How Storytelling Can Enhance Authenticity For Purposeful Branding
Branding has evolved over time, opportunistically responding to what will best motivate customers and differentiate it from competition – from product branding, to rational branding, to emotional branding to today’s altruistic purposeful branding. With young consumers increasingly demanding brands give more back to society, the challenge today is to create a promise that can be trusted and delivered – with credible authenticity. This trend for brands to create and communicate their CSR (corporate social responsibility) promises reflects a...
read moreThe Rise Of A New Type Of Brand – The Outlier
A good brand offers a relevant promise and a credible point of difference, its “reason for being”. What is emerging today however, is a form of branding that focuses so much on being different that this distinction often becomes the main focal point, instead of the promise or benefit. This is happening in politics where new candidates (i.e. “outliers”) strongly emphasize their stance as a unique alternative to established rivals. Similarly new business ventures are offering a better value choice compared to traditional brand leaders....
read moreWhy Creativity Is Critical For Future Jobs…And Branding
In our world of rapidly evolving technology that is encroaching on everyone’s lives, there is no bigger transformative trend on the horizon than the expected impact of automation, artificial intelligence, robotics and algorithms on the job market of tomorrow. Clearly there is growing anxiety that technology developments will crush the jobs of millions. How can society prepare for such job replacements by automated technology? Many experts believe the answer lies with developing new creative skills that will enable people to adapt and even...
read moreWhat To Expect From Generation Z – Implications For Branding
We have heard a lot about Millennials (i.e., Generation Y), their impact on business, politics and society, and how different their values and practices are. Well, get ready for Generation Z. Their attitudes and actions are even more progressive and even more confounding to marketers. This Generation Z (born after 1996) is the best educated, most diverse and easily most open to emerging social trends of any prior generation. And their potential impact on commercial and political brands will be transformative. All brands should be...
read moreHow Zuckerberg Has Undermined Trust In The Facebook Brand
In 2018 Mark Zuckerberg showed the world how a steady stream of blunders and insensitivity to consumers’ concerns over privacy and fake news has tragically damaged trust in the Facebook brand. The Facebook founder and CEO essentially traded a core value, privacy, for profits. His performance last year provides a classic case study for all companies on how to manage brand risk, or at least what not to do. Facebook’s new mission statement says it seeks “to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together”. A...
read moreThree Trends That Spell New Opportunities To Re-Brand Cities
The internet has been a catalyst for so many changes in our values, economics, lifestyles and even geographic living preferences. Millennials, the first true internet generation, have initiated many of these changes. Their digital competency and social impact have fueled three key trends that can lead to new branding opportunities for progressive cities around the world that are eager to adapt new innovations: Millennials’ Preference for Urban Living – their passion for experiencing new events, their keen interest in entrepreneurial...
read moreWhy Millennials Value Experiences, Not Stuff
There is no question that Millennials or Generation Y consumers (born between 1980 and 2000) are an unusual breed, with very different values, buying habits and attitudes that confound older generations. However, the most noteworthy trend is their decreased desire to own things or buy them through traditional channels. Instead Millennials are obsessed with having a memorable experience, which will have a reverberating impact on positioning brands in the future. They are just not buying stuff like other generations. The obvious winners of...
read moreThe Growing Risks to Brand Reputation Could Become a “Game-Changer”
We are seeing it everywhere today – social activism and the misconduct of celebrities, CEO’s or politicians which provoke both shock and anger among their constituents. It could be sexual harassment, outlandish and incredible accusations, or any kind of behavior that is unexpected and inconsistent with their personal brand image. We have witnessed this with Weinstein, Elon Musk from Tesla and several congress people recently. In every case, their misconduct has negatively impacted their personal brand reputation and even their associated...
read moreA Branding Perspective – Why Nike Supports Kaepernick
The announcement that Nike is now using Colin Kaepernick, one of the most divisive American athletes in our time, to promote its brand was stunning, and guaranteed to further polarize a very partisan society. Most major companies steer away from stances that will surely anger so many constituents. Then why did Nike introduce such a controversial figure in its new “Just Do It” campaign? I’m not taking a position on whether this was right or wrong, but Nike’s action does represent an interesting case study on the strategic thinking for...
read moreShould A Brand Take A Stand On Social Issues? When? Why? How?
Every CEO today is feeling the growing pressure to take a position on some social or cultural issue that has become mainstream in our digital, partisan world. It is a quandary for many companies. Why stick your neck out by initiating a point of view if no one has protested yet or your brand has not appeared in the news. Yes, every brand situation is different and there is never a clear path to take, but here are some pros/cons on relevant options to consider: Biggest “hot button” issues today – A 2018 study by Cone/Porter Novelli found...
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