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Brand power comes from keeping – not only making – promises.  And to keep your brand promises, your brand and culture must be aligned and integrated.   In other words, brand-building requires brand-culture fusion. But a recent HBR article by Roger L. Martin, former dean of the Rotman School of Management, and a couple of LinkedIn […]

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Celebrating my 20th anniversary of being an independent practitioner! As I reflect on my journey, I’m convinced that “culture” is as important for solopreneurs, coaches, and freelancers as it is for companies of thousands. Check out my thoughts on brand-culture fusion and why it matters for people who are self-employed. Let me know what you […]

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The principles in my book, What Great Brands Do:  The Seven Brand-Building Principles That Separate the Best from the Rest can be applied to employees, employee experience, and employee engagement. For example, in WGBD, I explain that Great Brands Avoid Selling Products.  Instead of simply focusing on selling products or services to customers, great brands […]

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To change your strategy – your what – you need to change your how – your culture.  And you need to change your culture first – because your culture is what will ensure your organization is able to execute on your strategy. In my new Brand+Culture Series post on LinkedIn, I show how to use […]

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Social media influencers and AI platforms are changing the way we connect with customers; they are also changing the way we use brands. Today brands are not only marketing outputs and strategic inputs. They are – or at least they should be – cultural cornerstones. Here is why. related: Prepare Your Culture for a Recession […]

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How do you build a great brand?  Ever since I wrote the book What Great Brands Do, I’ve been on a quest to discover and share answers to this question.  While all seven brand-building principles that I introduced in the book still are important and relevant today, the one that has risen to the top […]

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Now is the time to prepare your business for the recession.  In addition to the typical strategies of cost-cutting and cash flow management, add culture-building.  A healthy, effective, and resilient company culture can help you not just survive, but actually thrive during an economic downturn. In my new Smartbrief on Leadership video, I explain how […]

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently referred to Meta employees in a new way:  Metamates.  Is this a good idea?  Should you use a coined name to refer to your employees? The poll I fielded on LinkedIn yielded a definitive answer: It depends.  28% supported the practice of made-up names for employees; 32% voted against it; […]

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How aligned and integrated are your external brand identity and internal organizational culture? Does your organization have the right core values that it needs to cultivate your desired culture and achieve your brand vision? How big is the gap between your existing brand identity and the one you aspire to? In what specific ways are […]

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As you think about the coming year, I’m guessing are you don’t want another only OK, keep-our-heads-above-water, just-grateful-to-still-be-around year – you want 2022 to be a year of greatness! To help you turn your hopes and dreams for the new year into reality, I’ve just published “2022 Great Business Action Plan” – a piece that […]