Corporate Branding
Four Things To Fix at Uber—and None of Them were the CEO
Now that the CEO of Uber is out, maybe the company can actually pay attention to what matters to brands: the customers. Brands grow, create loyalty, and stay ahead of the competition by paying attention to how consumers experience and value the brand. Understanding these costumer relationships is the most critical element in how brands…
Read MoreBrand Experience: 7 essentials of shaping a brand campaign
In developing a brand strategy and implementing it in real things that customers and partners see, it’s essential to unify what your brand says and looks like and how it shapes the consumer’s experience. Strategy drives the language, design, and marketing channels. Here are some of the essentials that we look at in our…
Read MoreA Dis-United Experience
Every aircraft, every flight, is an opportunity to deliver the brand “experience.” It’s the cumulative effect of flying on time, the condition of the aircraft, the entertainment media provided, the flight attendants, the seats, the smiles or kindness you receive.
Read MoreForget Brand Loyalty: Brand Experience Is How Consumers Connect
We make consumer choices constantly. When you go to a great restaurant, or a happening urban center like Oakland’s UpTown, or even Home Depot, what you remember is the experience. It’s how our minds work. The choreography of the interaction sets consumers up for a great time, disappointment, or sometimes plain confusion. We remember and…
Read MoreHow Wells Fargo Lost Its Brand
Wells Fargo had an amazing reputation prior to the disaster that took down the CEO last summer. It was the friendly stagecoach bank with a historic legacy dating back to 1852. It was the main street bank with friendly service and great folks on the phone always there to help. Conservative loan practices protected Wells…
Read MoreWhat Donald Trump Can Teach Us about Branding and Marketing
The Not-A-Politician Brand So roughly a year ago, a bunch of friends and I could do nothing but make jokes about Donald Trump running for president. It seemed so silly! This self-promoter from The Apprentice who takes pride in saying he’s rich (very rich), who questioned Obama’s birthplace—he thinks he can run for president? Yes.…
Read MoreWhy the Shake Shack brand isn’t Shaking it
HELLO Shake Shack was a really cool place. A few years ago I went to one in New York with my kid Zachary. It had reinvented the burger experience around a simple menu–well prepared food with higher quality ingredients–and they had beer and wine, which beckoned to parents like me. The developers of the concept had it down and expanded all…
Read MoreOwning the outdoors – How REI’s brand was redefined by closing on Black Friday
REI’s decision to close on Black Friday this year was a revolutionary and actually anti-retail idea – don’t go shopping the day after Thanksgiving on Black Friday: go outdoors, do something with your friends and family. This move was so dramatic the CEO wasn’t quite sure about it at first. But think about it. What…
Read MoreAsk a 10-year-old what your brand is about
I was driving my 10 year old son to school one day when he piped up and said that MacDonalds was a company that sold crappy food that made people unhealthy. I asked him why. He said that’s what everyone at school says—his friends, teachers, everybody. You see, we don’t go to MacDonalds, but he still has…
Read MoreCustomers’ values: the new branding tool
You may be paying more but look at all these cool things Whole Foods is supporting! You get the feeling that the extra amount you may be spending is going to something worthy and good, something that you may be connected to or are committed to and is a part of your local community.
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