For most companies, branding strategy is carefully architected through the graphic look and verbal style of the corporate messaging. Organizations invest so many resources on this “planned” branding strategy, that they fail to recognize the brand’s most important component—its people.
Whether they are an asset or a detriment, employees are just as important to an organization’s [...]

My first rule of management is to seek and eliminate the insanity. An enterprise will not survive if it fails to do so. Seems pretty logical doesn’t it? But, I look all around and see repeated examples of insanity. We all realize the world continuously evolves and changes. Years ago, I learned business practices and [...]

Sometimes calling an apple, “an apple” is one of the hardest milestones for a company to meet. After all, the Granny Smith/Macintosh/Red Delicious hybrid (commonly referred to as the “GSMR Delish”) is indeed just an apple to hungry consumers. It may be the best tasting and crunchiest apple, but to its audience it is still [...]

A logo is the first visual communication of a brand. A brand, or an organization’s promise to their marketplace, is how customers and potential customers identify and compare an enterprise to its competition. What happens when a logo does not accurately represent its brand?
Business has changed dramatically in the past twenty years. While a company’s [...]

Often the first impression, an organization’s online brand may be more visible than its print brand. People turn to the Web to research, compare, find locations or directions, and purchase. To send a consistent message, an organization’s online brand, or promise, should remain consistent with its printed and verbal communications.
Many organizations fail to designate a [...]

Your name ties into everything your business does. The anchor of your brand, your name can be your most valuable asset. When customers hear or see your name, it evokes an emotional response that influences their buying decision.
However, companies are sometimes not satisfied with what their name conveys about their business. Yet, they are afraid [...]

T.S. Elliot once said, “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter”
You would think it would be easy to express yourself in Twitter’s maximum of 140 characters or less, but composing an effective Tweet can take the better part of a day. A good Tweet is the epitome of sending a [...]

Rarely does a circumstance present itself to cash in big. Often, when we come across a “golden opportunity” our prudence or lack of conviction prevents us from taking advantage of the favorable moment. In 1991, Bank of Boston’s stock price sank to one dollar. Well below book value, we all knew it was a steal. [...]

Over the last ten years, we’ve witnessed a heightened awareness of brands, driving companies to create stronger brands in order to compete. This awareness has spread from the consumer brands famously developed by the likes of Proctor and Gamble to the previously marketing adverse fields of business consulting, accounting, health care and law.
But with this [...]

Speaking to your customers and potential customers in a language they can understand is a fundamental but sometimes overlooked marketing principal. Many organizations suffer from internally-focused marketing—using the same language they use in-house to reach out to customers and potential customers that have little to no knowledge of the business. Are you communicating with your [...]