Are you ACTIVE or PASSIVE in your brand management?
Is Your Brand ‘App’-licable?
The evolution of brand engagement is mobile.
By Suzanne Tulien, Principal, Brand Ascension
Once a month I get together with a colleague & friend of mine and over “dos” pomegranate margaritas and chips and salsa (“patatas fritas y salsa”), we collaborate on and share the latest new apps (is that an official word now?) we’ve discovered and downloaded on our iPhones. At some point I wonder if there is a ‘Apps Anonymous’ group out there supporting those addicted Apps junkies.
One of my most recent downloads is ‘Translate’ (free), an app that equips me to translate any language to any other language. My husband and I are learning Spanish through a self training DVD course and it is just the thing for me to pull up and use when we are out and about challenging each other on identifying the Spanish term for day-to-day items and phrases, and in particular, dining out at Mexican restaurants and ordering in Spanish. Gotta love it.
Brand Differentiation—It’s An Inside Job
3 Ways to Maximize Competitive Advantage!
By Suzanne Tulien, Principal and co-Founder of The Brand Ascension Group
Business innovation never ceases to amaze me! Every day I see ads that blow me away when it comes to new ideas and state-of-the-art features and benefits of existing products. The problem, however, with differentiating your brand through product features and benefits is that those are easily copied by competitors. Once it catches on, ‘poof!’ — no longer a differentiator.
Brands that are highly product based can’t help but differentiate through features. I remember my jaw dropping when I saw an ad for the newest Maybelline mascara equipped with a tiny battery that causes the wand to vibrate! It’s the first of its kind, vibrates 7,000x a minute, and has a battery life of up to 130 applications. I had to think, well, ‘how else could they innovate mascara?’
Undercover Boss- Afraid of what you might find?
If you watched the new series ‘Undercover Boss’ that debuted right after the SuperBowl then you probably wondered what would be discovered if you did the same (assuming you are the boss reading this).
This series is a perfect display of an organization not being fully conscious of how their brand is lived and breathed from the inside out. A common oversight, but could be a fatal mistake in the long run.
Remember Larry O’Donnell’s (CEO of Waste Management) realization that some of the issues he experienced personally were mandates that came directly from him own office? Wow! What an eye opener for him and his leadership teams. I’ve searched their website and did not find a listing of core values per se, but a lot on their company governance, mission, and their THINK GREEN tenants: http://www.wm.com/wm/about/itged.asp
Dare To Be Your Own Brand!
Overcome the Common Stumbling Blocks to Executing a Winning Personal Brand Strategy
Personal branding has become a widely popular topic. People from all walks of life are taking the idea more seriously. What about you? Do you want to make the most of what you have to offer and become more of what you visualize yourself to be? Are you asking, “What’s the right strategy for me?” and “How do I go about putting a personal brand strategy to work that will bring me greater success?”
Implementing a personal brand strategy starts with a true desire to put a clearly defined strategy into play and act on it. From the moment the desire sparks within us to the point we decide to take action, we can end up sabotaging ourselves in the process. Here are some common stumbling blocks that may be keeping you from implementing a winning personal brand strategy:
1. Unclear on what makes you unique
2. Self-limiting beliefs
3. Fear of moving out of your comfort zone
4. An undefined Personal Brand Strategy/ROADMAP
It’s Time To Think Differently About Brand Differentiation
As business owners, we know that differentiation is one of the key attributes that win and keep business. Unfortunately, many business look at their differentiators from a product feature standpoint; which means they are missing a huge component to true brand differentiation.
Remember, a brand is a perception. We all have a brand; good, bad or indifferent. So when we think about the perception that our brand brings to the minds of our customers (and employees), we must consider all the actions and behaviors that accompany our product or service.
Great brands see themselves as holistic in how they operate. Living their core values and brand style through every facet of their organization. The branding function doesn’t just live in the Marketing Director’s mind, but rather in every employee. How many of you reading this have been officially oriented into the brand you are working for? I shiver at your answers.
CUSTOMER SERVICE MISHAPS – DO YOU HAVE A PROCESS FOR QUICK RECOVERY?
Service recovery is a big issue for many businesses. Service mishaps happen all the time, but how often do they happen in your business? Are you keeping track? When it does happen, you can’t mess around. Your employees need to be empowered to recover as quickly as possible, show the customer you care and make it right. When you recover quickly with concern, it will most definitely get the attention of your customers. They will understand you care and appreciate that you can deliver on what you promise and enhance their loyalty to your brand.
Here are five simple tips to implement that will enable your employees to recover from a service mishap quickly:
IT’S 2010 – Where is YOUR Brand Going?
I am watching an intriguing show on CNBC called ‘Keeping America Great’ featuring two prestigious American icons, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, while a host facilitates a town hall-style meeting with students from Columbia University asking them thought-provoking questions. One of the questions from a third year student was directed at Mr. Gates and asked something like this “Considering your level of success, what do you attribute to just sheer luck?” Bill Gates answered by stating that there were many incidences he attributed to his luck and success but the first two was being born in America and being born at this particular time in the world’s evolution.
After that, an insightful discussion began about the importance for business leaders to understand the context of the overall environment (economy, perceptions, technology, and trends to name a few) and having sound principles to see you and your stakeholders through the evolution of growth and innovation. Mr. Gates reminded the audience how exciting the times are right now in terms of innovation, evolution and transformation. Never before have we had such a level of speed, mass communication, transportation, mobility, convenience, research and technology at our fingertips to further our own evolution.
