when dealing with clients and their business and branding issues. This does: “Many people see artists as...

Know your audience. In Western culture, this instruction starts with Aristotle, mainly. Living in a time when public speaking decided the fate of nations, he figured out that the most logical argument didn’t always win. More often, the winning argument came from the person who knew the audience best, and played on its ideas and emotions most persuasively. Fast forward 23 centuries or so, and it’s still true. Whenever we start a project for a client, the first question is, “Who’s in the audience?” For most projects, the answer is simple. It’s employees, or customers, or investors. Once we...

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 From The Unpublished David Ogilvy.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...

It’s the corporate dance that never ends. Management sees the need for change – in strategy, values, brand or execution. The change will succeed only if employees embrace it. Management struggles to engage and inspire employees with the change, which takes longer and costs more than anyone wanted. Repeat. Human nature plays a role in the dance, by making people leery of anything that pulls them out of their comfort zone. This goes double when people have been through the dance before and seen it bungled. Yet for some reason, management and their consultants seem bent on ignoring human nature...

Brand strategies strive for focus. As such, most brand strategies are customer-centric. And while there may be a certain logic to that (after all, where would your brand be without customers?), customer-centric brand approaches can backfire. To illustrate this point, think of any brand that has a positive, upbeat “brand campaign” and either me-too products, miserable employees, or horrible customer service. By embracing a broader, more holistic view of your brand, you start to see how your brand’s success relies on numerous interdependent factors. The quest, in my opinion,...

Sage advice for brands that are failing to reach their targets. How well is your brand connecting with the people who are important to your brand, both inside and out? Is your brand working out from itself, or out from the needs, interests, values and aspirations of people? Bringing empathy to your brand approach changes everything. Seeing things from another perspective opens up new opportunities. Putting people first leads them to putting your brand first. Photo Credit...

Jim Signorelli is the author of “StoryBranding”. I love the way he makes the distinction between the classic marketing idea of “unique selling proposition” and the modern meaningful branding concept, “unique value proposition”. USP’s (a “plot line” in StoryBranding) We often refer to plot lines as brag lines, simply because that is what they do. They express the brand’s “how so?” more than its “what about it?” Plot lines are more a manifestation of the brand’s opinion of itself. As such, they lack the believability...

A Meaningful Workplace is built from the company’s master plan – a strategic platform used exclusively by senior management – that defines the three core elements of ambition (purpose), feelings (values), and behavior (building a culture). This master plan drives all subsequent activities, which include: Macro Plans – how the business itself will be evolved; Group Plans – how groups of employees will be engaged; Solo Plans – how individual employees will be personally engaged. Building something great and enduring Macro Planning puts the business’s structure, policies, and procedures through...

“If marketers are not generating emotions and feelings, we are not taking advantage of the very things that drive behavior. Branding is more than stimulating an intellectual process of imaginative thought. It is about experiencing those thoughts as emotionally charged feelings that lead to real actions. Feelings are turned into waking thoughts, which then become intentions, and finally, purchase. The goal of every marketing program should be to infuse products with emotions so strong that customers become loyal not just to the brands but to the brand missions, instilling devotion and...