3 Big Trends Converging For Big Branding Opportunities
Recently Tom Friedman wrote an article in the NY Times (11/5/14) entitled “The World is Fast”, referring to the 3 biggest forces on the planet and how they present enormous challenges: (1) the geo-economical impact of globalization, (2) the ecological disasters looming from mother nature (e.g. rapid growth of carbons), and (3) the mind boggling digital changes from Moore’s Law, which alludes to the speed and power of microchips that double every two years. These are global dynamics, but they also have an impact on some noteworthy local...
read moreCan Social Responsibility Initiatives Strengthen A Brand Image…AND Satisfy Investors?
There is a definite trend of more companies committing to a specific social mission, whether it involves environmental, health, poverty, social inequality or other sustainable initiatives. However, the immediate reaction by many investors is that this will only increase costs and lower profits. More fundamental is their belief that such social benefit acts conflict with the traditional goal of business: to maximize long-term shareholder wealth. So is there room or justification for corporations to pursue both social and economic goals?...
read moreMillennial “Hipsters” and Boomer “Hippies” – Both Socially Engaged
It is irrefutable that the 75 million Baby Boomers brought about lasting social and cultural changes when they were younger, with their counter culture activism for human rights, self-expression cravings and other social conscious initiatives, especially during their anti-Vietnam rebellious protests in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s. Now there is an equally vocal generation that is extremely “Pro-Social” and shares many of the same values as well, the 83 million Millennials or “8095ers” (born between 1980 and 1995), who will represent 75% of...
read moreRe-Branding – A Better Option Than “Disruptive Innovation”?
A recent “Economist” article compared the virtues of older brands using traditional technologies to the astonishing advances from new internet technology, often the result of the “disruptive innovation” process. Some of these established products have been able to resuscitate their business by re-positioning their brand proposition to create a viable, profitable niche in their markets. These turn-around examples raise insightful questions on the merits of “disruptive innovation” for many companies. Management gurus rave about the importance...
read more“Brooklyn” – A Rejuvenated, Hot Brand
Normally most people associate branding with a product, service or company, not a geographic locale. But the brand image is very important for countries, states or cities as well. The right image can attract new residents, investments, entrepreneurial start-ups and positive notoriety that will enhance the overall brand equity for a place, enriching the perceived value of living and/or working there. At its core, branding is all about developing an emotional relationship with customers. The targeted audience will ideally consist of people...
read moreGetting Better Brand Value from “Big Data” – The Eternal Struggle
More than ever, businesses are obsessed with giving their customers “better value”. The Recession contributed to this fixation. Less money to spend, more uncertainty about the future, so let’s make sure we get our money’s worth from every purchase. But the concept of “value” can be a slippery goal to actually understand and accomplish. At the same time, another trend introduces a potential challenge for providing better value for customers – the explosion of data from the internet, or “Big Data”. It may seem like a contradiction in that...
read moreRe-Brand Ukraine? How to Create a New, Trusted Nation Brand
We all know how Ukraine is struggling to not only stand up to Russia, but to also become a new democracy that could eventually attract investments from the West. Awareness is not the issue. Perceptions are! If Ukraine can somehow survive and retain its independence, it can learn from other country branding efforts by similar nations adjacent to mother Russia. A brand is more than a new image, or what a nation “looks like” based on a collection of impressions that form a perception in one’s mind. Good branding forms an emotional...
read moreHow To Build Brand Trust – 4 Essential Steps
What?? You’re kidding!! You just can’t trust anyone anymore!! How often we hear this reaction these days. Sadly the level of trust around the world has declined dramatically over the past few years – Government, CEO’s, foreign countries with corruption, our Congress, and many brands (company and product/service). Branding is basically about developing emotional connections – i.e. trust-based relationships that will cultivate greater loyalty for purchase decisions. Emotions are the primary drivers for behavior and these decisions, not...
read moreNew, Undeniable Evidence Supporting Emotional Branding and Advertising
Hats off to P&G. The overwhelmingly positive response to their tearjerker commercial targeting moms in the Sochi Olympics (“Pick Them Back Up”), was the latest example of the buzzworthy power of emotional branding and advertising. Almost 20 million people have viewed it so far online. This type of emotional advertising is pretty new for P&G, – as Jim Stengel, former chief marketing officer at P&G pointed out, “there was not a whole lot of recognition of the emotional connection with a brand or company” until recent years....
read moreHow “Experiential Marketing” Builds on Key Trends
“Experiential Marketing” is all about engaging customers to try a product or service. It has emerged as an ideal vehicle for creating new trials and sustaining customer loyalty in both B2C and B2B circles. Our society has become quite cynical about all advertising, so it is looking for alternative, more credible ways to learn about products and services. Concurrent with this shift in buying behavior is the serious decline in “brand trust”, arguably the most important emotion for developing a sense of confidence for...
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