denise lee yohn: brand as business bites™ / brand fun / vote for the best blogpost

Help me celebrate the 1-year anniversary of my blog by voting on your favorite blogpost!  As a thank you, your vote will qualify you to win a $50 gift card from Nike.com.

Vote for one of the following:

1. no money, no problem
2. can anything retailers do, manufacturers do better?
3. don’t go changin’ to try to please them
4. brand inspiration
5. to women, love marketers

Here’s the scoop:

A year ago this month, I started my blog, brand as business bites.  I wasn’t sure how it would go, but the response has been really positive — in addition to attracting readers like yourself, the blog is featured on sites like Brand Management and Top 30 Entrepreneurship and Business Blogs by Women.

As a way to celebrate this momentous occasion, I thought I’d run a poll to see which of the nearly 150 posts from the past year you think is best.  I’ve narrowed it down to what I think are the top 5 and I’ve listed them below (you can also “write-in” a different blogpost, if the one you like best isn’t featured in the top 5.)  Place your vote via the comments section here, an email (to mail AT deniseleeyohn DOT com), OR Twitter (@deniseleeyohn)

To thank you for your readership and participation in the poll, everyone who votes will be entered into a random drawing to win a $50 gift card from Nike.com (Nike is one of my favorite brands, so I thought it would be a fitting token of my appreciation.)

Here’s the fine print:

• only one vote per person please (even if you vote more than once, you will be entered into the contest only once.)
• i will confidentially email to the winner the gift card number and PIN — i accept no responsibility for what happens after that
• you  must use a valid email address or Twitter account
• poll closes on 08.31.09 at 11:59pm Pacific Time

Once again, here are the best blogpost candidates:

#1 — no money, no problem (01.05.09) — “brand as business” is the reason to be optimistic about brand development during a recession

#2 — can anything retailers do, manufacturers do better? (01.30.09) — how retailers create value in ways that are difficult to copy

#3 — don’t go changin’ to try to please them (04.09.09) — why brands shouldn’t go chasing after customers

#4 — brand inspiration (04.23.09) — what makes a brand inspiring

#5 — to women, love marketers (06.01.09) — how some companies completely botch attempts to market to women

To vote,  tell me the number (#1 – 5) of the post by:

• using the comments section below (be sure to include your email address in your profile — don’t worry, though, it won’t show up in the post), OR
• sending me an email (email address: mail AT deniseleeyohn DOT com), OR
• sending me a message on Twitter (@deniseleeyohn)

That’s it.  Thanks for your vote — and thanks for making it a great year of blogging!

1. Natalie MacNeil Says:
   August 18th, 2009 at 7:57 pm

   Denise, congratulations on your blog’s 1-year anniversary!

   I vote for #4, brand inspiration. I agree that Nike is an inspiring brand. When I was in university we did a case study on Nike and I remember all I could think was, “WOW.”

2. Jacco Says:
   August 19th, 2009 at 11:36 am

   Congratulations, Denise. We know how much time goes into a blog and thought pieces like the ones you write, so this is a great accomplishment!

   Also nice to read some articles I had not yet seen before.

   I vote for #1, maybe the shortest of them all, but what a brand (and your blog) is all about. If a brand is well defined based on what the market demands, what a company can provide, and what no other company can deliver (relevance, credibility and differentiation), the brand can be the beacon for all business decisions. Not only marketing, but also product development, HR, operations, etc. Hence, “brand is business”, and something that should be of importance always, but especially in bad economic times to focus the company’s initiatives and add value to consumer’s lives in every step.

3. Graham Milner Says:
   August 19th, 2009 at 5:03 pm

   #1..Brand as Business. A unique ( to me anyway) look at the topic. Never easy to be unique in a thought much less a businessc construct.
   A substantial idea..book worthy??

4. 5 favorites on friday -- favorite brand articles | denise lee yohn: brand as business bites™ Says:
   August 21st, 2009 at 6:09 am

   [...] Please vote for best blogpost to help me celebrate the 1 year anniversary of my blog – and be entered to win a $50 Nike gift [...]

5. Sheryl A-G Says:
   August 31st, 2009 at 7:12 am

   Congratulations on your 1 year anniversary! I vote for #4, Brand Inspiration.
   Having joined the Mary Kay organization, I have an deeper appreciation and understanding of the power of brand that truly makes a difference in the lives of the consumers and communities that they touch.

6. starbucks went changin' -- best blogpost revisited | denise lee yohn: brand as business bites™ Says:
   September 1st, 2009 at 12:47 pm

   [...] to Jon Galloway, the winner of the “vote for the best blogpost” celebration I held to mark the 1-year anniversary of my [...]