A thorough write-up about RH (formerly known as Restoration Hardware) in a recent Businessweek caught my eye. As Susan Berfield documented in the piece, the approach that CEO Gary Friedman is taking with the brand. I couldn’t help but draw parallels to several principles in my new book, What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building […]
What is the one thing about a brand that has stood the test of time? That’s how Moe Abdou, Founder & CEO of 33voices, began his interview of me. In our in-depth conversation, we cover topics including: what is no longer relevant about brands? what does “brand as business” mean? how are great brands keeping up […]
My new Harvard Business Review post, What Shake Shack Knows About Growth that McDonald’s Has Forgotten, explains that if your single focus is not grounded in your brand identity, your business will not likely experience sustainable growth. It’s a bold argument, I know, and I’m sure strong cases against it can be made — but in my […]
This post wraps up the series of posters from my new book, What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles That Separate the Best from the Rest — Great Brands Do “Brand As Business.” This brand-as-business management approach is ultimately what distinguishes great brands from merely good ones. […]
James Surowiecki’s column in The New Yorker last week, Twilight of the Brands, seemed to suggest that brands are dying. He argued that the usefulness of brands has decreased given that “consumers are supremely well informed and far more likely to investigate the real value of products than to rely on logos.” His observations about […]
The brand-building principles, Great Brands Never Have to ‘Give Back,’ may be the most surprising one of the seven in my new book, What Great Brands Do; The Seven Brand-Building Principles That Separate the Best from the Rest. So, please allow me to explain. […]
Here’s the latest in the series of posts and posters based on the principles from my new book, What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles That Separate the Best from the Rest. This principle, Great Brands Commit and Stay Committed, is easy to understand but hard to execute. […]
Great brands may think big, but they sweat the small stuff. They know that all the little things they do or fail to do in person shape brand perceptions far more than the big things they claim through mass media. So they design their customer experiences down to last detail, and usually appeal to as many of […]
Looking for some inspiration for becoming a great brand? Check out the virtual collage that’s being created with the hashtag #WGBD. […]
Rolling right along in the series of posters of brand-building principles from my new book, What Great Brands Do, we have: Great brands don’t chase customers; they attract people to them. Great brands know that if you stand for something clearly, some people will love you and some will hate you, but the ones that love you will […]