The five year old that still lives in all of us, loves to hear and tell

stories. Brand power comes from carefully developing an emotional relationship with consumers.  Relationships with a brand are built on a story foundation.  They all speak of, and relentlessly deliver on a compelling brand promise—think Apple, Starbucks, or McDonalds.  Most...

align using the corporate equivalent of a north star: your brand promise

Companies need the equivalent of the North Star to make it through uncertain times.  In what futurists are calling the “shift-age”, people will feel less threatened when meaningful purpose is shared with likeminded others.  Unswerving commitment to a brand promise fosters tenacity and courage because it promotes faith that after a crisis, the...

A rapidly changing world has of necessity changed CEO and executive behavior

from the autocratic application of personal power to delegating responsibility and organizing to accommodate collaborative teamwork.  An old adage remains true—with one critically important alteration:  “Speed of the leader (S) -speed of the pack”.  Effective CEOs...

Yesterday’s primary market differentiation was the delivery of quality

.  A company that I founded—Achieve—won “top of mind” in an emerging market by warning CEOs (enamored by 3M offering a consulting intervention purported to deliver replication of  their impressive record) that initiatives such as Total Quality would fail without cultural...

The world has changed. Cold calling and networking are becoming less relevant

During the latter part of the industrial-age, aligning culture (the collective habits used by a group of people to get things done) in support of TOTAL QUALITY was the key determinant of success—particularly in the manufacturing sector.  In today’s “noisy” and crowded world, inbound marketing has replaced quality the  key success factor—...

Corporate mergers present complex challenges.  Most issues get resolved

Mergers unfreeze organizations—everything will be up in the air.  Initially productivity will be disrupted but when  handled properly, the turbulence will be an asset.  An organization development guru, The late Dr. Ron Lippitt said “new orders are borne of chaos”.  Successful merged entities consider themselves a “new order”.  Left...

Yesterday, I had a disastrous experience with a plumbing company that

promotes itself as, “The Punctual Plumber”. They were selected because of an appealing brand promise—a promise that was not kept.  I’m sure that this company’s inbound marketing program, the script used by its out of state call center, a well practiced and obviously mandatory...

Cattle are branded to differentiate them from similar beasts grazing in

overcrowded pastures.  Individual animals (read: products/services) eventually die—but  an indelible mark (read: brand promise) connects them, while  alive, to reputation  and values developed over time by  the  herd (read company).  A company’s capacity to consistantly...

Living the brand promise is more about doing than knowing.   Companies

A balanced approach to inspirational-leadership and process-discipline takes brand awareness to the next level—beyond communication to an attitude and behavior altering tool. Organizations that are truly brand focused not only attract customers, they know how to enhance the customer’s total experience and at the same time, maximize shareholder...

A shared vision of the preferred future is present in successful change

initiatives.  People need to know the link between your “master brand” and proposed changes.  For example, Nike’s JUST DO IT might be the north star used to align people. Preparation must happen before the actual planning begins.  Following are six foundation...