March 9th, 2011
We can’t seem to get a handle on just who our customer is to create a customer profile. We aren’t sure how to determine who our customer is without revealing that we don’t have a clue. Does it matter if sales are consistent? One of my favorite magazines, UTNE Reader […]
March 11th, 2011
Does every company have to have a brand position? Every brand has a position; whether it is by design, managed or not. A positioning statement is an “onliness statement” that captures the “something” that the brand or product owns informing all communication strategies and related content. How a brand is […]
March 17th, 2011
What are your favorite taglines? Least favorite? My favorite is “Live Free or Die”, the official motto of the U.S. state of New Hampshire, adopted in 1945. I like “Don’t just watch TV; Direct TV” I loved the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Christmas Campaign in 2010: “When you put money […]
March 30th, 2011
There are so many companies with so many brands that it is hard to believe there is much “new” out there. Do you ever get over whelmed by finding ways or trying to be inventive and original? Finding ways to help relevant, authentic brands tell a unique story is rarely […]
May 10th, 2011
Breakaway brand successes occur when brands with something to say begin speaking to audiences outside their close-knit school of thought. Far too often, brands spend their all their communications efforts on preaching to the choir. Over, and over, and over again. Remember our Outside Perspective blog? The disruptive technologies that […]
June 7th, 2011
“Acceptance of prevailing standards often means we have no standards of our own.” Jean Toomer Will anyone search out your sponsors’ products and services simply because you permitted their logo to grace your stage, your ad space, your playbill? Sometimes advertising, sponsorship, and strategic partnership slumming happens because the bills […]
June 23rd, 2011
What exactly is a brand touchpoint? A brand touchpoint is anything, absolutely anything, that you do in the course of conducting business that gives a customer a reason to think more or less of you. Does your grocery store schlep food and goods? Or do you bring health and nutrition […]
August 3rd, 2011
Narrativity: [nar-uh-tiv-uh-tee]: 1.) the degree to which your brand spunk, funk, credibility, attitude, and vibe shines through your messaging. 2.) Your voice, your verbiage, your tone. While preparing for a wine-touring camping trip to Watkins Glen, I began perusing the websites of the nearby Seneca Lake wineries and plotting my […]
August 25th, 2011
The hardest thing about Brand Development isn’t the time intensive research…. It isn’t being consistent yet flexible… innovative yet timeless. The hardest thing about Brand Development isn’t creativity, charisma, social media, new marketing, old ideologies, fierce competition, or even too many cooks in the kitchen (although that is a much […]
December 15th, 2011
Everything you need to know to get your brand new brand up and running… from writing your business plan to choosing your brand name, creating differentiators, identifying your customer….