Our thoughts on all things brand related.
Robot writing is not communication
A recent New York Times Sunday business column profiled the efforts of a startup that has developed software purporting to take data and automatically turn it into natural language articles that appear to be written by a real person. As someone who makes his living as a writer, naturally I am disturbed by the long-term implications.
The new technology is intended to be a way to present raw data in a way that is more understandable and consumable by humans, and thereby improve communication. However, it marks the top of a slippery slope. Technology has a nasty habit of changing how people think. It shapes our expectations and standards. Continue reading
How Visionary Marketers Are Building Their Brands: Employee involvement
By Denis Riney
This is part three of an ongoing series.
Employees say: involve me more, train me less
What we’re hearing: Involving employees, through online communities, in the process of creating, managing and building brands is becoming standard practice among leading-edge marketers (and their compatriots in the human resources function). Continue reading
How Visionary Marketers Are Building Their Brands: Social media
By Denis Riney
Where are the leading-edge ideas in marketing?
Over the last 12 months, we’ve gone on the road to find out. In addition to learning from our clients, we’ve been spending time with visionary marketers at leadership forums in places like London, Las Vegas, Moscow, Mumbai, Miami, and even midtown Manhattan.
This is part one of an ongoing series.
Social media: going mainstream in a hurry
What we’re hearing: Experimentation with social media is so 2009. Visionary marketers are investing heavily in social media and are realizing short- and long-term benefits, both in terms of reputation building and revenue generation. Continue reading
Healthcare marketing and social media
Federal policy makers are talking once again about reforming the healthcare system in the U.S. – and this time, it looks like they mean business. This wave of change will force healthcare marketers – in big pharma, in HMOs and other provider organizations, and in medical device manufacturers of all kinds – to rethink their brands, their customer relationships and their media choices in fundamental ways.
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Breaking the three-ring mentality: Why you should use a brand asset management system
By Larry Roth
Branding experts agree that your employees rank at the top of your most valuable brand assets. Where opinions may vary is how to communicate to them in order to foster brand understanding and compliance.
I have spent the past 10 years helping many corporations, both large and small, with brand asset management. During this time, overwhelmingly, the question I most often receive is “Can’t we just deliver PDFs of our guidelines instead of creating a whole Web site?”
There are three primary reasons behind this question:
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