Leaders of great organizations have tremendous clarity about the brand identity they aspire to embody and about how to cultivate an organizational culture that enables them to achieve it. Jeff Bezos has made the Amazon brand synonymous with innovations that delight customers by cultivating a culture that doggedly pursues those innovations. Richard Branson has created […]
When Viad Corp.‘s Travel and Recreation Group undertook a re-branding in 2016, there were several objectives for the transformation including identifying a new name. Instead of delegating the undertaking to the marketing department, as most organizational leaders would, President David Barry believed the most fundamental element of the transformation was employee engagement with the brand. […]
“Bruising.” “Relentless.” “Painful.” “Frequent combat.” “Burn and churn.” No one would fault you for thinking a company with a workplace culture described in these harsh terms is destined for failure. Yet, one such company recently nearly doubled its operating income, increased its annual revenue by 27%, and turned in its 8th straight quarter of profitability. […]
While the importance of workplace culture is well-understood, how to build a great culture is less established. In the research and work I did leading to my upcoming book, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World’s Greatest Companies (published by Nicholas Brealey, an imprint of Hachette Book Group on March 13, 2018), I […]
A culture crisis threatens to disrupt Corporate America today as much as the financial crisis did a decade ago. Whether it’s claims of sexual harassment, the lack of diversity and equality at many organizations, or the nearly 70% of American workers who are not engaged at work, business leaders must devote more attention to their […]
Now that according to Gartner more than 90% of businesses compete primarily on the basis of customer experience (CX), it’s no longer enough to make CX a corporate priority. The next competitive frontier is employee experience (EX) and the signs indicate so strongly that EX will become the next priority for organizations that I’m calling […]
Call me old school, but I really enjoy the written word. I prefer reading a long-form blog post or article than a pithy tweet or fleeting Facebook post. That’s not to say that I want a writer to blather on — rather, I like reading the work of people who have mastered the written word […]
When it comes to predicting what will happen in 2018, I’m following Casey Stengel’s advice: “Never make predictions, especially about the future.” But I am keeping my eye on some brands because I’m pretty sure they’ll be making the headlines in the coming year. So, here’s my list of Brands to Watch in 2018, in […]
Here are the best bites and my book review of Richard Branson’s Finding My Virginity. The New Autobiography. – the book: Finding My Virginity, which picks up where Branson’s previous memoir, Losing My Virginity, (published in 1998) left off. – the brains: Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, the conglomerate of hundreds of companies ranging […]
In the two years that have passed since I released my e-book, Extraordinary Experiences: What Great Retail and Restaurant Brands Do, the retail customer experience has gotten even more important — and more competitive. The “Amazon effect” has raised everyone’s expectations about how convenient shopping should be. And nearly all companies now expect to compete […]
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