Posts by Jay Gronlund

What Is NOT Good Value – The U.S. Healthcare System

Posted by on Jan 8, 2020 in Blog | 0 comments

What Is NOT Good Value – The U.S. Healthcare System

Consumers question what is “good value” more than ever these days. This trend started in earnest in the Great Recession in 2008. In particular, Millennials with fewer job opportunities and lower income started to ask whether the promised benefits of brands were worth the price charged. In many cases, the benefit can be open to interpretation, especially for perceived gratification from high image products like fashion, cosmetics, fragrances, etc. But when the price for “standard benefits” is so out of line, then credibility and trust for that brand becomes a real issue. The concept of value...

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The Dynamics Of Emotion And Lying To Sustain Brand Loyalty

Posted by on Dec 13, 2019 in Blog | 0 comments

The Dynamics Of Emotion And Lying To Sustain Brand Loyalty

The essence of good branding lies with trust and credibility.  Yet we are unfortunately living in a partisanship world that is characterized by levels of mendacity that has never been witnessed before.  How can world leaders like Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi in India or Recep Erdogan from Turkey continue to lie so frequently and blatantly, and still sustain strong loyalty for their personal brand among their core base of supporters?  Does this have noteworthy implications for other brands? This tendency to stretch the truth or simply express “alternative facts”...

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What’s In A Name Today? A Lot – Just Ask Trump

Posted by on Nov 12, 2019 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

What’s In A Name Today?  A Lot – Just Ask Trump

A name is the core indicator of a brand.  It is the “face of the brand”,  the basis for all awareness and communication efforts.  Ideally new names are designed to create an immediate impression and sustain the key values and personality traits associated with the brand.  Today brevity, clarity and emotional messaging have become essential for successful marketing over the internet.  A good example is how President Trump flavors his constant twitter messages with catchy nicknames that disparage his political rivals. Trump’s Obsession with Name Calling In today’s polarized environment, Trump...

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How Millennial Skepticism Will Shape Brands In The Future

Posted by on Oct 22, 2019 in Blog | 0 comments

How Millennial Skepticism Will Shape Brands In The Future

 Millennials and Generation Z are becoming increasingly unsettled about their lives, their careers and the world around them.  Their trust in traditional institutions (e.g. political, business, media and religious leaders) has never been lower, according to the recent Global 2019 Millennial Survey by Deloitte.  Importantly their ambitions and values are very different from older generations.  What will all this mean for our future?  Will their pessimism deter economic growth, or instead encourage innovation and even create new opportunities for re-positioning brands and engaging employees? A...

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From Shareholder to Stakeholder – A New Corporate Purpose And Brand Identity

Posted by on Sep 17, 2019 in Blog | 0 comments

From Shareholder to Stakeholder – A New Corporate Purpose And Brand Identity

A huge, fundamental change on “the purpose of a corporation” was announced by The Business Roundtable on August 19 which basically re-defines the role of business in society.  This seismic event represents a definitive recognition that Government can no longer be trusted to resolve many hot-button problems in our society.  It also marks a possible end of investors focusing solely on maximizing shareholder profits, and a shift to a broader commitment to all stakeholders – e.g. employees, customers, suppliers and communities. The philosophical role and the brand values of a corporation have...

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