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strategy


Strategy for the Strategy

Strategy for the Strategy

Strategy from a strategist. When I started my career, I had some mentors who warned me that my world was going to be different from theirs. The main change was that due to downsizing, client companies no longer had people on staff to manage creative agencies. Instead of working with people who knew communications and branding, I would be working directly with vice presidents of marketing or human resources who had only vague ideas about how they work. That was good advice. But it missed an even bigger change. My mentors believed the clients would have a strategy, and it would be my job to...
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Brand Strategy: Why Are Purpose and Feelings so Important Now?

Brand Strategy: Why Are Purpose and Feelings so Important Now?

Brand Strategy: Why are purpose and feelings so important now? An emotive brand is the persona-driven presence and experience of an organization that has proactively decided to orient itself around a meaningful and purposeful promise. Such brands do so with the intent of emotionally connecting to people on a deep level, by addressing core human needs. Most significant, an emotive brand strives to forge these attitude and behavior changing connections both inside and outside their organizations. To summarize, an emotive brand is:  – Proactively meaningful across all its actions  –...
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Why Brand Strategy Needs to Start in the C-Suite

Why Brand Strategy Needs to Start in the C-Suite

For brand strategies to have any real traction, they need to be born – at least in spirit – in the C-suite. Here are three reasons why: 1.  Capture and reflect vision The leadership team sets the vision for the enterprise. This vision informs the tone and spirit of the brand strategy. 2.  Engage senior management ownership A new brand strategy is a moment of transformation for the company. As active participants in the development of the brand strategy, senior leadership takes an ownership position in this change process. 3.  Signal senior management buy-in When it is well known...
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Connecting the Dots Between Brand Strategy and Brand Moments

Connecting the Dots Between Brand Strategy and Brand Moments

In one of our white papers, “Brand Behavior Drives Results”, I write about how emotive branding extends from high-level aspiration (that is needed for differentiation and appeal) to down-in-the-trenches action (that is needed to generate ideas, product,s and profits). Rather than being precious about the strategy element of our offering, we seek true brand transformation by delving deep into the interactions between your brand and the people vital to its success. We dig in, get our hands dirty, and invest considerable time in deconstructing the many ways in which your brand and...
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The One Thing Your Brand Strategy Doesn’t Need

The One Thing Your Brand Strategy Doesn’t Need

The decision to develop a brand strategy or refresh your brand strategy will be typically driven by a specific need. Either you are just starting out and need to establish your brand, or you’ve found that your current brand strategy is holding your business back. Regardless, it’s critical to ensure your new brand strategy takes your business where you need it to be. Experience shows us that many brand strategies fail because they are inwardly focused. They are myopic in that they lead with product features and benefits and the business’s explicit needs to create growth and increase...
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