Branding and Brand Strategy for Growing Companies
Branding for Restless Companies and Driven Entrepreneurs
What every entrepreneur, startup, and CEO needs to know to create a no-excuses brand. Today’s One Minute Wednesday tackles whether something you’re progressing toward remains an obstacle or becomes an excuse. The fate of an obstacle rests with you. It’s become quite popular to talk about no excuses amongst thought leaders. Here’s my take in …
Branding and selling are the two primary areas of focus for any brand as I explained fully in this previous episode of One Minute Wednesday. To take this one step further, there is this key point: “If you don’t give the market the story to talk about, they’ll define your brand’s story for you.” Yup, I’m guilty of saying that. And in …
“Greatness is the result of visionaries who persevere, focus, believe, and prepare. It is a habit, not a birthright.” ― Lewis Howes, The School of Greatness There’s New York Times bestseller Lewis Howes dropping a knowledge bomb, and in this way, Lewis is helping celebrate the 20th episode of One Minute Wednesday. I love the …
Every brand wants to know the secret strategy another brand must be using when, all of a sudden, it takes off like a rocket. Well, here’s a factor I recently explored: What do Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger, David Ogilvy, Gary Vaynerchuk, Grant Cardone, Russell Brunson, Howard Schultz, Daymond John, Jeff Bezos, …
Great leaders share a common trait: a fascination with why things are. They don’t wait for things, or events or discoveries to reach out to them. This is the topic of Episode 18 of One Minute Wednesday. Look at Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, The Beatles, Thomas Edison, Michael Jordan, Martin Luther King, and many others. …
Ever wonder how some companies and organizations seem to have a knack and ability on how to change the world? Why can some inferior products outperform superior products? How can something with less value yet be craved by the masses over another alternative with much better features and overall value? This is what I cover in …
Companies and brands struggle with (and often wonder) why certain designs work. There’s an art and science to design. Getting it wrong loses you more than sales. It dilutes your brand’s foundation and meaning. This is the scope of this week’s One Minute Wednesday, episode 16: Why Certain Designs Work Design isn’t a 4-letter word …
Busy brands. Frantic lives. Overfilled inboxes. Exhausted lifestyles. My friend Daymond John wrote something brilliant in describing his new book, Rise and Grind, that really hit home for me: “We all get the same 24 hours. It’s about how you use them.” Busy Brands Aren’t Born. They’re Made. We’re in a period where there’s a …
Below is Episode 13 of One Minute Wednesday and it has everything to do with making a measurable dent, intelligently playing to your strengths, maximizing your time, and having a brand that rises above the noise. The great jazz legend Miles Davis said, “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.” Replacing the word “play” …
Why is it so many tell us (if we want to make a dent in the world, make customers take notice, or drive others to action) that we need to create a brand story? “No matter who you are or what your profession is – whether you’re an entrepreneur or in sales or a designer …
Have you ever felt you or your brand is one french fry short of a happy meal? Every brand I know, every entrepreneur I know, every startup I know, wants to defiantly stand out. So imagine how I felt when I discovered several people on Amazon referring to my new book, Brand Intervention, as “the …
In today’s business and cultural climate, it’s probably the #1 brand mistake that everyone is overlooking. Don’t self-sabotage your brilliant brand with a strategy like this You may want your brand to be loved. You may hope for your brand to not be hated. But brands today have leaned toward a middle-ground of vanilla-hell that’s left …
Tommy John launched in 2008 with the world’s first patented undershirt with a stay-tucked guarantee and has since expanded into underwear, socks, casual wear and performance gear. In 2016, actor/comedian Kevin Hart invested in Tommy John, the disruptive, irreverent, and somewhat restless underwear line. (After all, when you’re entering a populated space with lots of …
The podcast is becoming today’s personal radio station. A podcast is portable. They don’t take up much room. You can interrupt them when you need to, you don’t have to take them out for a walk at odd times of the day to “take care of business,” and they don’t get upset. So think how …
Gary Vaynerchuk. If you don’t know who this 4X NY Times bestselling author is, you need to get out more. With 2.9 million followers on Instagram, 1.1 million followers on YouTube, and 1.6 million followers on Twitter, Gary is an unstoppable force of nature. Gary even has the street cred of having personally tweeted me …
They’re 3 words that kill any brand. Nobody Deserves Anything. Now, Embrace the Hustle. (If you have only one minute, scroll down to watch new video. Otherwise, read this. It will add value to watching the video below.) Our culture (and business) has become infected with a debilitating disease. It’s called “Entitle-tosis” and it’s spreading …
Here’s what NY Times best-selling author and Sales Expert Grant Cardone had to say, “Steve Griggs is New York’s finest landscape designer, second to none.” It’s true. Steve Griggs is as New York as it gets with a client list that includes everyone from hardworking New Yorkers and their families to international celebrities and VIPS …
Carpool Standup. After 11,000 views on YouTube, I felt it was responsibility to share what happened next. This is not for the weak-willed person, so tread with caution. To catch you up to speed, at the end of the first of this video series, Ted’s blood sugar was dropping—fast—so we had to rush in “the paramedics” to …
Disrupt. It’s a word that means “to interrupt the normal operation of.” Well, what if that “normal” no longer met its initial objective? What if it merely went about its usual without ever questioning its model? Companies like Apple, Tesla, Nike and Dyson would never have come into existence. Normal. What a Concept. We’ve seen …
Sometimes, a rebrand comes along that’s a true honor to take part in. In this case, the opportunity arose when we were chosen to rebrand the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Philadelphia (the UCP being one of the most recognized health nonprofits in the U.S.). A National Organization is Born Born as a national organization in …
Brands have problems. They wrestle with being authentic and real while trying to emulate those brands that have already blazed a trail. Or they try to gain traction while ignoring cultural trends that show them a path to acceptance. Or they try to be original by copying another brand “in an original way.” (Please don’t …
Growing up in NYC, I remember seeing him on TV getting interviewed, shooting verbal challenges that were equal parts poetry, smack talk, performance art, humor and a laser-sharp wit. Muhammad Ali was bigger than life. As a teenager, it was his use of words that left an impression on me: they were as lethal a …
Geniuses use everyday items in unexpected ways, transforming ordinary items into something extraordinary. Something as ordinary as language — that medium we use to connect with others everyday — is elevated to convey ideas, to establish rapport, to inspire and generate energy. So, I decided to write a series of articles on the power of …
“The one who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before.” Albert Einstein Authenticity. It’s best when it’s real. When reorienting a brand and clarifying their core reason for being, companies are too often …
2014 (setting 2015 up for crushing it) was a remarkable year with many milestones (last week, I sent out “My Holiday Elfie” which if you missed, you can check out here). 2015 Highlights It was a year when Forbes.com did an interview on me about the two types of brands (a book is being worked …
