Category: Brand Mindset

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Quick Fix or Long Haul?

(Reading Time: 3 minutes)

When it comes to building your company or brand, are you in it for the long haul?  Or do you seek the quick fix?

Recently, I came across a website offering a $77 paperback book that claims to teach small business owners how to draft a Unique Selling Proposition (USP). I won’t dignify this book by linking to it, but I will share a few of its sales claims, because they’re among the most ridiculous I’ve ever heard. According to the author, after reading his book, you will be able to: Continue reading “Quick Fix or Long Haul?”

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“If Our Competitors Are Doing it, It Must Be Working.”

(Reading Time: 2 minutes)

That’s what a former boss said to me, more than once, when I was a young brand manager. It was her way of justifying thoughtless, copycat strategy.

Besides raising some serious concerns about my own career path, this kind of thinking destroys brand growth. Here are some alternative statements that are more true: Continue reading ““If Our Competitors Are Doing it, It Must Be Working.””

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The Long Haul of Branding

(Reading Time: 4 minutes)

After a recent presentation, an audience member asked for my opinion on the most common misconception about branding.

It was an easy question to answer. It’s the idea that branding is an initiative.  That it’s something that requires a brief investment of attention and time, and can then be moved down the priority list. This way of thinking suggests that branding is a sprint.  But it’s not.  It’s more like marathon.  It’s a commitment for the long haul. Continue reading “The Long Haul of Branding”

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So You Want to Build Your Brand?

(Reading Time: 4 minutes)

“I want to build my brand!” declares Tom confidently.

I ask Tom what he means, exactly. I’m pretty sure I know what to expect, and he doesn’t disappoint.

“I want my company to be the one everybody knows – the one that leaps to mind when they need products like ours!”

Sally’s goal is to turn her product into a brand. For her, branding is all about sales: “The stronger my brand, the more I sell,” she explains. Continue reading “So You Want to Build Your Brand?”

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Want better results? Dig deep.

(Reading Time: 4 minutes)

Looking for better results from your marketing and branding efforts? The answer may be as simple as digging a little deeper.

Too often, we opt for the fast, easy or cheap choice, when it’s really the accurate choice that we need. As budgets are reduced, this pressure increases. When this happens, we sacrifice long-term benefits for short-term convenience. Continue reading “Want better results? Dig deep.”

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How to Kill Your Brand – 40 Easy Ways!

(Reading Time: 5 minutes)

Pointless advertising. Unresponsive customer service departments. Convoluted buying processes. If I didn’t know better, I’d think some companies were actually trying to kill their brands.

Since so many companies seem determined to destroy their brands through boneheaded moves and bad decisions, I thought I’d lend them a hand.

If you’re serious about killing your brand, I’m pleased to offer 40 tips and tricks – guaranteed to set your brand on the path to miserable, abject failure! Continue reading “How to Kill Your Brand – 40 Easy Ways!”

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Two Kinds of Companies

(Reading Time: 3 minutes)

It’s happening, and it’s happening right now. At this very moment.

It’s happening in board rooms, in grocery stores, online and a million other places: Companies are either getting better at making customers happy, or they’re getting worse. None stay the same.

Somewhere, there’s a VP of finance who convinces her CEO to reduce staff in the customer service center to hit the annual budget. Both execs are aware that doing so is good for their stock options, at least in the short term.

Somewhere else, there’s a CEO who recognizes just how critical his customer service department is. He knows that, in many cases, that department provides the only human point of contact between the company and its customers. So he hires carefully, trains thoroughly, rewards properly and defines jobs intelligently. Continue reading “Two Kinds of Companies”

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The CEO Doesn’t Get It!

(Reading Time: 4 minutes)

A reader recently called to talk about a problem with her CEO. For reasons that are about to become abundantly clear, this reader will remain nameless.

She told me that she and her work group have great energy to develop a branding program for their company. They want to bring the company “out of the dark ages” of a production/sales mentality, into a new day.

But the CEO isn’t having it. He doesn’t think branding applies to his company and doesn’t see it as a priority. How, the reader asked, could she convince him otherwise? Continue reading “The CEO Doesn’t Get It!”