Strategic Brand Consultancy
Most brands obsess over identity—logos, slogans, style guides—yet forget one essential truth: it’s not what you say that shapes your brand, but what people feel when you're not in the room. This article explores the crucial gap between brand identity and brand image—and why bridging it is the key to building lasting trust.
We recently talked about the amazing collaboration technique used by young Turkish protestors: They gather at local parks, create speaker’s corners, and try running democracy as it was originally intended! Such collective movements have many advantages: Participation makes people feel energized and galvanized. Diverse opinions are heard, different priorities are learned... Hundreds of people brainstorm …
Continue reading "Participatory decision making in the #socialera"
In Turkey, not a day goes by without a fascinating development... It seems like the Turkish protestors are on a mission to teach the world a lesson in 21st Century leadership. As you might know; a peaceful, local protest aimed to protect a public green space in Istanbul turned into a nationwide (even global!) movement …
At first, this article might sound like a book review, but actually, it is about a miserable experience of mine and a much-welcomed solution. Here’s how the story goes. Years ago, my then-employer wanted to publish a sector-specific “best brands” survey. Our plan was to choose a couple of sectors (or verticals), determine the top …
NEWS FLASH: Around the world, the place branding failure rate is 86%! Over the past ten years, k629, a place-branding consultancy, has developed a database of more than 5,000 place brands. From that data source, they have found that only 14% of place brands continue a year from launch, meaning the rate of place branding failures …
Continue reading "Place branding failures caused by consultants"
Below, is the comment I left on an article on Brand New. My thoughts on Canada's new campaign generated some interest, so I decided to share them with you. Enjoy it! "I like the simplicity of the design, as well as applications and the selection of images. As usual, BMD has done an excellent "design" …
NBA lockout is about to end. The hot topic of discussion is what's the damage to Brand Jordan? Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest basketball player of all times. But his skills and will are not enough to explain how he became the magnetic person that he is. During his Hall of Fame induction speech, …
Do you love "the Office?" I do... In one of my favourite episodes, Michael Scott got herpes and wants to know who gave him the disease. He starts working backwards through his partners, chronologically. Michael Scott, being the man he is, instead of informing his past partners of his infection, he asks them relationship-related questions …
Continue reading "You and me: The Brand Relationship Theory"
All of a sudden, the earth has started to spin too fast. So much going on in the world. We are all overloaded with information and choices. It is not a surprise that brands that simplify our lives are very successful these days. Googles and Apples strive by actually giving their customers less! About a …
Last weekend we went to a factory sales event of a clothing brand. Apparently, the event was so well advertised that the factory was jam-packed with warrior/shopper women. Honestly, I can’t remember how many times a lady hit me in the shoulder or stepped on my foot (Albeit, I don’t recall receiving a single apology). …
Continue reading "Scarcity and escalation of commitment as means of persuasion"