Customer Centricity: It’s More Than a Mindset
September 10, 2024
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Customer Service, Strategy
Keywords: customer experience, customer centricity, customer culture, customer centric, customer obsessed
For your company to become truly customer-centric, it takes more than wanting, thinking, or talking about it. Customer centricity requires a completely different orientation to everything you do as an organization.
Cracks in Amazon’s Foundation: The Challenges of Maintaining Core Values
August 6, 2024
Topics: Corporate Culture, Leadership
Keywords: culture, corporate culture, brand culture, organizational culture, leadership, core values, leadership principles, Amazon, Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy
Are core values mere suggestions, subject to change when convenient, or should they be unwavering principles set in stone?
Don’t Cancel DEI; Create True Trust
June 4, 2024
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: culture, employee engagement, organizational culture, Trust, DE&I, Employee Trust, Diversity Equity Inclusion, DEI Backlash
Why do most DEI efforts fail? Most companies rely on DEI programs and targets—such as employee resource groups (ERGs) and hiring quotas—without addressing the fundamental values and culture of the organization.
Fostering Employee Fandom: A New Frontier in Talent Management
May 7, 2024
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Loyalty, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Loyalty
Keywords: loyalty, brand loyalty, customer loyalty, brand-culture fusion, FUSION, employee loyalty, Employee Retention, Employee Turnover
Should employers strive for employee loyalty – or is employee retention enough?
Does Spirituality Belong at Work?
April 2, 2024
Rotman Magazine
Topics: Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: accenture, employee engagement, leadership, spirituality at work, faith at work, DEIB, spiritual well being, spiritual values, Cotopaxi, PayPal, Davis Smith, Ellyn Shook, Milind Makwana
To foster authentic belonging, leaders must acknowledge that employees can only truly belong and show up as their authentic selves when all aspects of their lives are valued — including spirituality and faith.
Achieving Brand-Culture Fusion: The Imperative for Fulfilling Brand Promises
March 5, 2024
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Culture, Marketing
Keywords: advertising, marketing, culture, branding, brand building, brand-culture fusion, FUSION, brand power, brand, Brand Promises
Brand power comes from keeping – not only making – promises. To keep your brand promises, your brand and culture must be aligned and integrated.
Use This SWOT to Assess Yourself
February 12, 2024
Smartbrief
Topic: Leadership
Keywords: self Assessment, SWOT, SWOT analysis, SWOT assessment, Self leadership, Self awareness
Improve your leadership skills by personalizing the traditional SWOT analysis to focus on self, the world, others and time, says Denise Lee Yohn
Seek Out a Mentor In the New Year
December 5, 2023
Smartbrief
Topic: Leadership
Keywords: leadership, Growth, coaching, mentor, mentoring, mentorship, personal development
All leaders, at any age and level, can benefit from mentoring – both getting a mentor and being one.
Do You Use Your Core Values, Or Just Talk About Them?
November 7, 2023
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: company culture, leadership, core values, Amazon leadership principles, Values, operationalize your values
Only talking about your core values isn’t enough. By definition, core values must be used. Otherwise, they’re neither “core” (defined as central and foundational) nor “values” (principles that guide behaviors).
Wisdom That Wins In Football and In Business
October 10, 2023
Smartbrief
Topics: Business, Leadership
Keywords: leadership, football, follow-through, consistency
With the NFL season in full swing, it’s a good time to apply some maxims from football to the business world.
What Great Employers Do
September 6, 2023
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: What Great Brands Do, culture, employee engagement, #WGBD, organizational culture, leadership, employee experience, EX, FUSION, what great employers do, leading an organization
Great employers look beyond cool tools and big data to create a sustainable, productive, and engaged work environment.
Surprising Leadership Lessons from “Yellowstone”
August 8, 2023
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Loyalty
Keywords: customer loyalty, leadership, Employee Motivation, differentiation, Yellowstone, employee loyalty
The popular TV show Yellowstone has taught us that leading doesn’t always involve what we think it does.
Leadership Lessons from Ted Lasso
June 13, 2023
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: leadership, Ted Lasso, coaching, leading
Ted Lasso, the leading character in the popular Apple+ series by the same name, provides an excellent model of exceptional organizational leadership.
Link Culture To Performance Through Metrics
May 2, 2023
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: culture, culture-building, culture assessment, Performance, Metrics, KPIs, Culture Metrics, Culture Measurment, OKRs
A new report provides tools and frameworks for measuring and tracking the link between culture and performance.
“Succession” Lesson: Using Your Own Product
April 12, 2023
Smartbrief
Topics: Customer Experience, Leadership
Keywords: customer experience, #CX, leadership, leadership habits, leadership practices, Succession, Eat Your Own Dog Food, Dogfooding
Succession, the popular show on HBO, conveys helpful business insights including the importance of you using your own product.
Engaged Employees Create Better Customer Experiences
April 5, 2023
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Brand Delivery, Culture, Customer Service, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: customer experience, customer service, leadership, employee experience, EX, EX & CX
Companies should find ways to connect employees and customers regardless of whether “customer service” is in their job description.
Want to Change Your Strategy? Change Your Culture First
March 7, 2023
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Leadership, Strategy
Keywords: culture, brand leadership, core values, brand-culture fusion, FUSION, strategy, brand, Values
Use three criteria for the core values of your organizational culture to drive strategic change.
Layoffs Are the Leadership Litmus Test
February 14, 2023
Smartbrief
Topics: Business, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: leadership, Employees, Layoffs, Humanity, Leader, RIF
Laying off workers is one of the most painful tasks a leader can ever do, but Denise Lee Yohn says in this video if you do it with “compassion, empathy and integrity” you will pass the leadership “litmus test.”
Do Brands Matter in the Age of Influencers & Algorithms?
January 10, 2023
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Delivery, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Marketing, Social Media
Keywords: culture, branding, brand building, organizational culture, FUSION, brands
The way we connect with customers is changing — and therefore, the way we use brands and do brand-building must change too.
Are Your DE&I Efforts Missing This One Critical Component?
January 3, 2023
SHRM
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: DE&I, faith-based ERGs, workplace fellowship groups, faith in business
If you want employees to bring their whole selves to work—as most companies say they do—it’s important to acknowledge that faith is an essential part of many people’s identity.
Build a Unified, Not a Uniform Company Culture
December 16, 2022
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: culture, employee culture, organizational culture, leadership, core values, purpose
Instead of trying to control or quash the different directions your culture seems to be headed, provide clarity and focus to the variations.
What Is the Purpose of Purpose?
October 15, 2022
SHRM
Topics: Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: business purpose, organizational purpose, corporate purpose, purpose statements, the purpose of purpose, Denise Lee Yohn in SHRM
How can you help your organization transform its purpose from incidental to instrumental? Consider three questions:
- What kind of purpose do we need?
- Who are our most important purpose stakeholders?
- How will we measure the impact of our purpose?
Lead With Love
October 11, 2022
Smartbrief
Topics: Business, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, leadership, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, Trust, Employee Well-Being, leadership love, lead with love
Love is a key leadership quality today.
Prepare Your Culture for a Recession
August 9, 2022
Smartbrief
Topics: Brand Delivery, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: culture, brand leadership, customer intimacy, brand culture alignment, FUSION, recession strategies, Recession, Recession 2022
Building brand-culture alignment and a culture of customer intimacy are key to a recession-proof culture
Boost Return to Office With Brand-Led Office Design
July 12, 2022
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Touchpoints, Culture, Design, Employee Engagement
Keywords: employee engagement, employee experience, Hybrid work, remote work, RTO, Return To Office, Office Design, brand-led office design, corporate real estate
Employers struggling with Return to Office (RTO) might want to consider brand-led office design and the role of brand in employee experience.
Employees vs. Customers: Who Is More Important?
June 14, 2022
Smartbrief
Topics: Customer Experience, Business, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, leadership, employee experience, customer engagement, customers or employees, the Southwest way, LInkedIn culture
Denise Lee Yohn provides examples of how companies such as LinkedIn and Southwest Airlines have successfully combined both customer and employee needs.
Start With Why but Don’t Stop There
May 3, 2022
Topics: Business, Leadership
Keywords: mission statement, leadership, start with why, business purpose, purpose, purpose of corporation
You need to do more than start with why; you need to put your why into action.
Take a Regular Day of Rest
April 12, 2022
Smartbrief
Topic: Leadership
Keywords: leadership, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief on Leadership, sabbath, rest, leadership practices
Everyone – whether or not you’re a person of faith – needs to sabbath to set yourself up to lead effectively
How To Refer To Employees – What You Can Learn from Zuckerberg and Metamates
March 1, 2022
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: culture, brand leadership, leadership, employee experience, FUSION, Meta, Metamates, Employee, Mark Zuckerberg, Amazonians
Should you follow Meta and adopt a novel way to refer to your employees, like Metamates?
Get Out Into the Field with Customers
February 8, 2022
Smartbrief
Topics: Customer Experience, Business, Customer Service, Leadership
Keywords: customer insights, leadership, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, Customer Research, consumer research
Fresh, unique and valuable insights about how to get ahead are available to you — if you get out into the field with customers.
Three Competencies You Need To Lead In 2022
January 11, 2022
Smartbrief
Topics: Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: leadership, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, Leadership Competencies, Leadership Skills, Emotional Intelligence, People Development, Integrative Thinking, Smartbrief on Leadersihp
The new world of work that we face in 2022 requires new leadership competencies.
Assess Brand-Culture Fusion At Your Organization
January 4, 2022
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Delivery, Business, Culture
Keywords: brand leadership, brand-culture fusion, FUSION, culture assessment, brand assessment, organizational assessment
Start 2022 with a reality check! Take the FUSION Assessment to determine how well-aligned and integrated are your external brand identity and internal organizational culture.
Reflecting Now To Create a Successful Year Ahead
December 14, 2021
Smartbrief
Topic: Leadership
Keywords: leadership, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, Annual planning, 2020 Planning, Year-End Reflection, self Assessment
Here is a year-end practice to help you learn from your past, plan for your future and become a better leader
2022 Great Business Action Plan
December 7, 2021
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: leadership, core values, FUSION, jim collins, Annual planning, Beyond Entrepreneurship, 2022 Action Plan, 2022 Planning
Three actions to build a great business in 2022 and beyond.
Leaders, Get Out Into The Field
November 9, 2021
Smartbrief
Topics: Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, leadership, smartbrief on leadership, Frontline Employees, leadership habits, Denise Lee Yohn on leadership
Leaders need to get out of their offices and get into the field.
The Real Problem With the Facebook Rebrand to Meta
November 2, 2021
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Brand Names, Business, Culture, Marketing
Keywords: rebranding, brand name, Facebook rebrand, Facebook Meta
Which comes first: brand or culture?
Facebook’s Rebrand Has a Fundamental Problem
November 2, 2021
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Brand Names, Business, Culture, Marketing
Keywords: rebranding, Facebook rebrand, Facebook Meta, Meta name, new brand name
Facebook’s decision to rebrand is an ill-timed move but not for the reason you might think.
What Employees Want from Employers
October 12, 2021
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, leadership, employee experience, EX, Employees, Great Resignation, Job Openings
Here are five essential basics that employees want: clarity, to be equipped, respect, trust and recognition.
Don’t Just Try to Improve CX; Integrate It With EX
October 5, 2021
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Employee Engagement
Keywords: customer experience, employee engagement, employee brand engagement, #CX, employee experience, EX, FUSION, CX Day
Fuse CX (customer experience) with EX (employee experience) to successfully improve CX.
How To Give a Powerful Presentation
September 14, 2021
Smartbrief
Topic: Leadership
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, leadership communication, Presentation skills, Presentation tips
This video shows you how to get people’s attention, keep them engaged and have a real impact on them.
Startups Don’t Need More Money— They Need More Customer Insights
September 7, 2021
Forbes
Topics: Business, Consumer Research, Innovation, Small Businss
Keywords: start-ups, customer insights, start-up success, start-up failure, Lean start-up, Customer Feedback
According to three recent studies, most start-ups don’t necessarily need more money. Start-ups need more customer insights.
Employee Experience: Building Morale and Engagement
August 10, 2021
Sales Enablement PRO
Topics: Employee Engagement, Leadership, Sales
Keywords: employee engagement, employee experience, EX, sales employee engagement, sales rep motivation, sales manager engagement
Brand leadership expert and keynote speaker Denise Lee Yohn recently spoke at the Sales Enablement Soirée. This article is adapted from her presentation.
What Leaders Get Wrong About Employee Well-Being And How To Get It Right
August 10, 2021
Smartbrief
Topics: Health/Fitness/Wellness, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: leadership, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, Employee Well-Being, Employee Wellness, Workforce Health
Here are five things that leaders fail to understand about employee well-being.
Amazon Needs To Restore Brand-Culture Fusion
August 3, 2021
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Delivery, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: culture, brand-culture fusion, culture-building, FUSION, Amazon
Amazon must cultivate brand-culture fusion – the full integration and alignment of external brand identity and internal organizational culture.
How To Do CSR Right and Build Stakeholder Trust
July 13, 2021
Smartbrief
Topics: Business, Leadership, Social Responsibility
Keywords: corporate social responsibility, csr, leadership, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, Trust, stakeholder trust
Social responsibility must be at the core of your business purpose and operations.
An Employee Experience Tool To Empower EX Excellence
July 6, 2021
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, employee experience, EX, EX Maturity Model, EX design
An EX Maturity Model can fuel the development of an effective, differentiated, and value-creating EX.
Employee Experience 2.0: Engaging Employees In a Hybrid Work Model
June 22, 2021
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, employee experience, EX, Hybrid work, EX 2.0, Workplace from Facebook, remote work
Designing Employee Experience (EX) 2.0 requires leaders to adopt a new mindset about employee engagement, as well as new strategies and tools.
Be Consistent to Inspire Trust
June 8, 2021
Smartbrief
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Brand Touchpoints, Business, Leadership
Keywords: brand touchpoints, leadership, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, Trust, brand trust
To get employees and customers to trust us, we need to be consistent in what we do individually as leaders and in what our organizations do as a whole.
Overcome The Trust Crisis With Authenticity
May 11, 2021
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Delivery, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: culture, authenticity, brand leadership, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, FUSION, Trust
How can business leaders regain people’s trust? By ensuring brand authenticity.
Brand-Culture Fusion Remains A Top Priority
May 10, 2021
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Delivery, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: brand-building, culture-building, FUSION, Brand+Culture Series, brand+culture
Now more than ever, business leaders need to prioritize the alignment and integration of brand and culture.
Use Employee Personas To Design Employee Experience For A Hybrid Workforce
May 4, 2021
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Employee Engagement
Keywords: employee engagement, employee experience, EX, Hybrid work, Hybrid office, Employee Personas
Employee personas — models that represent different groups of employees — are useful tools for
Hybrid Leadership for Hybrid Work
April 13, 2021
Smartbrief
Topics: Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: leadership, leadership style, smartbrief on leadership, #WFH, Hybrid work, Hybrid office
You need a new leadership approach and new skills to lead in a hybrid work set-up.
Culture-Building Takes A Village
April 6, 2021
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: culture-building, culture leadership, FUSION, human resources & culture, Brand+Culture Series, culture ownership, ethics culture, risk culture
Culture must be a top leadership priority but it can’t be only a leadership responsibility.
How To Onboard Employees Effectively
March 9, 2021
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: culture, Employee Onboarding, Employee Orientation #WFH
Use three “Cs” — culture, customer, and connection — to onboard new employees effectively.
How Andy Jassy And Jeff Bezos Can Avoid Leadership Transition Failure At Amazon
March 1, 2021
Forbes
Topics: Business, Leadership
Keywords: Amazon CEO transition, Andy Jassy transition, Jeff Bezos transition, leadership transition failure, The First 90 Days, CEO succession
To avoid leadership transition failure, learn from the unique challenges that threaten a smooth succession and transition of power from Andy Jassy to Jeff Bezos at Amazon
How To Jump-Start Employee Motivation
February 9, 2021
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, purpose, Employee Motivation, Rewards and Recognition, ERGs, Employee Resource Groups
Three powerful levers to motivate employees.
Company Culture Is Everyone’s Responsibility
February 8, 2021
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn in Harvard Business Review, middle managers, culture-building, culture leadership, board of directors & corporate culture
A top down approach to building company culture no longer works for several reasons.
Brand Leadership in 2021 and Beyond
February 2, 2021
Topics: Brand Delivery, Brand Strategy, Business, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: brand engagement, FUSION, Brand+Culture Series, Brand leadership in 2021, differentiation, Interbrand on brand leadership
What do you need to achieve brand leadership in 2021 and beyond: accelerated agility, enriched engagement, and definitive differentiation.
What 2021 Requires from Leaders
January 12, 2021
Smartbrief
Topics: Business, Innovation, Leadership
Keywords: innovation, leadership, smartbrief on leadership, Lead in 2021, Growth, Inspiration
Whether you are the head of your organization or a small team leader, you have the opportunity to initiate, invent and inspire — and lead others to make 2021 the best year ever.
Why Your Innovations Aren’t Working
January 12, 2021
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Business, Innovation, Marketing
Keywords: customer experience innovation, innovation strategy, product innovation, business model innovation
Product innovation alone is not enough.
Get Ready for 2021 with Leadership Principles
December 8, 2020
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, leadership values, leadership principles, leadership training, Neuroleadership Institute, Amazon leadership principles, Marine Corps leadership principles
Leadership principles are like core values specifically for the leaders in your company, and they should be memorable, meaningful, coherent with other expectations, and unique.
Brands To Watch In 2021
December 1, 2020
Forbes
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Brand Touchpoints, Business, Innovation, Leadership, Marketing
Keywords: brand trends, brands to watch in 2021, companies to watch in 2021, business trends, best companies in 2021, best brands in 2021
This Brand To Watch In 2021 list provides an alphabet-correlated compilation of brands to keep an eye on.
The #1 Mistake Leaders Make When Trying to Change Culture
November 17, 2020
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: culture leadership, FUSION, culture change, Brand+Culture Series, culture transformation, transformation leadership, culture failure
What do business leaders get wrong when undertaking an organizational culture transformation? They fail to operationalize culture — drive the desired culture into the strategies, operations, programs, tactics, and processes of the organization.
Make Your Purpose Powerful
November 11, 2020
Smartbrief
Topics: Business, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, mission statement, leadership, company purpose, purpose, 5 whys
A single overarching purpose that encompasses the value of your product or service and provides a deep rationale for stakeholders is essential to a company’s success, says Denise Lee Yohn.
How Airbnb Survived The Pandemic—And How You Can Too
November 10, 2020
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Brand Experience, Business, Culture, Customer Service, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee experience, Airbnb turnaround, Airbnb recovery, Covid-19 turnaround, customer emotions, turnaround strategies
Airbnb has executed a dramatic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic by prioritizing its core business, customer emotions, and employee needs.
Follow This 3-Step Roadmap To Lead Employees Through Change
October 13, 2020
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, core values, leadership communication, purpose
Once you truly understand what’s going on with your employees, you can implement a three-step road map for aligning, inspiring, and empowering them.
Lead Through Challenge And Change With These 3 Questions
October 6, 2020
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Business, Innovation, Leadership
Keywords: change management, Leading through change, marketing myopia, organizational leadership
Three questions every business leader should be asking now.
Who Owns Culture?
September 15, 2020
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: culture-building, culture leadership, FUSION, Brand + Culture Series, who owns culture, culture responsibility
New resources speak to the role of employees — not leaders — driving organizational culture.
We Need to Rethink Employee Experience
September 8, 2020
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, organizational culture, employee experience, EX, COVID 19 strategies, smart
To ensure employees are ready and excited to give their best effort, we need to re-think EX. Check out these three recommendations for cultivating the organizational culture you need.
Brand Authenticity, Employee Experience, and Corporate Citizenship Priorities in The COVID-19 Era and Beyond
September 1, 2020
Strategy & Leadership
Topics: Business, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Social Responsibility
Keywords: employee engagement, corporate social responsibility, brand authenticity, employee experience, covid-19 strategy, Covid-19 leadership, corporate citizenship
Economic strain, geopolitical tensions and public health issues are challenges that will persist long after the COVID-19 epidemic has passed its initial peak.As companies learn to operate safely and effectively, public scrutiny of how they treat their workers and serve their communities will be intense.
Your Purpose Is At Risk Of Being Pointless
September 1, 2020
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Leadership
Keywords: mission statement, Purpose of a Corporation, purpose statement, corporate purpose, single overarching purpose
Having a purpose statement doesn’t automatically translate into leading an organization purposefully — and your purpose is at risk of being pointless if you don’t do these three things.
9 Ways to Differentiate Your Brand
August 11, 2020
Smartbrief
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Brand Strategy, Marketing
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn, brand strategy, branding strategy, brand differentiation, competitive advantage, brand differentiators
If you want to build a great brand, focus on being different.
Covid-19 And Civil Unrest Has Disrupted Employee Experience For Good
August 4, 2020
Forbes
Topic: Employee Engagement
Keywords: employee engagement, employee experience, employee segmentation, COVID 19 strategies
While this new context of Covid-19 and civil unrest has disrupted most companies, it is actually good news for employee experience.
Brand + Culture Lives On
July 21, 2020
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Identity, Brand Strategy, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: The Brand Gap, FUSION, Brand+Culture Series, Marty Neumeier book, Adam Morgan book, Eating the Big Fish Scott Davis & Michael E. Dunn book, Building the Brand Driven Business, brand books, culture books
The integration and alignment of external brand identity and internal organizational culture — or lack thereof — has drawn attention recently but writers have been evangelizing brand and culture for years.
How Brands Can Take a Stand On Race
July 14, 2020
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Communication, Brand Touchpoints, Business, Culture, Social Media, Social Responsibility
Keywords: rebranding, core values, smartbrief on leadership, Aunt Jemima rebrand, Uncle Ben’s rebrand, diversity and inclusion, racism
Brands looking to speak about race or make related internal changes should first ensure they’ve heard stakeholders and examined brand values, says Denise Lee Yohn.
Hone Your Leadership Style In Times Of Crisis
July 7, 2020
Forbes
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Leadership
Keywords: What Great Brands Do, leadership style, leadership strategy, leading in crisis, Covid-19 leadership, Hyundai Assurance, Jacinda Ardem elimination strategy, Nike controversy, Nike Don’t Do It, Bill Gates coronavirus warning, London Breed sick and tired, Starbucks brand personality, Lori Lightfoot personality, Andrew Cuomo personality
Great brands actually thrive amidst challenge and change, so they provide excellent models of leadership that you can adapt to hone your leadership style and strategy.
The Pandemic Is Rewriting the Rules of Retail
July 6, 2020
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Business, Innovation
Keywords: retail customer experience, retail CX, Digital Customer Experience, digital CX, pandemic retail strategy, COVID-19 retail strategy, coronavirus retail strategy, digitally native customer experience
Your customers have changed. Have you?
Prepare for the New Reality With a Brand Audit
June 9, 2020
Smartbrief
Topics: Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Brand Touchpoints, Leadership, Marketing
Keywords: brand assessment, Smartbrief on Brand Leadership, COVID 19 strategies, brand audit
In this SmartBrief on Leadership video, brand leadership expert Denise Lee Yohn explains why you need to do a brand audit now and how to do one.
Amazon Faces A Crucible Moment With Employees
June 2, 2020
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: Jeff Bezos leadership, Amazon employee engagement, Amazon employee experience, Amazon workplace safety, Amazon workplace culture, Amazon Covid-19 response, Amazon Covid-19 investment, Amazon scrutiny, Jeff Bezos vision, Amazon customer-obsession
Given the harsh and widespread criticism over their treatment of Amazon employees during the Covid-19 pandemic, what the company and CEO Jeff Bezos does next may determine its future.
Re-opening Playbook: Five Steps To Re-Engage Customers and Employees
May 18, 2020
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Brand Communication, Brand Experience, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Marketing
Keywords: employee engagement, employee communication, post COVID 19 world, re-opening strategy, re-open post covid-19, covid-19 strategy, customer engagement, customer communication, communications playbook, re-opening playbook
As you prepare to get back to business, your operations aren’t the only thing requiring changes. You also need to update mindsets — your customers’ and your employees’. You need a Re-opening Playbook of the key steps to re-engage customers and employees.
How To Prepare for a Recession
May 13, 2020
Gravity Speakers blog
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Marketing
Keywords: brand differentiation, employee brand engagement, brand-building in a recession, COVID 19 strategies, how to prepare for recession, recession planning, recession strategies, branding in a recession, COVID-19 recession, core customers
Let’s face it – we’re headed toward an official recession. What should you do to prepare your business? Here are three strategies to prepare for a recession.
Protect and Prepare Your Brand for the Post-Coronavirus World
May 12, 2020
Smartbrief
Topics: Customer Experience, Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Brand Touchpoints, Business, Marketing
Keywords: brand touchpoints, Smartbrief on Brand Leadership, COVID 19 strategies, post COVID 19 world, Brand-Building COVID-19, branding COVID-19, advertising COVID-19, COVID-19 Marketing, Digital Customer Experience, everything is marketing
You can continue to build your brand during these challenging times by treating everything you do as marketing and developing a next-generation digital customer experience.
Hit The Reset Button With Employees: Prepare To Reopen And Re-Engage
May 5, 2020
Forbes
Topics: Business, Culture, Customer Service, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: CX + EX, COVID 19 strategies, reset button, reset business, employee communications, manager expectations, new employee metrics, employee preparedness, post COVID 19 world, post-crisis communications
To make sure your people are prepared to get back to work after the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are lifted, hit the reset button with employees on employee experience (EX), communications, and expectations.
Leading in Crisis: Connect Your Team With Employee Engagement
April 23, 2020
Speaker Exchange Agency
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, employee brand engagement, organizational culture, keynote speaker Denise Lee Yohn, workplace culture, speaker on employee engagement, employee communication, COVID 19 strategies, internal communication
Employee engagement is crucial, especially now.
Brand Opportunities In a Crisis
April 14, 2020
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Loyalty, Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Business, Culture, Customer Service, Leadership, Marketing
Keywords: branding, brand building, Denise Lee Yohn video, Smartbrief on Brand Leadership, COVID 19 strategies, brand strategy in crisis, brand strategy in recession
Use and build your brand to get ahead in a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.
How To Make An Emotional Connection Virtually
April 7, 2020
Forbes
Topics: Brand Communication, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: emotional connection, brand communication, emotional branding, brand personality, leadership communication, empathy in communication, COVID-19 communication, coronavirus communication, CEO communication
Here’s how you as a brand and/or business leader can connect emotionally with your customers and employees even when you are separated physically from them.
Get Started With a Minimum Viable Brand
March 10, 2020
Smartbrief
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Brand Strategy, Business, Marketing, Small Businss
Keywords: brand strategy, small business brand strategy, brand platform, start-up branding, start-up brand strategy, minimum viable brand, MVB, minimum viable product, entrepreneur brand strategy
A minimum viable brand puts the pieces of your brand in place that provide brand clarity and focus — and leaves the rest of your brand elements until after you’re in the market for awhile and have the resources, feedback and market insights to inform them.
Three Things Small Businesses Should Do To Get Unstuck And Scale
March 3, 2020
Forbes
Topics: Business, Innovation, Leadership, Small Businss
Keywords: small business growth, start-up growth, how to scale, post start up strategies, TrueSpace, Gallup research, The Five Conditions Assessment, how to grow, entrepreneurs, Charles Fred
A new report from research and consulting firm TrueSpace and Gallup says growth-minded small businesses should narrow their prospects, create predictability in their performance, and seek greater consistency in their offerings.
Ben Horowitz on Culture
February 17, 2020
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: organizational culture, culture-building, FUSION, Brand+Culture Series, Ben Horowitz book on culture
In the book What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture, Ben Horowitz provides exceptional insights on organizational culture — how it works, how to build or change yours, and the elements of a good one. Here are my favorite quotes — and my take on the topics.
What Does “Most Valuable Brand” Really Mean?
February 11, 2020
Smartbrief
Topics: Brand Value, Business, Leadership, Strategy
Keywords: brand valuation, brand equity, brand value, brand finance, interbrand, brandz, smartbrief on leadership
What does brand valuation really mean? Is it important? And if so, how can you calculate how much your brand is worth?
Clay Christensen’s Jobs To Be Done Innovation Theory Challenges Common Innovation And Marketing Methods
February 6, 2020
Forbes
Topics: Business, Design, Innovation, Marketing, Strategy
Keywords: Clay Christensen, Jobs to Be Done, innovation theory, innovation strategy, innovation framework, personas, use cases, MVP, new product development, marketing innovations
Clay Christensen’s “jobs to be done” theory of innovation presents an approach to how companies introduce successful new products and services that remains counter-intuitive—and relevant—today.
Use Your Brand When Making a Change
January 14, 2020
Smartbrief
Topics: Brand Delivery, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Strategy
Keywords: brand strategy, employee engagement, brand engagement, leadership, strategy, business transformation, strategic change, purpose, change management
Your brand is more than your name, message or image — it’s the purpose, values and attributes that define your unique identity. Use it as a powerful tool for running your business, especially when you’re considering changes.
2019 Roundup: 6 Great Articles About Brand+Culture
December 19, 2019
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Identity, Culture
Keywords: FUSION, Brand+Culture Series, Gallup on culture, strategy& on culture, BCAT, Brand Culture Company, O. C. Tanner
Some of my favorite articles from 2019 on the integration of external brand identity and internal organizational culture.
Build a Culture to Match Your Brand
December 17, 2019
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Business, Culture
Keywords: brand strategy, corporate culture, brand culture, brand positioning, Denise Lee Yohn in Harvard Business Review, organizational culture, brand types, culture design
If you want to produce the kinds of specific outcomes that will allow you to differentiate your company, you need to define a unique culture that cultivates the necessary kinds of employee attitudes and behaviors.
Does A Brand Extension Make Sense?
December 10, 2019
Smartbrief
Topics: Brand Extensions, Brand Names, Brand Strategy
Keywords: brand strategy, branding strategy, brand extension, Smartbrief on Brand Leadership, product extension, Ford Mustang
In this new Smartbrief video, I lay out the pros and cons for brand extensions and helps you figure out the right approach for you.
Brands To Watch In 2020
December 3, 2019
Forbes
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Business, Marketing
Keywords: Brands To Watch in 2020, companies to watch in 2020, brand trends 2020, company trends 2020, news about brands
Amazon tops the alphabetical list of brands that will make the news in 2020.
How Do You Make Customers Feel?
November 12, 2019
Smartbrief
Topics: Customer Experience, Brand Communication, Marketing
Keywords: emotional connection, marketing, Denise Lee Yohn, brand building, emotional branding, leadership, strategy, emotion in B2B
Companies should research who their customers are and respond with interactive experiences that “include them on a journey,” says Denise Lee Yohn in this blog post and video. “[H]umans are emotional beings and we make brand and product decisions based on how they make us feel and the identities they enable us to express and experience,” she says.
Stop Saying Your Company Is Like A Family
November 5, 2019
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, corporate culture, organizational culture, workplace culture, leadership style, company is like family, family-like culture, employer employee contract
If you think about or treat your employees like family, you’re probably doing more harm than good.
Is Branding Important in the Flooring Sector?
November 4, 2019
Floor Covering Weekly
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Brand Touchpoints, Business, Culture, Customer Service, Employee Engagement, Marketing
Keywords: brand-building, Denise Lee Yohn at DOMOTEX, Denise Lee Yohn in Floor Covering Weekly, branding importance
It is essential to create an emotional connection with your customers. This principle applies whether you are a retailer (looking to create a comfortable shopping environment) or a manufacturer (looking to establish trusting relationships with buyers).
Rituals, Artifacts, Emojis, Oh My!
October 15, 2019
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement
Keywords: organizational culture, workplace culture, culture-building, FUSION, Brand+Culture Series, company rituals, company artifacts, sweat the small stuff
Between rituals, artifacts, emojis, and other tools, you can shape your culture through the most mundane or minute aspects of your organization.
5 Criteria of a Breakthrough Brand Name
October 8, 2019
Smartbrief
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Names, Business, Marketing
Keywords: branding, Denise Lee Yohn video, brand name, Smartbrief on Brand Leadership, naming, Smartblog on branding
How do you choose a breakthrough brand name? Don’t simply pick a name that you like or just go with your gut. The decision is too important to be made subjectively or left up to chance. Learn in this video the five criteria you should use to select a name for your brand.
The One Customer Experience Management Tool That Every CX Leader Must Use
October 1, 2019
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Brand Experience, Business, Leadership
Keywords: customer experience management, customer experience leadership, CX strategy, CX leadership, CX Maturity Model, CX competency
The one customer experience management (CEM) tool that every CX leader must use is a CX Maturity Model, a framework that identifies the different areas of development that CX requires, along with key milestones in each area.
Customer Experience Excellence Starts With A Customer Mindset
September 11, 2019
Smartbrief
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Brand Touchpoints, Customer Service
Keywords: customer experience, Denise Lee Yohn, customer centricity, customer experience vs. customer service, #CX, CX excellence, customer mindset
How do you achieve CX excellence? In this brand leadership episode, I explain five steps to CX excellence starting with adopting a customer mindset.
Power The Purpose Of A Corporation
September 3, 2019
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Leadership, Social Responsibility
Keywords: leadership, overarching purpose, purpose-driven, Purpose of a Corporation, Business Roundtable statement, stakeholder value, purpose of business, business stakeholders
Now that leading executives have stated their commitment to delivering value for all stakeholders, they must put their purpose into practice.
Lessons Learned From Kim Kardashian West’s Kimono Crisis
September 3, 2019
Advertising Age
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Names, Business, Marketing, Social Media
Keywords: brand naming, brand name selection, Kim Kardashian West, Kim Kardashian Kimono, Kim Kardashian shapewear, Kim Kardashian brand name crisis, social media brand strategy
If you use social media to become ‘famous for being famous,’ you obligate yourself to change according to the whims of its followers.
Do Your Core Values Have Teeth?
August 20, 2019
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Strategy, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: brand values, core values, brand-culture fusion, FUSION, Brand+Culture Series, unique core values
Most organization’s core values don’t say anything meaningful and therefore they don’t make a difference. To give your core values teeth, integrate and align them with your desired brand identity.
Does Your Brand Measure Up?
August 13, 2019
Smartbrief
Topics: Brand Equity, Brand Strategy
Keywords: brand leadership, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, brand equity, brand assessment, brand power, Smartbrief on Brand Leadership
Watch this new video in my series on brand leadership for SmartBrief and rate your brand on five dimensions of brand power
Employee Feedback Is Good For Employee Engagement; Action Is Better
August 6, 2019
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement
Keywords: employee engagement, employee feedback, employee survey, Culture Amp, Culture First conference, Josh Bersin employee feedback, Didier Elzinga
Getting to the next level of employee engagement involves translating employee feedback into action.
Promote Your Culture with Your Employee Handbook
July 14, 2019
AIA KnowledgeNet
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Corporate Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, culture-building, Zingerman's staff guide, Ari Weinzweig, employee handbook, employee guide, policies & procedures, AIA KnowledgeNet
Here are the steps involved in developing your employee handbook.
Customer Centricity: What Is It Really and How Do You Get It?
July 9, 2019
Smartbrief
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Customer Service, Leadership
Keywords: customer centricity, Peter Fader, #CX, customer-centric culture, customer mindset, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief on Leadership, customer strategy, Hootsuite customer centricity, Adobe Systems customer centricity, Airbnb customer centricity
If you want to successfully implement a customer-centric operating model, then you must cultivate a culture that embraces a customer-centric mindset and values. In this video for SmartBrief, Denise Lee Yohn share three ways to cultivate a customer-centric organizational culture
Why Should You Care About Your Employee Alumni?
July 2, 2019
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement
Keywords: employee engagement, employee experience, EX, employee alumni networks, Pearson alumni network, employee alumni, Brandy Dawson, Duncan Roberts, James Sinclair, Enterprise Alumni
Savvy companies are waking up to the unique and tremendous value that their employee alumni have to offer — and they’re deploying programs and platforms to facilitate alumni networks.
Becoming Purpose-Driven Requires More Than Inspiration
June 25, 2019
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: corporate culture, organizational culture, workplace culture, culture leadership, purpose-driven, purpose-led, purposeful culture, purpose leadership employee engagement, Robert E. Quinn, Anjan V. Thakor, purpose-driven organization
Being purpose-driven involves a deliberate process of discovery, leadership, and sustained engagement.
Why Every Company Needs a Chief Experience Officer
June 13, 2019
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Business, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, customer experience leadership, CX + EX, Adobe CX, Chief Experience Officer, CXO, employee experience leadership, Donna Morris, c-suite
Companies should consider integrating the two disciplines and installing a Chief Experience Officer to lead a combined CX and EX effort across the entire organization.
Should You Rebrand?
June 11, 2019
Smartbrief
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Names, Brand Strategy
Keywords: brand strategy, brand names, Denise Lee Yohn video, rebranding, new brand, Smartbrief video
We’re thrilled to offer SmartBrief readers the first video in what will be a monthly series from brand leadership expert Denise Lee Yohn. In this video, she discusses the three reasons why you should rebrand — and how you should prepare for a rebranding.
Align Employees To Customer Success Drive CX Excellence
June 3, 2019
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Brand Experience, Business, Customer Service, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, employee experience, CX + EX, CX strategy, CX excellence, customer success, employee success, Devon Westerholm, Adobe CX, SunPower CX, Dropbox CX
All the changes that CX improvement tends to involve can seem overwhelming. And sometimes it’s hard to know what the priority should be. CX leader Devon Westerholm makes the case for focusing on employees and aligning employees with customer success.
The Next Recession Is Coming – Are You Ready?
May 7, 2019
The European Financial Review
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: brand culture, recession strategy, reccession preparation, The European Financial Review on recession, Denise Lee Yohn on recession, Alan Mulaly recession strategy, Ford Motor Company recession strategy
The time to prepare for the next recession is now. Learn the three strategic actions then-CEO Alan Mulally utilised to save Ford Motor Co. from bankruptcy and return to profitability.
How To Scale Culture
May 7, 2019
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: corporate culture, organizational culture, workplace culture, culture leadership, start-up failure, how to scale culture, scaling up, scale-up failure
Three elements distinguish the culture of successful scale-ups: clarity, design, and practices.
Why Start-Ups Fail
May 1, 2019
Forbes
Topics: Brand Delivery, Business, Leadership, Small Businss
Keywords: start-up failure, why start-ups fail, CB Insights, failed entrepreneurs, start-up post-mortem, entrepreneur fail
The number one reason why start-ups fail was “no market need.”
Why The Corporate Valuations Of Rent The Runway, Airbnb And Lyft May Be Completely Wrong
April 3, 2019
Forbes
Topics: Brand Value, Business
Keywords: Peter Fader, brand valuation, customer-based corporate valuation, customer equity valuation, Rent The Runway valuation, Lyft IPO, Sarah Toms, Wharton Interactive, Wharton Digital Press, The Customer Centricity Playbook: Implement a Winning Strategy Driven By Customer Lifetime Value, customer lifetime value, Uber IPO, Slack IPO, Pinterest IPO, Peloton IPO, WeWork IPO, unicorn IPOs, unicorn valuations
The recent round of funding raised by Rent the Runway values the apparel rental company at $1 billion. Airbnb’s most recent internal valuation conducted in preparation for its IPO is around $38 billion. And Lyft’s IPO last week valued that company around $20 billion. But according to a couple of folks from Wharton business school, these corporate valuations may be completely wrong.
Should Company Culture Be Like a Cult
March 19, 2019
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: corporate culture, organizational culture, workplace culture, culture leadership, culture vs cult, Facebook culture, dave arnott, jim collins, jerry porras, built to last
The power and distinctiveness of a company’s culture shouldn’t necessarily be a concern.
Spark Customer Experience Innovation With These Three Strategies
March 5, 2019
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Business, Customer Service, Innovation
Keywords: customer experience culture, Kirsty Traill, CX innovation, customer experience innovation, customer experience strategies, CX innovation lab, Neiman-Marcus iLab, Neiman-Marcus CX innovation, Canadian Tire garages, Canadian Tire innovation lab, MultiChoice #ninetynine, MultiChoice innovation, Clint Payne, Hootsuite CX innovation, Hootsuite Owl2Owl, Bose CX innovation, Bose CX bootcamp, O2 CX innovation, O2 customer led
CX innovation must be a deliberate, distinct, disciplined effort.
Why Great Innovation Needs Great Marketing
February 20, 2019
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Business, Innovation, Marketing
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn, marketing vs. innovation, marketing strategy, marketing trends, innovation trends, Keurig K cup case study, Google glass failure, Harvard Business Review innovation, Harvard Business Review marketing
Ideas don’t sell themselves.
Three Mistakes Gillette Made That Super Bowl Advertisers Should Avoid
January 29, 2019
Forbes
Topics: Brand Communication, Marketing
Keywords: advertising strategy, Super Bowl advertisers, Gillette ad, Super Bowl ad strategy
Super Bowl advertisers that don’t want to waste their $5+ million investment should learn from the backlash to Gillette’s recent “The Best A Man Can Be” ad.
How Employee Experience (Ex) Helps Airbnb Attract And Keep Great Staff
January 15, 2019
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement
Keywords: employee engagement, employee experience, Airbnb employee experience, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies review, employee experience book review
New book says an “implicit social contract” with staff is key.
Culture Oversight — A Mandate for Boards of Directors
January 14, 2019
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: corporate culture, organizational culture, workplace culture, culture leadership, board of directors culture, culture risk, board of directors responsibility
To fulfill their responsibility for culture, board members must adopt a proactive, active stance and a disciplined, deliberate approach.
Marketing Matters Now More Than Ever
January 8, 2019
Forbes
Topics: Business, Innovation, Marketing
Keywords: Peter Drucker, marketing matters, marketing vs. innovation, marketing in 2019, marketing strategy, marketing definition, marketing trends
As 2019 begins, it’s time to reclaim marketing as a key driver of business.
Leaders And Losers In The Year of Employee Experience
December 24, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Delivery, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, employee experience, EX, Year of Employee Experience, Qualtrics experience bonus, IBM culture of education, Starbucks unconcious bias training, Hilton Hotels EX, United Airlines Core4, McDonald's complexity, Uber Dara Khosrowshahi, Amazon employee wage, Twitter organization, Nike EX
Was 2018 “The Year of Employee Experience”? Examples of companies that got it right and wrong this year show there’s still a lot of work to be done on EX.
All Types of Organizations Need Brand-Culture Fusion
December 17, 2018
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: corporate culture, brand culture, organizational culture, workplace culture, brand culture alignment, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, brand culture integration, culture-building, culture assessment, brand-culture fusion assessment, brand assessment
Each organization is different but all companies share the need to create a mutually reinforcing relationship between their brand and culture.
Brands To Watch In 2019
December 4, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Brand Communication, Business, Marketing
Keywords: brands to watch in 2019, top brands in 2019, top companies in 2019, best brands in 2019, 2019 trends, 2019 business predictions
Here’s the list of brands I’ll be keeping my eye on, in my annual tradition of one brand for each letter of the alphabet.
Leaders Must Go Beyond Giving Lip Service to Culture
December 3, 2018
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: corporate culture, organizational culture, workplace culture, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, culture-building, culture leadership, cultural norms
Three actions leaders can take to go beyond giving lip service to workplace culture and build a healthy, effective, sustainable culture at their organizations.
How To Cultivate a Successful Culture
December 1, 2018
The Art of
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: culture and brand, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, culture-building, culture leadership, The Art of Leadership
Cultivating a healthy, valuable, growth-oriented workplace culture isn’t easy. If you’re like most business leaders, you know your culture should produce a competitive advantage and improve your organization’s performance, but you don’t know how to cultivate and leverage the kind of culture you need to succeed.
Cultivate Culture Through Employee Experience
November 19, 2018
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, employee experience, EX, culture-building, workplace design, employee experience architecture, experience design
How to deliberately, clearly, and carefully design and manage employee experience to cultivate your workplace culture.
3 Ways To Prepare Your Business For The Next Recession
November 14, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: prepare for recession, recession strategy, brand-building in a recession, workplace culture in a recession
Economists and analysts agree – it’s not a question of if another recession will happen; it’s a question of when. And most predict the next recession will begin at the end of 2019/early 2020. So, what should you do to prepare your business for the next recession?
How to Stem the Decline of Brand Loyalty
November 13, 2018
Topics: Brand Loyalty, Brand Delivery, Business, Customer Service, Loyalty, Marketing
Keywords: brand loyalty, customer loyalty, customer service, loyalty strategies, loyalty trends, decline in loyalty, customer retention
If you want customers to be loyal to you, be loyal to them first.
The State of Brand-Culture Fusion
November 6, 2018
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Experience, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: brand culture, brand culture alignment, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, brand culture integration, brand-culture fusion, culture assessment, brand-culture fusion assessment, brand assessment
The current state of brand-culture fusion in business today is quite weak.
Marketing & HR: The Partnership That Powers Hootsuite
October 24, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Marketing
Keywords: CX + EX, Marketing & Human Resources, Hootsuite CX strategy, Hootsuite corporate culture, Hootsuite employee culture, Kirsty Traill, marketing collaboration, HR collaboration
Marketers must think and act beyond the narrow scope of marketing and assume a bigger, broader role as a change agent for their organizations.
How to Cultivate Brand-Culture Fusion
October 22, 2018
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Experience, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: brand-building, corporate culture, brand culture, organizational culture, workplace culture, brand culture alignment, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, brand culture integration, brand-culture fusion, culture-building
How and why to integrate your external brand identity and internal workplace culture
Welcome to the Brand+Culture Series
October 15, 2018
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Experience, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: brand-building, corporate culture, brand culture, organizational culture, workplace culture, brand culture alignment, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, brand culture integration, brand-culture fusion, culture-building
A series of regular insights on topics related to the integration and alignment of external brand identity and internal workplace culture.
6 Ways to Build a Customer-Centric Culture
October 2, 2018
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: customer-centricity, customer-centric culture, customer experience culture, customer experience success, customer experience leadersihp, CX Day, CX strategy, CX culture, customer culture
Start by hiring people who really care about the customer experience.
What Patients Really Want And Why Healthcare Companies Should Care
October 2, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Digital Health, Health/Fitness/Wellness, Customer Experience, Brand Experience, Customer Service
Keywords: customer experience, patient experience, #CX, healthcare experience, healthcare customer experience, PX, The Beryl Institute, what healthcare patients want, Consumer Perspectives on Patient Experience 2018
The Beryl Institute recently released findings from research they conducted on PX. Their report, Consumer Perspectives on Patient Experience 2018, reveals what patients really want and why healthcare companies need to pay attention.
Reminder: Customers Care How You Treat Your Employees
September 26, 2018
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Employee Engagement, Social Responsibility
Keywords: employee culture, Denise Lee Yohn in Harvard Business Review, employee policies, IBM employees, employee discrimination, age discrimination, corporate reputation, employeees and brand image
Your talent policies affect your reputation, performance, and culture.
Culture Building That Drives Performance
September 18, 2018
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement
Keywords: culture-building, high performance culture, Gallup Building a Culture That Drives Performance, Gallup culture report, high performing culture
Highlights from Gallup’s Approach to Culture: Building a Culture That Drives Performance report.
Advancing A Culture Of Education At IBM
September 12, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: IBM employee engagement, IBM education, IBM learning & development, IBM culture, Carrie Altieri IBM, learning organization, employee education, employee training
Some companies say that they are a learning organization, but IBM actually is one.
The Future Of Retail CX Is Human
August 22, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Business, Innovation
Keywords: retail customer experience, retail technology, future of retail, future of customer experience, retail CX, retail is human, CX is human
In the pursuit to leverage the potential of technology in CX, however, retailers must not lose sight of the humanity of CX.
Why Employment Branding Doesn’t Work — And What You Should Do Instead
August 17, 2018
Smartbrief
Topics: Business, Employee Engagement
Keywords: employee engagement, employment branding, employee experience, employer brand, recruiting, employee brand, war on talent
Most employment branding approaches don’t work because they aren’t aligned and integrated with the company’s customer brand strategy.
Walmart’s Got Talent…Now It Needs Integration
August 6, 2018
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Experience, Business, Leadership
Keywords: Walmart strategy, Walmart customer centricity, Walmart organization, Walmart leadership, Walmart customer experience, CX leadership, CX organizational design
For Walmart to truly become customer-centric and deliver a seamless customer journey, it needs more than talent.
Why This Consulting Firm Doesn’t Have An Exit Strategy
August 1, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: Pariveda Solutions, Bruce Ballengee, consulting firm leadership, consulting firm ESOP, Stefanie Hill, expectations framework, consulting firm culture
Many founders in general have their eye on their end game in today’s fast-moving, milestone-driven, valuation-obsessed business environment. But for Bruce Ballengee, CEO and Co-Founder of Pariveda Solutions, Inc., a $100 million, 500-person technology strategy and solutions consulting firm, no exit strategy was no problem.
Amazon Prime Day Is Retail Industry Bellwether
July 16, 2018
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Brand Loyalty, Business, Loyalty
Keywords: Amazon strategy, Amazon Prime strategy, Amazon Prime Day, Amazon loyalty, Amazon Prime membership, Amazon customer strategy, Amazon customer loyalty
Amazon PrimeDay is more than just a huge sale. It also serves as an indicator of the state of the retail industry today.
Amazon Prime Day Is Retail Industry Bellwether
July 11, 2018
Forbes
Topic: Restaurants and Retail
Keywords: Walmart vs. Amazon, Amazon strategy, Amazon Prime Day, retail industry trends, state of retail, retail membership, retail subscription
Do As I Say and Do
June 25, 2018
Bulldog Drummond
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Leadership
Keywords: leadership culture, Ford turnaround, Alan Mulally leadership, Ford leadership, ford recovery, leadership role model
While other business leaders often seem to come down with a case of the “do as I say, not as I do” syndrome particularly during crises and challenges, then-CEO Alan Mulally provided the words and the actions that inspired, informed, and instructed his employees to make Ford successful once again.
Six Surprising Facts That Explain Trader Joe’s Secrets To Success
June 13, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Culture, Leadership, Marketing
Keywords: trader joe's, retail customer experience, grocery store trends, Trader Joe's strategy, Dan Bane leadership, Trader Joe's culture, Trader Joe's success
Trader Joe’s sticks to a quirky, sometimes counterintuitive playbook that breaks from the conventions of grocery and retail in general.
Power Your CX with EX
June 12, 2018
RetailNext
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Employee Engagement
Keywords: retail customer experience, RetailNext, employee experience customer experience, EX & CX, employee engagement & customer experience, retail employee experience
When retailers integrate and align employee experience (EX) and customer experience (CX), they benefit from employees who are committed to their organizations because they want to be a part of creating great experiences for their shoppers.
Ten Years After Ford’s Spectacular Turnaround, What Alan Mulally Reveals About Brand-Inspired Cultural Revolution
June 7, 2018
Great Leadership
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: brand turnaround, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, brand-culture fusion, culture-building, culture leadership, Great Leadership blog, Dan McCarthy blog, Alan Mulally turnaround, Ford turnaround, Ford revival, Ford strategy, Alan Mulally strategy
It’s been 10 years since Alan Mulally pulled off what has been considered one of the greatest corporate turnarounds in U.S. history. One angle that hasn’t yet been covered is the brand-inspired cultural revolution he led inside the organization.
Employee Activism Challenges CEOs to Take Action
May 29, 2018
Smartbrief
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: corporate culture, employee activism, employee activists, employee protests, CEO activism, corporate activism, Denise Lee Yohn in Smartbrief, workplace trends, leadership trends, managing milllennial employees
The trend of employee activism deserves careful attention from companies because it is only going to grow and requires careful management by business leaders.
Why Does This Vendor Turn Clients Away?
May 23, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Business, Leadership
Keywords: Voxpro strategy, Voxpro Brian Hannon, Voxpro, TELUS, culture value chain, customer criteria, customer experience standards, customer acquisition strategy
Voxpro attracts Millennial employees by only taking on clients that meet its strict criteria.
3 Lessons All Leaders Should Learn From The Letter To Shareholders By Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos
May 2, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: corporate culture, workplace culture, culture leadership, Amazon culture, Jeff Bezos letter to shareholders, Jeff Bezos culture, Jeff Bezos leadership, Amazon high standards
Bezos describes what makes the workplace culture at Amazon so unique and, in doing so, provides valuable insights about culture-building.
The Leadership Mandate: Culture-Building
May 1, 2018
The Art of
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn speaker, culture leadership, leadership communication, The Art of Magazine, The Art of Leadership, leadership culture
The keys to successful leadership communication—especially as you try to cultivate your desired culture—are consistency, simplicity, storytelling, and relevance.
3 Ways To Ensure Your Culture Supports Your Brand
April 23, 2018
Management Today
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, culture-building, culture leadership, Denise Lee Yohn in Management Today, culture management
Leaders play a critical role in shaping their company’s real values.
The Secret To Superior Customer Experience
April 18, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Culture, Customer Service, Employee Engagement
Keywords: employee engagement, #CX, CX engagement, customer experience engagement, Pacific Consulting Group, Yvonne Nomizu, customer experience excellence, customer experience research
Work engaged employees is critical, but insufficient if an organization wants to be a top CX performer — employees must also be engaged in CX.
Corporate Culture Calls For Board Oversight
April 9, 2018
Corporate Board Member
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, culture-building, Corporate Board Member, board member culture, corporate board culture, executive board culture culture leadership, culture and risk
Culture is a strategic management responsibility — to be spearheaded by the chief executive officer, led by operational leaders, stewarded by every manager in the organization, and overseen by the board of directors.
Three Problems Caused By A Brand And Culture Mismatch: The Power Of Brand-Culture Fusion
April 2, 2018
HR.com
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: corporate culture, organizational culture, workplace culture, culture-building, culture leadership, HR.com magazine, Leadership Excellence magazine, USION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies
What’s the secret? Savvy business leaders power their companies’ performance by fusing together their brand and culture.
You Don’t Need A Mission Statement, You Need A Brand Purpose
April 1, 2018
Conscious Connection
Topics: Business, Leadership, Social Responsibility
Keywords: FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, purpose-driven company, purpose-driven brand, mission statement vs. purpose, Denise Lee Yohn in Conscious Connection, conscious business
Most business leaders know they should promote a purpose for their organization, but most also go about it the wrong way.
How to Fix United Airlines’ Culture Problem
March 27, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Customer Service, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, corporate culture, core values, United incidents, United culture, United employees, United Oscar Munoz, United leadership, employee empowerment, UAL problems
Recent incidents at United don’t reflect a competence deficit at the airline; they reveal a culture problem — and United’s leaders must take specific actions to fix it.
What Happened When Airbnb Blew Up Its HR Department To Focus On “Employee Experience”
March 23, 2018
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee experience, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, Airbnb employee experience, LinkedIn Weekend Essay, Denise Lee Yohn on LinkedIn, Airbnb employee engagement, Airbnb belonging strategy, Airbnb human resources
Excerpt from FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World’s Greatest Companies.
The Smart Manager Article
March 15, 2018
The Smart Manager
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Innovation
Keywords: employee culture, corporate culture, workplace culture, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, culture myths, culture-building, culture leadership, The Smart Manager Myth Busters
Denise Lee Yohn, author of FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World’s Greatest Companies, has cracked the code on culture-building. She explains why and how to use your corporate culture to increase the competitiveness and sustainability of your business.
Engaging Employees Starts with Remembering What Your Company Stands For
March 13, 2018
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Corporate Culture, Brand Delivery, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: brand strategy, employee engagement, employee brand engagement, Denise Lee Yohn in Harvard Business Review, employee experience, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, MGM Resorts employee experience, MGM Resorts employee engagement, brand training, Lili Tomovich, MGM Resorts rebranding
Most engagement efforts fail because they’re generic.
Company Culture Doesn’t Need To Be “Warm And Fuzzy” To Be Effective
March 13, 2018
Quartz At Work
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee culture, corporate culture, Denise Lee Yohn book, workplace culture, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, brand-culture fusion, brand and culture, Amazon corporate culture, Quartz at Work
Amazon is a perfect example of what I call brand-culture fusion— the full integration and alignment of external brand identity and internal organizational culture that explains the success of the world’s greatest companies.
Forget Everything You Know About Culture
March 7, 2018
ChangeThis
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: ChangeThis Manifesto, 800 CEO Read Manifesto, Denise Lee Yohn manifesto, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, culture manifesto, culture change
Most of the existing rhetoric on culture says that managers must be warm and nurturing and they must treat their employees like family, being encouraging and inclusive. That’s just wrong.
Cultivate Your Culture
March 6, 2018
Cannabis Business Executive Magazine
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Leadership, Small Businss
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn, small business culture, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, culture leadership, Cannabis Business Executive magazine, small business leadership, start-up culture
The cannabis business sector is teeming with opportunity. Your company has so much growth potential. And as the leader of a cannabis company, you have countless new ideas and ventures before you.
Fuse Customer Experience and Employee Experience to Drive Your Growth
March 6, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Brand Experience, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: customer experience, employee experience, Donna Morris Adobe, CX + EX, Adobe strategy, Adobe corporate culture, Adobe employee engagement, Adobe customer experience, Adobe employee experience
In a recent interview, Donna Morris, EVP of Customer and Employee Experience at Adobe Systems, outlined for me some of the primary ways she fuses together customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) and provided advice for other organizations that want to combine their CX and EX efforts.
Don’t Just Appreciate Your Employees, Engage Them
February 28, 2018
Happy Or Not
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Brand Experience, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, employee brand engagement, employee experience, employee appreciation day, Happy or Not, KPMG engagement
It’s that time of year: Employee Appreciation Day, a day when companies are supposed to recognize and celebrate their employees. While these approaches may demonstrate a company’s thankfulness for its workforce, they fall far short of what today’s employees really want. And they do little to accomplish what today’s employers need from their workforces — commitment, alignment, and a focus on delivering great customer experiences.
USA Gymnastics Shows What Not to Do to Produce a High Performance Culture
February 20, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: high performance culture, Larry Nasser, USA Gymnastics culture, U.S. Olympics Committee culture, Olympics team culture, Navy SEALs culture, NASA culture, Amazon corporate culture
The multiple sexual abuse crimes committed by Dr. Larry Nasser, the former USA Gymnasticsnational team doctor, show other organizations and their leaders exactly what not to do if they want to produce a high performance culture.
Ban These 5 Words From Your Corporate Values Statement
February 5, 2018
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Corporate Culture, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: mission statement, corporate culture, Denise Lee Yohn in Harvard Business Review, workplace culture, core values, unique culture, category values
Most core values statements don’t get at what’s unique about the firm.
Great Brands Aim For Members’ Hearts, Not Their Wallets
February 1, 2018
Inside Eascorp
Topics: Brand Loyalty, Brand Communication, Business, Marketing
Keywords: credit union branding, credit union brand-building, Eascorp newsletter, credit union loyalty, credit union member strategy
If your members aren’t happy but they stay with you because you make it difficult for them to leave, they’re not truly loyal to your business—and you’re not building a truly great brand.
Great Brands Aim For Members’ Hearts, Not Their Wallets
February 1, 2018
Inside Eascorp
Topics: Brand Loyalty, Brand Communication, Marketing
Keywords: credit union branding, credit union brand-building, Eascorp newsletter, credit union loyalty, credit union member strategy
If your members aren’t happy but they stay with you because you make it difficult for them to leave, they’re not truly loyal to your business—and you’re not building a truly great brand.
Pursuit’s David Barry Led Brand Transformation from the Inside Out
January 30, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Corporate Culture, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: corporate culture, culture leadership, Pursuit Collection, David Barry Pursuit, Viad Corp., brand transformation, re-branding, brand from the inside out
Viad Corp.’s President of Pursuit Collection David Barry personally led the organization through an inside-out approach to brand-building and successfully executed a re-brand.
Five Myths About Corporate Culture, And Five Strategies For Cultivating A Great One
January 16, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Corporate Culture, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: corporate culture, organizational culture, workplace culture, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, culture myths, culture-building, culture strategies, culture leadership
Five common myths about culture-building — as well as five strategies for cultivating a unique, healthy, sustainable organizational culture.
2018 Will Be the Year of Employee Experience
January 2, 2018
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Corporate Culture, Employee Engagement
Keywords: customer experience, employee engagement, corporate culture, employee experience, EX, 2018 trends, 2018 predictions, human resources trends
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 2018 The Year of Employee Experience.
New Generation Of Tech CEOs At Uber, Microsoft And Google Lead With Culture
November 15, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Culture, Leadership
Keywords: employee culture, corporate culture, workplace culture, technology company culture, Uber CEO, Google CEO, Microsoft CEO, tech leadership, Satya Nadelli, Sundar Pichai, Dara Khosrowshahi, leading with culture
Five New Customer Experiences
November 10, 2017
Chain Store Age
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Experience
Keywords: brand experience, retail customer experience, Chain Store Age, disruptive retail customer experience, Apple Town Hall, Starbucks Roastery, Shake Shack playground, Walmart omnichannel, Lolli & Pops core values
Savvy retailers and restaurateurs aren’t standing by while digital players, delivery services, and marketplaces try to steal their market share. They’re disrupting themselves and creating brand new retail customer experiences.
To Win Over Americans, Chinese Companies Should Build Their Brands
October 25, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Brand Strategy, Business, Marketing
Keywords: brand purpose, chinese branding, Chinese brands, Tencent brand, Alibaba brand, Huawei brand, Jack Ma brand, international branding, brand personality, brand storytelling
Purpose, story-telling, and brand personality are brand-building levers that Chinese brands should use to win with American customers.
Why Retailers Should Retire Holiday Shopping Season
October 9, 2017
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Business, Marketing
Keywords: retail customer experience, retail strategy, retail trends, holiday shopping trends, holiday shopping, holiday season retail, Christmas season shopping
Seasonal binge-buying doesn’t fit the way consumers shop now.
Cos Bar Uses This One Essential Strategy To Compete With Mass Retailers Ulta And Sephora
October 4, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Customer Service
Keywords: Cos Bar, Lily Garfield, David Olsen, luxury service, Ulta, Sephora, beauty retail, luxury marketing, luxury retail, cosmetics marketing, cosmetics retail
Cos Bar is sticking with the one essential competitive strategy that has established the brand with high-end customers: luxury service.
The Future Retail Success Depends On Culture, Not Technology
September 13, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Innovation
Keywords: retail customer experience, retail trends, future retail success, retail technology, Arun Nair, RetailNext, retail culture
To be prepared for the future, the retail industry needs to undergo a cultural transformation more than it needs to adopt any given technology.
Dunkin’ Donuts Should Embrace Its Differentiation
August 23, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Brand Names, Brand Strategy, Marketing
Keywords: branding strategy, brand differentiation, Dunkin' Donuts, brand name, Dunkin' Donuts vs. Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts branding, Dunkin' Donuts brand positioning, Dunkin' Donuts brand differentiation
Dunkin’ Donuts should emphasize the combination of great donuts and coffee that differentiates it from most every other brand.
How One Retailer Puts Its Core Values On Display Every Day
August 2, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Touchpoints, Marketing
Keywords: retail customer experience, retail customer experience design, Lolli & Pops, Jessica Mennella, Whitney Clark, core values, sweet shop
Sweet shop retail chain Lolli & Pops creates a customer experience where its values come to life for customers every day.
Does Your Brand Need A Tagline?
July 12, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Brand Communication, Marketing
Keywords: hashtags, Denise Lee Yohn, taglines, advertising strategy, headlines, tagline marketing, social media marketing
Many advertisers are questioning the value of taglines these days
Why Your Company Culture Should Match Your Brand
June 26, 2017
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: brand strategy, branding strategy, corporate culture, Denise Lee Yohn in Harvard Business Review, organizational culture, workplace culture, brand culture alignment, brand culture integration
How you operate is linked to how you’re perceived.
Culture Isn’t Enough
June 22, 2017
Smartbrief
Topics: Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, corporate culture, organizational culture, workplace culture, culture and brand, Denise Lee Yohn on Smartbrief, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies
You should integrate your culture and your brand so inextricably that together they give your company inimitable and sustainable power.
Fresh Advice for Retailers from Trend Forecasting Firm TOBE
June 21, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Business, Innovation, Marketing
Keywords: retail branding, retail trends, The TOBE Report, Leslie Ghize, advice for retailers, Retail Next
The prescription for branding has changed, says Leslie Ghize of The TOBE Group.
Will Amazon Eat The World Or Will It Be Eaten?
May 31, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Business, Strategy
Keywords: Walmart vs. Amazon, Amazon strategy, amazon competitors, zack kanter, brittain ladd, amazon in china, amazon in india, AWS strategy, FBA strategy, amazon positioning
Experts disagree on if Amazon will remain unchallenged by competitors.
What Should Apple Name Its Next New iPhone?
May 10, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Brand Names, Innovation, Marketing
Keywords: brand name strategy, Apple iPhone, new iPhone name, iPhone 8 launch, iPhone X, iPhone Edition, Apple branding, brand name selection, Apple brand name strategy
The name of Apple’s next product is not simply a semantics issue — it’s a brand opportunity.
Should You Name Your Company After Yourself?
May 5, 2017
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Brand Names, Leadership, Small Businss
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn in Harvard Business Review, eponymous brand, eponymous company, naming strategy, brand name strategy
As with all brand naming decisions, it matters less which name an entrepreneur chooses than what actions they take to make it mean something that’s relevant and compelling.
Lady Gaga Shows Companies How To Make A Comeback
April 19, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Brand Loyalty, Brand Experience, Brand Strategy, Marketing
Keywords: brand loyalty, Lady Gaga marketing, Lady Gaga comeback, Lady Gaga strategy, Lady Gaga Little Monsters, brand turnaround, brand rebound, company turnaround, brand comeback
Everyone should recognize the successful comeback Lady Gaga has made and seek to learn from it.
United Is Operating On Auto-Pilot
April 11, 2017
Topics: Customer Experience, Brand Delivery, Brand Touchpoints, Business, Culture, Customer Service, Employee Engagement, Loyalty, Social Media
Keywords: United Airlines social media, United Airlines man dragged off plane, United Airlines culture, United Airlines employee engagement, United Airlines brand touchpoints
Now that social media has made every customer a media channel, leaders must recognize every employee is a brand touchpoint.
Is It Too Late for Sears to Save Itself?
March 30, 2017
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Equity, Brand Experience, Business, Culture, Leadership, Strategy
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn in Harvard Business Review, Sears strategy, Sears brand strategy, Sears recovery, Sears turnaround, Eddie Lampert strategy, retail comeback, retail turnaround
Sears’s number one priority should be to protect and restore its brand.
Why Did Sexual Harassment Fell Uber?
March 25, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Brand Experience, Business, Culture, Leadership
Keywords: brand integrity, internal brand culture, brand authenticity, Uber sexual harassment, Uber brand, Uber culture, sexual harassment in the workplace, Travis Kalanick sexual harassment, Susan Fowler sexual harassment, brand culture alignment
Uber’s lack of integrity has eroded brand trust and esteem.
Walmart Won’t Stay on Top If Its Strategy Is “Copy Amazon”
March 21, 2017
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Brand Strategy, Business, Marketing
Keywords: Walmart vs. Amazon, Walmart strategy, Amazon strategy, Walmart competitive advantage, Walmart Jet, Walmart Marc Lore, Walmart shipping strategy, Walmart everyday low pricing strategy, Amazon Prime strategy, Amazon shipping strategy
Trying to beat Amazon at its own game is not only likely to fail, it’s also not in Walmart’s best interests.
Here’s Who Is Stalling Your Culture Efforts
March 17, 2017
Smartbrief
Topics: Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: frozen middle, middle managers, middle management, diversity & inclusion, D&I, middle manager culture efforts, middle manager change management
Every manager at every level is a link in the leadership chain that connects culture to results.
Who Owns Customer Experience?
March 8, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Business, Customer Service, Loyalty, Marketing, Sales
Keywords: customer experience management, #CX, Tiffani Bova, #custexp, marketing vs. sales, sales disruption, customer experience leadership
It matters less who owns CX and more who executes on it, Tiffani Bova, Salesforce’s Global, Customer Growth and Innovation Evangelist says.
Healthcare Companies Should Design Patient Experiences Like Customer Experiences
February 15, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Digital Health, Customer Experience, Customer Service
Keywords: digital health, patient experience, Circle Medical Group, healthcare experience, healthcare start-up, David Kagan, George Favvas, healthcare customer experience
Healthcare companies should design patient experiences like companies design customer experiences, but they’re not.
The NFL May Be Losing The Super From Its Bowl
January 25, 2017
Forbes
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Equity, Business, Marketing
Keywords: NFL brand, Super Bowl advertisers, NFL decline, Super Bowl viewership, NFL Super Bow trend
The NFL brand seems to be losing its luster.
What Can Media Companies Learn from Top Retailers?
January 25, 2017
Knowledge@Wharton
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Brand Touchpoints, Business, Innovation
Keywords: customer experience, retail customer experience, retail transformation, #CX, #custexp, Medium, monetize content, media companies, media transformation
Despite lower in-store sales, some retailers are blazing successful new marketing trails that engage customers and improve the bottom line. Media companies could learn from these new models.
Brand As Business
January 16, 2017
The College Store
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Business
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn, brand-as-business management approach, The College Store Magazine, NACS Magazine, CAMEX Magazine, college bookstore experience, college store experience retail customer experience
Do you do what great brands do?
VCs Are From Mars, Female Entrepreneurs Are From Venus
January 4, 2017
Forbes
Topic:
Keywords: Jory Des Jardins, BlogHer founder, female entrepreneurs, female start-ups, VC gender gap, entrepreneur gender gap, funding gender gap
Jory Des Jardins, cofounder of BlogHer, says there is a “mismatch between the VC process and how women go about growing a company.”
Startup With Passion, Purpose, and People
January 4, 2017
Bulldog Drummond
Topics: Business, Innovation, Leadership
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn on Bulldog Drummond, start with why, start-up strategy, start-up purpose, entrepreneur passion, start-up success
It seems the drive behind many startups is to make money, create something new and be successful. But these aren’t reasons to start a company. They’re the results – if you do it right.
Design Your Employee Experience as Thoughtfully as You Design Your Customer Experience
December 8, 2016
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Customer Experience, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, employee culture, Denise Lee Yohn on Harvard Business Review, workplace culture, employee experience, employee segmentation, employee and customer experience
Improving customer experience is often a top business priority, but what about employee experience?
Ten Brands to Watch in 2017
December 7, 2016
Chain Store Age
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Business
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn in Chain Store Age, Brands to Watch in 2017, 10 Brands to Watch, Companies to Watch in 2017, Retailers to Watch in 2017
Brand-building consultant Denise Lee Yohn has released her annual “Brands to Watch” list for 2017. There are 26 companies on the list, with retail and social media brands accounting for 10 of the spots.
SoulCycle Uses A Freedom Within A Framework Approach To Flourish
November 30, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Health/Fitness/Wellness, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, corporate culture, SoulCycle brand, Melanie Whelan, freedom within a framework, SoulCycle growth, workplace culture, SoulCycle culture, management approach
The “freedom within a framework” management approach has been a critical element behind SoulCycle’s success.
What’s the ROI on Brand-Building?
November 20, 2016
Mth Degree
Topic: Brand Value
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn, Balanced Brand Scorecard, brand ROI, branding ROI, brand valuation, marketing ROI, Mth Degree
I’d like to suggest a framework that provides a means for understanding and tracking the value-creating results of a brand. The Balanced Brand Scorecard provides a holistic assessment of your brand’s value.
7 Steps to Deliver Better Customer Experiences
November 15, 2016
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Customer Experience, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Brand Touchpoints
Keywords: customer experience architecture, customer experience design, customer experience management, #CX, #custexp, customer experience video, customer experience webinar, customer experience on Harvard Business Review
Using seven key steps, brand-building expert Denise Lee Yohn helps companies design and deliver dramatically improved experiences by using a customer experience architecture.
Customer Experience Success Relies On More Than Marketing
November 9, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Business, Marketing
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn, customer experience design, customer experience strategy, customer experience marketing, customer experience management, new customer metrics, organization design
Customer experience success relies on operations, human resources, and finance as much as it does on marketing.
Fuerst Group Does Retail R&D On KEEN And Chrome Industries Brands
October 26, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Experience, Innovation, Marketing
Keywords: retail innovation, Fuerst Group, KEEN footwear, Chrome Industries Hub, John Evons, retail R&D, KEEN garage
Research and development is no longer just for product development. Retailers must take an R&D approach to customer experience and experiment with different ways to engage customers, sell products, and build their brands.
Apple’s Most Innovative Product Isn’t A Product At All
October 5, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Strategy, Innovation
Keywords: apple store, retail customer experience, Apple brand positioning, Apple brand strategy, #CX, Apple customer experience innovation, Angela Ahrendts, Apple retail strategy, Apple product innovation, #custexp
Apple has developed a new retail experience that has transformed the Apple store as we knew it and the Apple brand itself.
Stop Selling; Start Evangelizing
September 14, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Business, Marketing, Sales
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn on Forbes, sales strategy, brand evangelist, sales leadership, brand evangelism, Guy Kawasaki, Tiffani Bova
Marketing may be expanding its influence and involvement across the customer experience, but sales and salespeople can and should remain a critical element of most go-to-market strategies. To ensure this, salespeople need to stop selling and start evangelizing.
How to Start Up Your Brand: Develop a Minimum Viable Brand
September 14, 2016
ChangeThis
Topics: Brand Strategy, Business, Small Businss
Keywords: strategic brand platform, ChangeThis Manifesto, start-up branding, start-up brand strategy, minimum viable brand, MVB, minimum viable product, Denise Lee Yohn manifesto
Many startups get derailed because they don’t get their brand right. To avoid this fate, you need to develop a Minimum Viable Brand (MVB).
How to Start-Up Your Brand: Develop a Minimum Viable Brand
September 14, 2016
Topics: Brand Strategy, Small Businss
Keyword:
As an alternative to a complete strategic brand platform or simply a shell of a brand, a MVB provides start-ups the perfect balance of structure and flexibility.
ZICO Coconut Water Founder Thinks Business Should Aspire Higher
August 24, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Brand Delivery, Business, Culture, Leadership, Social Responsibility
Keywords: corporate social responsibility, Denise Lee Yohn on Forbes, Mark Rampolla, ZICO Coconut Water, High-Hanging Fruit, purpose-driven companies, ZICO coconut water story, responsible leadership, purpose-driven book
ZICO Coconut Water Founder Mark Rampolla’s book, High-Hanging Fruit: Build Something Great by Going Where No One Else Will, recounts how Rampolla reached for a higher purpose and built ZICO into a multi-million dollar business that was eventually acquired by Coke.
The Biggest Mistake Church Leaders Can Make
August 15, 2016
Phil Cooke Blog
Topics: Brand Strategy, Leadership
Keywords: Phil Cooke blog, Denise Lee Yohn on Phil Cooke, church leadership, church marketing strategy, church brand strategy, pastor mistake
I asked Denise if she could share one message with pastors and ministry leaders today, what would it be? Here’s her answer. It’s counter-intuitive for many, but from my experience, worth considering:
The Best Salespeople Do What the Best Brands Do
August 15, 2016
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Business, Leadership, Sales
Keywords: brand-as-business management approach, salesmanship, Denise Lee Yohn in Harvard Business Review, what great salespeople do, sales strategy, sales success, Guy Kawasaki brand evangelism, brand evangelist
Great salespeople succeed in this new business environment by doing what great brands do.
Olympics Advertisers Are Wasting Their Sponsorship Dollars
August 3, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Brand Communication, Business, Marketing
Keywords: Olympics sponsorship, Olympics advertising, Adidas vs. Nike, brand sponsorship, brand partnership, sports sponsorship, advertising strategy
Without spots that are relevant and compelling to their target customers, Olympics advertisers are wasting their sponsorship dollars.
An Open Letter To McDonald’s New Brand Leader: Start Brand-Building Inside
July 13, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: brand engagement, employee culture, employee brand engagement, McDonald's turnaround, Colin Mitchell McDonald's, new McDonald's Brand VP, stakeholder brand engagement
Dear Colin Mitchell, Congratulations on your new role as global VP-McDonald’s Brand! Your first and top priority be building a brand-led culture inside the organization,
Is It Time For Microsoft To Rebrand?
June 22, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Equity, Brand Names, Leadership
Keywords: Microsoft rebrand, Microsoft brand strategy, Satya Nadella strategy, Microsoft LinkedIn acquisition, Microsoft LinkedIn strategy, rebranding, Google Alphabet rebrand
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been creating a new company. Perhaps it’s time for a new brand.
Big-Box Retailers Have Two Options If They Want to Survive
June 22, 2016
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Experience, Business
Keywords: retail customer experience, big box retail, big box retailer strategy, ghost box, retail disruption, big box customer experience
Big box retail must shift its strategy — from competing on access and selection to staging big experiences and providing big discounts.
Seven Habits Of Highly Engaged Organizations
June 1, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Business, Culture, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, employee culture, corporate culture, highly engaged organizations, Gallup employee engagement, organizational culture
Some companies manage to inspire and motivate their employees and these highly engaged organizations reap the many fruits of employee engagement including higher employee and customer loyalty. Here are seven habits of highly engaged organizations.
Extraordinary Experiences
May 18, 2016
Happy Or Not
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Culture, Employee Engagement
Keywords: employee engagement, extraordinary experiences, restaurant customer experience, Denise Lee Yohn in Happy Or Not, Jason's Deli culture, Jason's Deli values, restaurant employee culture, Joe Tortorice Jr. Jason's Deli strategy
How do some stores and restaurants break through the clutter; compete with bigger, online competitors; and manage to grow and thrive when so many others fail? Find out in this excerpt from Extraordinary Experiences: What Great Retail and Restaurant Brands Do by Denise Lee Yohn.
Uber Allows Tips And Botches Stakeholder Engagement
May 11, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Customer Experience, Business, Customer Service, Employee Engagement, Leadership
Keywords: employee engagement, Uber tipping policy, Uber drivers solicit tips, Uber stakeholder engagement, Uber brand stewardship, stakeholder engagement, Denise Lee Yohn in Forbes
Uber drivers are now allowed to solicit tips. Regardless of whether you support or deride the outcome, it is the latest evidence that Uber has failed at stakeholder engagement with its drivers.
Be Different to Make a Difference
May 5, 2016
Bulldog Drummond
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Brand Strategy, Marketing
Keywords: brand positioning, brand differentiation, Denise Lee Yohn on Bulldog Drummond, differentiating your brand, meaningful differentiation
Fast Food For Millennials By Millennials
April 20, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Brand Communication, Business, Marketing
Keywords: Freshii restaurant, Freshii brand strategy, Matthew Corrin Freshii, millennial fast food, millennial restaurant, millennial businesses, Freshii millennial, Freshii McDonald's, Freshii Chipotle
While most restaurant brands — actually most businesses in general — work hard to be relevant and compelling to the 83+ million consumers between 16-34 years old who spend approximately $600 billion each year in the U.S., Freshii does it with ease.
What Sports Authority And Dick’s Sporting Goods Indicate About The State Of The Retail Industry
March 30, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Business
Keywords: Dick's Sporting Goods retail strategy, Sports Authority retail strategy, Sports Authority bankruptcy, Dick's Sporting Goods growth, state of retail industry, health of retail industry
A week after Sports Authority filed for bankruptcy, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced plans to open 36 new stores. The two starkly contrasting news items send a message about the state of the retail industry today — and it doesn’t look good, at least on the surface.
Why Companies Are Advertising Their Master Brand
March 28, 2016
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Names, Brand Strategy, Business, Marketing
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn on Harvard Business Review, master brand strategy, brand architecture strategy, house of brands strategy, Hershey master brand strategy, Coca Cola master brand strategy, branding strategy options, parent brand strategy
While companies that operate multiple business units or multiple product lines have always had the option of employing a master brand strategy, branded house strategy, or some alternative in between, today’s business environment seems to call for the more cohesive, consolidated approach.
To Win Customers, Stop Selling And Start Seducing
March 9, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Experience, Brand Touchpoints, Business, Marketing, Sales
Keywords: emotional connection, customer experience design, emotional appeal, great brands avoid selling products, emotional branding, Dan Ariely, seducing customers, irrational customers, customer insights
If you want to win over customers, stop selling and start seducing them instead. This was the underlying message of a talk I heard recently by behavioral economics professor and bestselling author Dan Ariely.
A Tale of Two Brands: Yahoo’s Mistakes vs. Google’s Mastery
February 23, 2016
Knowledge@Wharton
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Identity, Brand Names, Brand Strategy, Business, Innovation, Leadership, Strategy
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn on Knowledge@Wharton, Yahoo vs. Google, Yahoo brand strategy, Google brand strategy, Yahoo mission, Google mission, Yahoo brand identity, Google brand identity, Yahoo logo, Google logo, Marissa Mayer failure, Alphabet brand strategy
While many theories have been offered to explain Yahoo’s downfall in light of Google’s ascent, I would like to suggest that the difference in the companies’ brand approaches may be the most illuminating.
Three Ways To Tidy Up Your Brand
February 17, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Brand Communication, Brand Extensions, Brand Names, Brand Strategy, Business, Marketing
Keywords: brand strategy, Marie Kondo, author of the bestselling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, tidy up your brand, streamline your brand, brand portfolio, brand architecture, rationalizing brands, simplify your brand
Advice from Marie Kondo, author of the bestselling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, suggests three ways to tidy up your brand.
Delivering Happiness — Company Mission And Community Movement
January 27, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Business, Culture, Employee Engagement
Keywords: Delivering Happiness, Jenn Lim, happiness at work, employee happiness, Zappos culture, Zappos employee, happiness index, Tony Hsieh delivering happiness
Is it possible for a company to “deliver happiness?” Companies deliver pizzas, yes. Furniture, yes. Even technology solutions, yes. But happiness?Jenn Lim thinks so. She is the CEO and Chief Happiness Officer at Delivering Happiness, a part-consultancy, part-publisher, and part-community advocate.
Lessons From Guy Kawasaki
January 6, 2016
Forbes
Topics: Design, Innovation, Marketing, Sales
Keywords: Guy Kawasaki lessons, Guy Kawasaki marketing, Guy Kawasaki Lessons from Steve Jobs, sales evangelists, Guy Kawasaki entrepreneurs
Three lessons from Guy Kawasaki, former Apple evangelist and current advisor, investor and thought leader to startups, established brands like Google and Mercedes-Benz, and the business community at large
To Stay Relevant, Professional Associations Must Rebrand
January 5, 2016
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Brand Names, Brand Strategy, Business
Keywords: Consumer Electronics Association re-brand, Consumer Electronics Association brand positioning, Consumer Electronics Association brand strategy, Consumer Technology Association, association branding, association brand strategy, organization branding, association brand positioning, National Speakers Association rebranding
The cautionary tale of the Consumer Electronics Association re-brand to the Consumer Technology Association.
Brands to Watch in 2016
December 23, 2015
Chain Store Age
Topics: Business, Marketing
Keywords: brands to watch in 2016, 2016 top brands, 2016 brand trends, Denise Lee Yohn in Chain Store Age, 2016 brand list
Which brands will break new ground, fall from grace, or overcome obstacles in 2016? Here’s my list of brands to watch in 2016. Since I couldn’t narrow the list to a handful as I’ve done in past years, I decided to expand the list to 26, one for each letter of the alphabet.
So here’s a brand-builder’s almanac for the coming year.
2015’s Biggest Brand Stories
December 4, 2015
QSR Magazine
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Brand Communication, Brand Delivery, Leadership, Marketing
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn, fast food trends, Brand New Perspectives, Shake Shack IPO, Taco Bell Cantina, to 2015 brands in fast food, top 2015 fast food restaurant, Subway results, Starbucks Race Together, McDonald's leadership change, KFC Colonel ads, Subway spokeperson Jared Fogle, Taco Bell U.S. Taco
Six news-makers that helped define the year in limited-service restaurants.
Stitch Fix Combines High Tech And High Touch To Transform Retail
December 2, 2015
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Experience, Business, Innovation
Keywords: retail customer experience, retail leadership, Denise Lee Yohn on Forbes, retail transformation, titch Fix Stitch Fix, Julie Bornstein, Stitch Fix innovation, Stitch Fix customer experience, Stitch Fix buyers, Stitch Fix leadership, retail company leaders
Stitch Fix, a start up founded in 2011 by a Harvard Business School student, combines high tech and high touch into a super-personalized experience that is transforming shopping.
Sweetgreen Serves Society with More Than Salads
November 19, 2015
Conscious Connection
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Experience, Culture, Social Responsibility
Keywords: Sweetgreen corporate social responsibility, Sweetgreen positive social impact, Extraordinary Experiences excerpt, Denise Lee Yohn on Conscious Connection, Denise Lee Yohn book excerpt, sweetgreen brand strategy, restaurant corporate social responsibility
The following is an excerpt from the new book, Extraordinary Experiences: What Great Retail and Restaurant Brands Do, by Denise Lee Yohn.
H-E-B Goes Beyond Products and Pricing to Connect With Customers
November 17, 2015
Chain Store Age
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Brand Touchpoints, Business
Keywords: emotional appeal, Extraordinary Experiences: What Great Retail and Restaurant Brands Do, H-E-B customer experience, H-E-B brand experience, Extraordinary Experiences excerpt, emotional branding
The following is an excerpt from the new book, Extraordinary Experiences: What Great Retail and Restaurant Brands Do, by Denise Lee Yohn.
It’s the Experience, Stupid!
November 11, 2015
ChangeThis
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Brand Touchpoints, Business, Culture
Keywords: Denise Lee Yohn ChangeThis Manifesto, Denise Lee Yohn 800-CEO-READ, experience economy, experience strategy, it's the experience stupid, experience ecosystem, experience culture
Businesses may not be charging admission to staged experiences, as Pine and Gilmore predicted, but they are designing and differentiating their offerings to appeal to the buyers of experiences—or, at least, they should be. That’s because, when it comes to value creation, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Stop Making Excuses and Start Building a Great Brand
November 11, 2015
The Buzz 101
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Brand Strategy, Business
Keywords: brand strategy, small business brand strategy, branding for small business, sweetgreen branding, Extraordinary Experiences: What Great Retail and Restaurant Brands Do, Denise Lee Yohn on The Buzz 101, B2B branding, H-E-B branding, PIRCH branding
When you hear the word “brand” do you automatically think of large, established consumer companies?
A Great Customer Experience Isn’t Enough
November 5, 2015
CX Journey
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Experience, Brand Strategy, Brand Touchpoints, Business, Customer Service
Keywords: retail customer experience, PIRCH customer experience, customer experience strategy, extraordinary experiences, Westin customer experience, Denise Lee Yohn on CX Journey, customer experience differentiation
To excel in customer experience, you can’t just rely on good design and solid execution. Your customer experience shouldn’t just be great — it should also be differentiated.
Five Ways to Win on Customer Experience
November 4, 2015
Forbes
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Experience, Brand Touchpoints, Customer Service
Keywords: brand experience, retail customer experience, empathy in customer experience, branded experience, retail competitive strategy, customer experience win
Customer experience is the new battlefield where the war for customers’ dollars and devotion is fought — especially this holiday season when brands will have to do more than offer free shipping and flash sales if they want to stand out.
Retailers Can’t Rely on Holiday-Season Gimmicks Like They Used To
November 3, 2015
Harvard Business Review
Topics: Restaurants and Retail, Customer Experience, Brand Delivery, Brand Experience, Business, Customer Service, Marketing
Keywords: retail customer experience, PIRCH customer experience, customer experience design, Denise Lee Yohn on Harvard Business Review, retail holiday strategy, retail holiday competition, Costco customer experience