Brand Identity

The Rolling Stones Didn’t Have to Bribe THEIR Groupies

October 1st, 2010

We came across a newsletter this week that actually said: “‘like’ our Facebook page and receive an exclusive offer.” We’re not sure what the offer was, because we’re not interested in being bribed, manhandled, or coerced into social media engagement (…but we’re guessing it’s free shipping or a discount promo […]

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Twitter, the Medium is the Message

November 2nd, 2010

Prescient, timeless and oft quipped, Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man  and its iconic quote [1] are as relevant today as when it was penned in 1964.  Here are ten examples of McLuhan’s foresight in action: @YesIamPrecious The personified tweets of cross-country fundraising cyclist Janeen McCrae’s (@thenoodleator) bike. As the technologically savvy ventriloquist […]

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Social Media Masterminds: Facebook Pages that Are Getting it Right!

December 7th, 2010

“Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate.”   Erik Qualman, The Social Media Revolution(1) Unfortunately, most companies use their Facebook pages as little more than a new medium for their old school marketing tactics. Facebook isn’t a place for interruption marketing, engagement through bribery, […]

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365: Brand vs Advertising

January 1st, 2011

What’s the difference between a brand and advertising? In humanistic terms the question asks “What’s the difference between a stable personality and a really snappy look?” Brand is a commitment to deliver a differentiated service, product, and quality standard consistently. Winston Fletcher(1) defined a very basic but sound working definition […]

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365:Logo vs Brand

January 2nd, 2011

I have a logo, isn’t that my brand?Your logo is one visual component of your brand, but it is not your brand. Your logo is to your brand like a signature is to a personality.  Each is unique and identifiable, but a signature alone can not tell you about the […]

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365: Insiders vs Outsiders?

January 3rd, 2011

Isn’t it better to work with industry insiders to manage your brand? The disruptive technologies that radically move markets forward typically come from outside industries specifically because they have an outside perspective. If you rely on the same check-list of standard, homogenized, industry practices that mimic what everyone else fears, says, and […]

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365: Who Defines a Brand?

January 5th, 2011

Isn’t a brand simply a story that I make up to entice customers to buy? “Brand is not what you say it is, it’s what they say it is.”1 Your brand is every real or imagined trait, nuance, story, impression, quirk, process, delay, sound, sneeze, perspective, dimension, sell tactic, experience, […]

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