Strategic Brand Consultancy
I recently read an article by Mr. Martin Bishop from Landor about Starbucks serving regional wine and beer in some of its Seattle locations. Lately, Starbucks successfully updated its identity and announced that it aims to be more than a coffee company. The brand’s little experiment clearly shows that it means it. But I think such …
Continue reading "Alcohol and Starbucks… Success or failure?"
I love working with a brand named after its founder because they make my life much easy. The majority of brands still communicate merely what they’ve got (their products, their services, or their features.) Only a small number of brands communicate their “promise”, which is definitely a better marketing strategy. A promise is the universally-accepted …
Almost a year ago I decided to start this blog, primarily because I realized that as a non-native speaker, I needed to improve my writing skills, a problem far beyond writing error-free articles. I had to improve the structure of my articles to be a more effective communicator. Structured writing was a skill that I …
A lot has been written and said about LeBron James and his famous decision to sign with the Miami Heat. So why address this topic now? Hasn’t everything been said about “the decision?” My answer is “no”, because nobody looked at this issue from brand strategy perspective. So let’s put our branding goggles and see …
Last week we talked about the good branding decisions Porter Airlines make. However, we ended by saying that nobody's perfect. Porter is not an exception. Here is why... Decades ago Trout and Ries wrote that a brand's greatest enemy is the Wall Street (Bay Street in Canada) Finance guys want you to grow and they …
Continue reading "What can you learn from Porter Airlines? – The Bad"
When I am often asked what my favourite brands are, I try to name Canadian brands as much as possible. It is not a secret that my favourite Canadian brand is Porter Airlines. Hands down, that company knows everything about branding. Here is why I like them and what you can learn from them: 1) …
Continue reading "What can you learn from Porter Airlines? – The Good"
Branding a place or a large organization is a tough task. It is difficult mainly because you are dealing with many stakeholders, each having their agendas. When I face such a situation, I always say: “In branding 1+1=11.” Particularly, for organizations with multiple stakeholders, my primary job is to have their agreement on a shared …
What is status? According to Wikipedia it is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society. (one's social position) In consumer societies status can be achieved by owning certain brands. For instance, if you drive a Ferrari, you are considered as a higher status person than an owner of a Sebring because buying goods that others …
If you want to communicate more effectively, then there are two things you could do: First, you can map out your brand messages. That would provide you with a structure. Second, you have to write in a way to make your words stick. Here are four keys to persuasive writing. Relevance Relevance is the most …
Previously we talked about the basics of a messaging matrix. That is a tested a proven method that will improve your communication effectiveness. But, what will make your matrix stand out are the actual messages. In order for a message to stick, it should be compelling. Today we will discuss what makes a message more compelling. …