denise lee yohn: brand as business bites™ / leadership

Nike recently released their “Corporate Responsibility Report FY07-09” and I was so impressed by it, I just had to share my thoughts about it. (more…)

Last week I had the pleasure of hearing Seth Godin speak at a LinkedOC event.  He was promoting his latest book, Linchpin, Are You Indispensible?

The talk was classic Seth – full of memorable quotes and entertaining images.  Explaining that linchpins are a new class of passionate people who make themselves indispensible, Seth was more inspirational than substantive.  But his comments must have resonated with folks who have been beaten down and discouraged by the recession and the slow recovery — the audience gave him a standing ovation.

Here are my notes:

“…Winter slumps are often the result of corner-cutting.” This diagnosis wasn’t offered to explain why so many businesses continue to struggle today – but it should have. The quote actually comes from a write-up in this past Sunday’s New York Times sports section about the Dallas Cowboys‘ 15-27 record in December over the past decade. (more…)

Earlier this week I had the opportunity to hear the leaders behind four of the most exciting brands in action sports talk about their journeys as entrepreneurs.  They were brutally honest about their struggles and gave some great advice.  I’ve compiled my notes into the following presentation.

Thanks much to the entrepreneurs:

Brian Enge, CEO of Zoot Sports
Andy Laats, Co-Founder and President of Nixon
Todd Richards, Olympic Snowboarder, Co-Founder Omatic Snowboards
Beaver Theodosakis, Founder & CEO of prAna

and SI and the USD Entrepreneurship Club for sponsoring the event!

I read with great interest an article in SmartBusiness about Red Mango and the yummy yogurt chain’s founder, president, and CEO of Red Mango, Dan Kim.  I’m fascinated by the frozen yogurt chains that have emerged on the cultural landscape in last 5 years.  Pinkberry has probably gotten the most coverage in the press, with its high design aesthetic and celebrity fans, but there are plenty of others in the game including Red Mango.  The category is very crowded with operators of all sizes competing in a relatively small niche with punch cards and discount days.  Building brand awareness and shoring up a loyal customer base are particular challenges, which is in part why I’m so interested in the category (liking fro yo also has something to do with it too!)

In the SB piece, Dan explains his thinking and approach to building the Red Mango brand.  Clearly, this is a guy who gets it.  He believes in the power of his brand and he actively nurtures and protects it.  Here are my reactions to his comments, along with some suggestions for how he might ensure his brand-building efforts continue to be successful as the chain grows. (more…)

Last month I asked you to vote to get my manifesto, “Reset:  Re-Ignite Your Business with the Power of Your Brand,” published on ChangeThis.  I really appreciate all of your votes which ended getting my paper to one of the top spots on the list — but apparently others garnered more and so they took a pass.  So…I’m publishing it here instead.  And, I’m also posting some bonus content. (more…)

Steve McKee has started a great project, Find Your Nerve, “a grassroots effort to help get the economy moving again.”  Each business day of the fourth quarter features a post from someone about jumpstarting the recovery.  Today was my day:  please check out “A Leap of Faith.”

Also I thought you might want to see a video taken during my leap of faith:

click on the image to view movie

Last week’s Ad Age featured an article called “Why It’s Time to Do Away With the Brand Manager.” The piece, and the Forrester research report which inspired it, argues for “changing the name ‘brand manager‘ to ‘brand advocate,’ and fundamentally changing marketer organizations in response to the onset of the digital age.” It reminded me of an article I wrote several years ago.

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Last week I had the pleasure of hearing the Director of Vision, Innovation, & Strategy for the San Diego Zoo, Beth Branning, speak about “Implementing Organization-Wide Strategic Alignment.”  The story of her efforts to drive through the organization the Zoo’s 5-year strategic plan provides some valuable insights and takeaways.

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The folks at ChangeThis* are considering publishing my manifesto, “Reset: Re-ignite Your Business with the Power of Your Brand“ — and I need your votes to make it happen.

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