Category: Brand Management

For Service Organizations, Employees Rule!

I have been working on the development of a training session on developing employees as brand ambassadors for a service organization and, as I’ve been conducting my research and gathering examples, I’m struck as always by the critical role that employees play in either strengthening or damaging the brand, and the woefully inadequate attention that most organizations pay  to helping them be successful in that role. The organization I’m working with is a refreshing exception–they recognize the importance of establishing strategy at the top of the organizations, preparing managers to serve as coaches and role models for service excellence and setting the stage for effective employee engagement through communication.

The steps in the process seem fairly straightforward and linear: Continue reading “For Service Organizations, Employees Rule!”

Dancing Babies, Talk About Ship and Dads in Briefs: Creativity With Relevance Gets Results!

The Evian babies are back! In a new spot, which has received more than 41 million views on YouTube, adults find themselves face-to-face with their younger selves in a large mirrored window–and the dancing ensues. It’s adorable–but does it sell water? Where’s the relevance?

Contrast this spot to an equally creative–and far more out-of-the-box–spot Continue reading “Dancing Babies, Talk About Ship and Dads in Briefs: Creativity With Relevance Gets Results!”

Iconic Brands Revisited With a Boost From Technology

Last night I showed students in my Advertising Copy & Design class a video that I’ve seen a number of times, now, but that continues to both delight and amaze me. It’s Google’s “Project Re: Brief” which tells the story of four classic advertisements and how their original creators teamed up with today’s new breed of advertising professionals–and some technical experts–to create some truly amazing advertisements. The iconic spots they recreated were: Continue reading “Iconic Brands Revisited With a Boost From Technology”

Crisis: It Can Happen to Anyone. Take Burger King, For Example!

Contributed by Rachel Vick

We saw a prime example today of the need for big brand crisis communication. That’s right; Burger King was hacked on Twitter earlier this morning. Nothing like an Internet hacking to threaten a company’s reputation and put them directly in the spotlight!

Burger King’s hackers tweeted around 11:00 am that Burger King had been sold to McDonald’s. Burger King’s Twitter profile was also changed, including the profile photo (which was changed to the McDonald’s logo) and company information, which stated: “Just got sold to McDonald’s because the whopper flopped.”

The hackers continued to tweet for about an hour with obscene statements and false accusations, such as Continue reading “Crisis: It Can Happen to Anyone. Take Burger King, For Example!”

Writing Your Elevator Speech: Individual Branding for Personal and Professional Success

I recently did a presentation for a group of Young Professionals that are part of a local Chamber of Commerce on how to create and deliver effective “elevator speeches.” Elevator speeches are those brief introductions that we’re all called upon to give from time to time, particularly in networking situations when we’re asked: “What do you do?”

For business owners, consultants and business leaders in any field, the opportunity to deliver an “elevator speech” is an opportunity to support your desired brand perception. We often fail to think of it that way, though–instead, we tend to think of it as simply a requirement to provide some general information about what it is we do.

Interestingly, as I worked on the presentation for this group it became very clear to me that just as when thinking about organizational brand impact, individually we have an opportunity to define and manage our personal brands. The steps are very similar to the steps I take when working with clients on branding-related issues. They are: Continue reading “Writing Your Elevator Speech: Individual Branding for Personal and Professional Success”

Getting #Personal: How Engaging Social Media Visitors in Conversation Can Boost Engagement

A good place to keep your clients, customers, and employees engaged is online. Interaction is key, and a critical element of keeping people engaged and interested. You can do this on social networks, blogs, emails, and websites.

Here’s an example that comes from an intern of mine, who reached out and tweeted to a company that makes an interesting Mac app. Continue reading “Getting #Personal: How Engaging Social Media Visitors in Conversation Can Boost Engagement”

To Discount or Not to Discount – the Potential Perils of Perks to Drive Social Media Engagement

I was interviewed recently for a blog on the use of perks to drive social media engagement. It’s an interesting topic and judging from the proliferation of such contests and competitions online an important one. Aside from questions related to the efficacy of such competitions, businesses should also be aware of–and knowledgeable about–the impact of these perks on their desired brand image and the laws related to contests, sweepstakes and lotteries.

Continue reading “To Discount or Not to Discount – the Potential Perils of Perks to Drive Social Media Engagement”

Brand Matters!

While doing some online research recently I came across an article on branding that I wrote back in 1997! Clearly it’s a topic that I’ve been interested in for some time. Two things struck me about coming across this piece:

1) Wow! The Internet was still in its infancy in the late 90’s, yet content from “way back then” is online.

2) Everything I said about branding back in 1997 Continue reading “Brand Matters!”