Most companies call themselves values-driven. They have a statement, a poster, maybe a mention in the onboarding deck. And that’s exactly the problem—values-driven has become table stakes, not an advantage. In this week’s Brand+Culture Series on LinkedIn, I make the case for something different: values-fused. It’s the shift from values a company has to values […]
The burger industry might be the best classroom in the world for brand strategy. Five chains. Similar products. Five completely different paths to market leadership—and every single one of them has lessons for your business, regardless of your industry. I recently joined The Hustle to break down exactly how different chains each built dominant positions […]
Here’s a wake-up call as you lock in your 2026 strategy: 84% of leaders say long-term brand building is critical to business success, but only 36% believe their organizations are effective at it. That’s a huge gap! New research from Harvard Business Review Analytics reveals why most organizations fail at brand building and what the […]
Here are 25 surprising things you will learn about brand and culture in my new book, FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World’s Greatest Companies. […]
By now, it should be obvious how important it is to clearly differentiate your brand. But I still get questions about how to identify key brand differentiators — or how to prioritize them, clarify them, or use them in brand strategy development. So I’ve produced an excerpt from a recent webinar I gave in which […]
Here’s a hypothesis: There are essentially nine different types of brands and you can jumpstart the development of your brand strategy by identifying the one that’s right for you. I’ve developed this hypothesis after working on brands for over 25 years. I’ve come to realize that there is a finite number of brand types or […]
I recently was asked to speak to the executive team of a $200 billion organization about increasing the company’s competitiveness. It was an extraordinary opportunity and I seized it by sharing my insights on how to build a brand of distinction — one that isn’t merely different, but one that stands apart and above the rest. […]
Brand differentiation is more important now than ever before. You can’t just be better than your competitors — you must be different. Here are five of my resources, all in one handy spot, to help you understand the new challenges and requirements to differentiate and how to achieve greater brand differentiation. […]
Differentiation may quite possibly be the top priority in brand development. In today’s competitive business environment, simply being better than other brands no longer creates a sustainable advantage. Your brand must be different. As you scale-up your brand, it is critical to identify and develop your key brand differentiators. […]
My blog series on “How to Scale-Up Your Brand” continues today with instructions on how to plot your brand positioning. A clear competitive brand positioning is essential to brand-building because it defines who you are selling to, what your business scope is, and how you create unique value for your customers. In this post, you’ll […]