Branding and Brand Strategy for Growing Companies
Branding for Restless Companies and Driven Entrepreneurs
“My doctor told me I had to stop throwing intimate dinners for four unless there are three other people.” Orson Welles “Cookie cutters are for baking, not branding.” Yours truly Food’s About Passion. So is Branding. In the below video, I unveil how I took a small company in Napa Valley producing a “traditional product” …
The Oscars is a fascinating study in branding. It is highly viewed worldwide (somewhere between 42 million viewers and 1 billion viewers, depending on who you listen to). Highly criticized (put under the microscope like few annual TV events). And highly leveraged by brands everywhere (one report put the gift bag that each attendee receives …
Found those words on the Internet this morning. How w-i-d-e is the gap between hard-won expertise vs. the hype-driven tactic-du-jour we each read about each and every day? It’s often not fully appreciated until it’s too late with a lot of money lost. Man… the pain and “wisdom scars” some CEOs and entrepreneurs carry around …
At 40 seconds, you’ll never see this word the same way again. At 1:21, you’ll see a lodge like you’ve never seen one before (without ever seeing a picture of the lodge). At 1:45, you’ll watch a word say more in one second than an entire wing of the Library of Congress. And the last …
(This is the 9th installment in celebration of the power of words and language. To see the whole series, links are at the bottom of this article.) I stopped in my tracks. I. Couldn’t. Move. Of all places, it happened in my local health food store. I saw a package and, being an avid package …
Ever notice Facebook’s impossible-to-ignore (yet often reminiscent of snake oil) ads seen on the right-hand side of your news feed? You know, the ones that promote everything from weight loss to growing your hair to thinning your waist to finding the perfect mate to making tens of thousands every month without ever leaving your bed? …
Think of this as the Danny DeVito of blog posts (aka short but powerful). Friday of last week, Fast Company featured my newest Venn Diagrams of why we love certain brands (and why we hate others). If you haven’t read that article, this excerpt explains how it is meant to be used: Above we see …
* Per one report, during the Startup Awards, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) shared the statistic of approximately 80,000 business startups failing annually. The Currency of Branding and Brand Success “Is it necessary?” is a question often asked when managing and navigating brand success. When innovating or challenging the status quo, it’s important …
The audacity! The presumption of greatness! And it’s still the last day of 2013…. If you innovate, this new presentation is for you. If you do anything creative in business or life, this is for you. If you stray from the well-worn paths of predictable mediocrity, this is for you. A Blaze of Slideshare Glory …
Honestly, you as a client deserve better. Too many good companies waste money or worse — they fail — for an overlooked and absurdly simple reason. (And too many potentially great companies get stuck for a very stupid reason shown below.) The video below shows you why. Press play to learn: At 31 seconds, what …
2013 was the year of videos. From Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball to the viral “Girls Don’t Poop” PooPourri video (which has exceeded 20 million views), it’s the video that speaks loud and clear to today’s culture. Beyond the usual suspects you’ll find on YouTube’s annual Rewind, I compiled our own video highlights featuring: The 7 Videos …
(If you’re in a rush, just scroll down and watch the video below.) It’s that time of the year to give thanks and to give back. Who Is This For? Frankly it’s painful to see superior companies and their brands outperformed by inferior products and services that simply have better branding and marketing. Obviously if …
Words. Love them or hate them. They’re here to stay. This series started out about a year ago, from one video that inspired me intensely. Words to me are like ingredients in a recipe. In the hands of a master chef, ordinary food becomes a masterpiece of deliciousness than in the hands of someone less …
I ran into an amusing little checklist of the top social media channels. It was a handwritten checklist on a whiteboard. Brilliant. It nailed what each channel is known for and its use and value. You Better Nail This Before Social Media This inspired me to delve in a bit more for those who lose …
An Oklahoma country star offering logo design advice? I didn’t think it was possible either. Logo design has become a diluted exercise that’s become dumbed down to choosing somebody’s idea of the font-du-jour and choosing a design direction based on a path of least resistance, commonly in response to a “marketing committee” so it’s not …
Two years ago, we said goodbye to Steve Jobs, the rebel, the genius, the one crazy enough to think he could change the world (and did). Tim Cook, this is the future speaking. So listen up. (Business owners and CEOs, what follows is a vital lesson for us each to be reminded of.) Remember when …
Dancing alone sucks. It’s the same reason sticking to old, unworkable branding strategies and tactics suck: it’s lonely and unrewarding. In business, there’s one additional side effect: it’s highly unprofitable. Celebrated author Seth Godin wrote, “Not changing your strategy merely because you’re used to the one you have now is a lousy strategy.” And as …
If you’ve ever been engaged in branding cosmetics, this case study is for you. The room was dimly lit, the air thick with tension. The CEO put down his coffee. Slowly. Deliberately. His eyes never leaving his cup. “Will this strategy guarantee us a prosperous future, diluting the strength of our competitors?” “No. This strategy …
Knowing your customer is great only so long as you use that insight to build your brand story. How Well Does Your Brand Know Its Customer? During the baby boomer years (1946-1964), 75.8 million Americans were born (in 1957 alone, 4.3 million babies were born — very busy times 😉 ). The result today, according to …
Lori Greiner and Daymond John pose on the set of Shark Tank Recently, I spoke with Daymond John, Shark Tank investor and CEO of the global fashion brand FUBU. I had an agenda to get more insight into the man who first worked at Red Lobster to eventually become the CEO of a new category …
Most startups (over 97% by actual experience) begin with a fundamental flaw. It’s the first inclination commonly driven by the thrill and enthusiasm of entrepreneurialism and this mistaken thinking: that what the company does matters. This flaw shows up in the naming, the logo, the slogan, etc. I’ll explain. Fact is, people don’t care what …
Less than nine months ago, something unprecedented occurred. It was a simple video. With a simple message. Delivered by a 9-year-old boy with a remarkable (and awesome) spirit. Twenty-eight-million+ views later, this young lad (now 10-years old) has become an international source of inspiration to millions. (I know I’ve watched it at least 8 times and …
To date, over 515,000 people have viewed my branding presentations on Slideshare with 350,000 of those since January of this year. Two have made it to the 100,000 milestone and another is only few hundred away. So last week I figured it was time for a new one since it had been a while. I …
They’re quirky. They’ve got this stoic bearded guy who rarely utters a syllable (who you can’t help but notice). And they’re contagious as hell. They’re called Walk Off The Earth. And for as wildly unpredictable as their brand is, their videos are a lesson in branding, consistency and never losing that hunger. Four Guys. One …
Seth Godin wrote, “If we built factories as badly as we build marketing campaigns, this country would be in shambles” and I think this is highly applicable today. Too many companies get it wrong: using outdated ideas and unevaluated strategies, hoping something will stick, just by throwing more crap at the wall. Doesn’t work. Looking …
