Brands have evolved from mere symbols of product quality and identifiers to aid customers in purchase selections. They are bundles of values and attributes that define the way companies behave and the value they deliver to customers. In layman’s terms, a brand is what you do and how you do it. This means brands represent […]
The recent “Race Together” initiative from Starbucks — and the criticism it generated — requires us to reflect on the purpose of business. Howard Schultz explained Race Together, saying its objective was “to stimulate conversation, empathy and compassion toward one another, and then to broaden that dialogue beyond just our Starbucks family to the greater […]
The brand-building principles, Great Brands Never Have to ‘Give Back,’ may be the most surprising one of the seven in my new book, What Great Brands Do; The Seven Brand-Building Principles That Separate the Best from the Rest. So, please allow me to explain. […]
The popular Bloomberg Radio show, The Hays Advantage, with co-hosts Kathleen Hays and Vonnie Quinn, interviewed me today to dish on the upcoming Super Bowl ads. Listen to my take on the ads from Danone, GoDaddy, VW, and more here. The interview was only one of the great pieces of content posted this week that […]
“Giving back” has become such a phenomenon there’s now a Giving Back magazine, The Giving Back Fund (“a nonprofit organization that provides philanthropic consulting, management, and administrative services to individuals and corporations“), The Giving Back Foundation (“a catalyst to uplift and empower young women and children – to create a new generation of leaders and […]
(This the first of a two-part interview exchange between Andrea Learned and me. Andrea is a corporate sustainability expert, writer, and communications strategist. I’ve learned so much from her writings on HuffPo and her blog, LearnedOn.com, and the conversations she contributes to on Twitter and Google+. Next week, she’ll be interviewing me on her blog about the […]
Unlike a Thanksgiving dinner, this buffet isn’t going to weigh you down or put you to sleep. It’s a sampling of my best bits of content this past month. Check out: what great brands do — a recap by Annette Franz Gleneicki of the talk I gave at the SoCal Customer Experience Professionals Association event why windows 8? — a […]
Whaddya miss this month? Among my pieces that generated the most conversation and shares were: innovation or core? try both — My latest QSR Magazine column about how start-ups and established brands alike must balance their focus on their core brand, while also pushing the innovation envelope. brand romney — A post explaining what Presidential […]
Last week at the Fast Casual Executive Summit, I introduced “Level 5 Relevance,” a framework for re-thinking corporate social responsibility. The framework outlines how companies can become a force for positive change while enhancing their customer appeal and long-term competitiveness. […]
brand-as-business bit: “Do well by doing good” has become the ultimate rallying cry for corporate social responsibility (CSR) – and case studies from Walmart to Nike to Timberland prove it is possible to benefit society and the bottomline. What’s more, CSR programs can make companies more innovative: According to research featured in April’s Harvard Business […]