Find your purpose. Define your promise. Create your personality.
(From Lippincott) Long-term plan for the brand including a determination of key audiences and an understanding of what those audiences need to know about the brand and experience.
Over the last two decades, brands have become 200% less distinct from one another. The ones that stand out, however, have something in common: They integrate two seemingly opposing personality traits. In this series of six blogs, I offer different methods to discovering and leveraging the duality embedded inside your brand. By tapping into these … Continue reading How to differentiate your brand? Part 2
Here is the news flash: Over the last two decades, brands have become 200% less distinct from one another. The ones that stand out, however, have something in common: They integrate two seemingly opposing personality traits. For instance, think about Harley Davidson (rebellious yet social.) Or Target (affordable yet chic.) Or Tesla (environmentally conscious yet … Continue reading How to differentiate your brand? Part 1
Our annual trend report collection is out! If 2016 was any indication, 2017 is going to be a challenging year. What has been trending this year? Which movements will emerge next year? We compiled twelve great trend reports so that you can smoothly navigate the stormy waters in the upcoming 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, … Continue reading Top trends in 2017
In the field of communications, there is a rule: If you want to turn off your audience, then use Latin words! To tell you how to create a brand personality, I will have to break that rule. Bear with me. It will be worth it. I promise. I see things with faces We, humans, have … Continue reading How to create a brand personality
On our last essay, we analyzed the three youthful archetypal meanings of ice cream, which were the Inner Child, the Companion, and the Jester. Let’s pick up from where we left off and interpret three more mature archetypal meanings of ice cream. The Seductress Etymologically speaking, seduction means “to lead away, lead astray” in Latin. Back … Continue reading Three mature archetypal meanings of ice cream
Have you ever heard of the term “benefit laddering?” It is a traditional technique used by most marketers and researchers. Simply put, you start by listing the key attributes of a product. Then you progress to the product benefits. Next, the direct consumer benefits, and finally the key emotional benefits. Based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of … Continue reading Three youthful archetypal meanings of ice cream
This is the fourth instalment of a series of “systematic problems of placebranding projects” illustrating the roadblock faced by the brand Guadalajara. These essays are intended to help practitioners -both city officials and consultants- to launch more successful and resistant brands. (Read the earlier instalments here and here, and here.) Problem #6: Overlooking the change management side of the … Continue reading What went wrong with brand Guadalajara? Part 4/4
This is the third instalment of a series of “systematic problems of placebranding projects” illustrating the roadblock faced by the brand Guadalajara. These essays are intended to help practitioners -both city officials and consultants- to launch more successful and resistant brands. (Read the earlier instalment here and here, and the subsequent one here.) By using the weak start of … Continue reading What went wrong with brand Guadalajara? Part 3/4
This is the second instalment of a series of “systematic problems of placebranding projects” illustrating the roadblock faced by the brand Guadalajara. These essays are intended to help practitioners -both city officials and consultants- to launch more successful and resistant brands. (Read the earlier instalment here and the subsequent ones here and here.) Let’s recap what we have discussed so far. … Continue reading What went wrong with brand Guadalajara? Part 2/4
I stumbled upon this concise and precise essay on the topic of "complicated vs. complex." Particularly "the potty training" example demonstrates so well what happens when the two clashes. I could not have written it better. So I decided to reblog it. Enjoy,