Want better brand strategy? Tune up your storytelling skill.20210919100020
Want better brand strategy? Tune up your storytelling skill.
September 19, 20210 comments
When a client engages me on a brand storytelling project, we always begin by looking inward. Why did they launch the company in the first place? What is it, beyond money, that excites them? What adve...
Want powerful brand communication? Just ask.20210823181134
Want powerful brand communication? Just ask.
August 23, 20210 comments
Here’s my deepest, darkest secret. I’ve never actually created brand communication for a client. They do all the work themselves. No, they don’t mail in sketches and taglines. I just chat with t...
The seven commandments of brand management20210329180134
The seven commandments of brand management
March 29, 20210 comments
If you want to do brand management right, you can’t be afraid of playing with the DNA a bit (actually, that’s commandment number 3 below). Thus ‘seven commandments’ instead of ...
Building a brand with soul20210322180952
Building a brand with soul
March 22, 20210 comments
The definition of icon is ‘a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol or worthy of veneration’. A brand represents your company. So, technically, it’s an icon. But is it worthy of ven...
Brand shorthand: the power of brand templates20180104001405
Brand shorthand: the power of brand templates
January 4, 20180 comments
Say you’ve just created a powerful campaign to market a complex product (a car, for example, or a real estate development). Then, a couple of key people on the business are transferred onto anot...
What goes into a Brand Bible?20170620003026
What goes into a Brand Bible?
June 20, 20170 comments
I love launching new brands. In fact, I’m currently helping four startups either conceive their brand from scratch or rethink their brand as they start to get traction and need to position thems...
Christmas advertising, and the death of sincerity20161220004544
Christmas advertising, and the death of sincerity
December 20, 20160 comments
It’s Christmas. I should be feeling charitable. But “Coca Cola – Top of the Christmas wish list.” Really? Who approved that Christmas advertising campaign? Do they really, real...
Overpromise and Overdeliver. Great Brand Strategy or Company Killer?20151008014444
Overpromise and Overdeliver. Great Brand Strategy or Company Killer?
October 8, 20150 comments
In this podcast, I discuss the brand strategy trend toward overpromising and overdelivering to customers. Does it really make them happier and more loyal? And does it kill your company in the process?...
What the Heck is an Authentic Brand, Anyway?20150630100009
What the Heck is an Authentic Brand, Anyway?
June 30, 20150 comments
I should know this. I’m a brand specialist. But again and again, I find myself throwing authentic brand around in conversation, enjoying the feeling of gravitas it lends, without actually understandin...
FIFA, Brand Strategy and the March of Inevitability20150609100031
FIFA, Brand Strategy and the March of Inevitability
June 9, 20150 comments
Last week, I was contacted by a leading national newspaper and asked my opinion on FIFA. Or rather, how FIFA being shoved in front of the media grand jury would impact global sponsors like Coke. My th...
Social Media, Brand Strategy and Storytelling. The Didn’t See It Coming Podcast20150528100041
Social Media, Brand Strategy and Storytelling. The Didn’t See It Coming Podcast
May 28, 20150 comments
In this program, host Ian Jessop and I discuss how brands often leapfrog brand strategy and story to arrive at social media tactics…with disastrous results. Inspired by my keynote at this month&...
How do I pull more eyeballs to my content marketing?20150424202013
How do I pull more eyeballs to my content marketing?
April 24, 20150 comments
Everyone wants qualified customers sidling up to their content marketing counter, asking ‘How much?’ and ‘Can I take it home today?’ Nobody wants cobwebs in the newbiz folder, ...
Didn’t See It Coming 1: The Podcast20150417203914
Didn’t See It Coming 1: The Podcast
April 17, 20150 comments
For those of you unfamiliar with my book Didn’t See It Coming, this podcast should help. It’s the first in an ongoing series, pulled from my monthly radio appearances on CFAX radio....
Didn’t see it coming: my Social Media Camp podcast.20150330002000
Didn’t see it coming: my Social Media Camp podcast.
March 30, 20150 comments
This spring, I’m delivering a keynote at Social Media Camp. To build buzz around the event, SMC founder Chris Burdge and I got together for a lively 40 minute podcast. My podcast covered brand s...
The importance of building a bridge brand.20150309200219
The importance of building a bridge brand.
March 9, 20150 comments
So here’s the scenario. You’ve created a product you believe in, and built a company around it. You’ve gone to the (considerable) trouble of wrapping all that in a beautiful brand – website, logo, adv...
