You’ve got brand-building questions; I’ve got answers! Today I’m introducing a new short series of videos to address the questions I frequently hear about brand-building.  My answers are taken from my recent media interviews, so they’re based on real-live issues.  Take a look at the first installment:  How should we evolve or extend our brand? Brand […]

V20

From What Great Brands Do:  Focusing on the core of your brand – and staying committed to that focus – is the key to building a strong brand.   This is the latest in a series of quote posters from my book.  Check out the updated collection of posters so far — and feel free […]

pivot

Pivoting can be a start-up’s smartest move or the last nail in its coffin.  For every Twitter (which started as a podcast subscription network before its founders realized that iTunes would quickly overtake them, so they turned their attention to microblogging), there’s a Color (a photo-sharing cellphone application whose founders tried unsuccessfully to pivot into […]

V22 say no used
10.27.14

Just Say No

From What Great Brands Do:  To be great, you need to say no.   I thought of this insight when I read a recent Businessweek article by Lindsay Rupp, “J. Crew CEO Drexler Says Retailer Will Sit Out Athletic Trend.”  J. Crew Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mickey Drexler is quoted as explaining the decision, “Where we thought […]

V13 personal dialogue

From What Great Brands Do:  Emotional brand-building requires you to develop a personal dialogue with your customers on the issues that are most meaningful to them. Remember, when connecting with customers, it’s WIFM — what’s in it for me (the customer)?! other #WGBD quotes: you have nothing worth communicating what business are we really in? […]

aaker on branding

–  the book:  Aaker on Branding:  20 Principles That Drive Success –  the brain:  One of the definitive voices on branding, David Aaker.  Dave has published more than 100 articles and 15 books on branding, brand strategy, and brand management, including Managing Brand Equity and Building Strong Brands, two texts that have served as my […]

brand leadership by brand council

“Who should own the brand?”  Mitch Joel, digital marketing guru and founder of the agency Twist Image, recently posed this question to me during an interview on his podcast about my book What Great Brands Do (take a listen to the podcast here — it’s one of my favorite interviews).   Mitch was asking about […]

connect internal culture to external cultural movements

From What Great Brands Do:  By connecting internal culture to broader cultural movements, great brands create futures in which they thrive and grow. What do I mean?  How about: Lululemon Athletica employees are part of the movement that’s making yoga more than just an exercise routine. Zappos employees are on a mission to “wow” customers at just […]

do brand as business

This post wraps up the series of posters from my new book, What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles That Separate the Best from the Rest — Great Brands Do “Brand As Business.”  This brand-as-business management approach is ultimately what distinguishes great brands from merely good ones. […]