Blog
Category Archives: Branding
The Little Things
When I walk through stores, eat at restaurants, or shop online, I notice the little things which influence me positively or negatively. Businesses make substantial investments to build their brands, but far too often the brand message doesn’t make it to the front line.
The Buzz About Buzz Marketing
At the end of a recent seminar, I was asked to define “buzz marketing.” I believe my response was something to the effect, “It’s viral marketing. It’s getting people to talk about your product or service. Buzz marketing is creating buzz.” I thought my definition helped to answer the question at the time, but when [...]
Colleges and Universities Must Compete and Win on Brand Strength
Colleges and universities today find themselves in a hyper-aggressive competition to attract and retain students. Adult learners and traditional students see themselves as “buyers” of a higher-education product. They have different demands, different expectations. They want colleges and universities to serve their individual needs in curriculum, degree offerings, facilities and extracurricular activities. To compete and [...]
Tags: Brand, Higher Education, Marketing 2 Comments
Brand – Deliver Every Day.
Over the years, we’ve helped several of our clients develop their brands. We methodically step them through the process and work together to build a brand that is differentiated from the competition in a way that is relevant to their customers. Then we hand them their new brand and say “OK, good luck!” Not really. [...]
Tags: Brand, Marketing No Comments »
Establish Your Brand by Educating Customers
I recently published an article on our Learning Solutions blog titled “Innovative Ways to Educate Customers.” The blog talks about how leading organizations, including DuPont, Cisco and American Express are using video, on-demand learning and learning communities to educate customers. Marketing leaders are investing in these efforts to further establish their brands, capture new leads [...]
Tags: Brand, Marketing No Comments »
Making Your Next Event More Social Than Ever
Social media continues to revolutionize the way we interact in our personal and professional lives. When people communicate using social media, they tend to send out short, concise messages to a trusted network of friends, family, or like-minded people with a concrete ask: take action, follow this link, read this story, share this with others, [...]
The Brand Architecture Dilemma
Branded house or house of brands? Should a business focus on a corporate brand or deploy a host of individual product/service brands? There seems to be lot of debate lately within the blogosphere, and I wanted to add a few thoughts. The most recognizable sample of a house of brands is Proctor and Gamble (P&G). [...]
Differentiation: It’s not just being different
Every time I read an article, white paper or blog about brand strategy development, the term “Differentiation” is featured as one of the key elements. Yes, differentiation is a key element in building an effective brand strategy, but it doesn’t stop there. Simply saying the same thing in a different way does not create the [...]
Tags: Brand, Brand Strategy, Branding, Marketing 9 Comments
Simplify Your Marketing
The message of today is simplicity. We can thank the recession, along with the relentless demands of living in a connected world. In this post-recession environment, we’ve all become more selective about what we buy. Even the way we think about consumption has changed. According to Dr. Kim Yarrow, in a recent issue of Psychology [...]
Authenticity – It matters now more than ever