At the end of the day a good brand continuously builds its own equity – that is, a price differential between itself and its competitors – by doing three things well. They can be summarized by the following imperatives: 1. “Choose Me”: Help the customer make a decision quickly. 2. “Be Me”: Provide the customerRead… Read more »
I get it. I finally, finally get it. Brand does not live in the artifacts of the brand. The symbols. Brand does not live in the brain of the consumer. Nor in his or her heart. The brand does live in the human interactions that surround it. We have been thinking the wrong way for soRead… Read more »
Someone asked me today, “Isn’t a brand a mark of quality?”Hearing that, I realized (once again) the importance of defining our terminology – preferably before we start talking to one another. So here is a suggested common definition of brand. With the idea that newer thinking builds upon the old. “A brand is a co-createdRead… Read more »
It’s sort of funny that authenticity would be a strategy for social media, since authenticity is supposed to be the reason social media exists and the purpose of doing it. Just goes to show how the values of a culture interrupt genuine expression and contort them toward whatever the dominant value system is. In America,Read… Read more »
You have to understand that a brand is way beyond a logo now. You do understand that, because the Mad Men paradigm where we cook up Frankenstein in the lab and serve it up to you has been destroyed. In its place is an open kitchen where you can see me cooking, and if IRead… Read more »
Of all the questions people ask about branding, this is by far the most important because propaganda in my view is never legitimate or useful. And I have been there when brand consultants came up with “messages per stakeholder” meaning we say one thing to one person at one time and another thing to anotherRead… Read more »
I remember when President Obama campaigned the first time and I was awestruck just like everybody else. And then they said he went to a church led by an anti-Semite, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and I said ho-ha, that’s really stupid of you to judge the candidate by a few statements by a pastor. IRead… Read more »
l was texting on the shuttle bus and made myself violently motion sick. It was extremely embarrassing as I threw up on the train, in the fitness center, and then for more than an hour off and on in Starbucks, my #1 favorite brand of all time. Look at this logo of this great brand.Read… Read more »
The fantasy and fallacy of courses in brand is that consultants work like The Wizard of Oz. You think we stand behind a curtain, flipping switches and pulling levers, cogitating and ruminating. Until, like a pregnant woman, our water breaks. And a fully-formed, living, breathing brand pops out into the world, ready to “rock andRead… Read more »
Look…I totally get that you, the public are sick of us in the government wasting your money. I am a Libertarian, for crying out loud! But when it comes to spending money on brand, I have to tell you, you’re worrying about the wrong thing. This is not to say we should throw the moneyRead… Read more »