Topics

brand differentiation

Investing in Brand Management?

August 5, 2015 —

Investing in Brand Management?

A brand strategy can take what people know and believe about your business to new levels. Active brand management takes a valuable asset that may now be largely underused, and turns it into a powerful competitive weapon. Regardless of how sophisticated your current approach to branding is, your business has a “brand” today, though you may have acquired it by default. Simply by being active in the marketplace, your business will have accrued a reputation, a level of fame, and a degree of notoriety (for better or worse) with your customers, and within your industry. A brand strategy will take...
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Does your Business need an Updated Brand Narrative?

May 7, 2015 —

Does your Business need an Updated Brand Narrative?

Does your brand need a Brand Narrative? Your brand does if it faces any of these situations: Differentiation: Does your brand have a sober, unexciting, or blurry identity in an increasingly competitive and perhaps commoditized market? Are you able to cut through the clutter in ways that matter? Growth: Is it getting harder to increase market share, drive sales, and improve profit? Are new markets and products growing quickly enough? Talent: Is it getting increasingly difficult for your brand to recruit the talent you need? Is your top talent leaving? Are competitor’s hiring the talent you...
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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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Build a Stronger Business by Embracing Your Brand’s Hidden Truths

February 21, 2020 —

Build a Stronger Business by Embracing Your Brand’s Hidden Truths

Behind every brand there stands a set of as-yet realized or evergreen truths. These truths have the power to change the way you, and everyone vital to your brand’s success, think, feel, and act with respect to your brand. These truths emerge when the many things your brand does are seen in light of their meaningful outcomes. This means analyzing the actions, attitudes, and behavior of the organization. It also means assessing the organization’s policies and procedures. In each case, the search is for the positive and meaningful outcomes that result. Not only true, but meaningful...
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Does Your Business Need a Brand Narrative?

June 16, 2014 —

Does Your Business Need a Brand Narrative?

Here we explore the brand narrative as a key element of brand strategy, by explaining what constitutes a brand narrative, demonstrating how it supports the overall brand strategy, and showing the brand scenarios which call for a strong brand narrative. What is a brand narrative? A brand narrative is a central building block of a meaningful brand strategy. It is built upon the insights and information gleaned during the kickoff process, with a particular focus on the business-related shifts the brand seeks to make. A brand narrative contains four elements: Truths – four or five...
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