Our thoughts on all things brand related.
Do you know what sustainability means? (Hint: It’s not just about being green)
By Denis Riney
Sustainability is one of the corporate world’s emerging priorities. Often it connotes “green” initiatives or environmentally friendly practices. But how should CMOs, brand managers and public affairs executives inside large corporations think about sustainability in the context of brand and reputation? Continue reading
Bringing your brand to China
Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending an executive briefing on the business environment in China held by The Conference Board. David Hoffman, a veteran in business issues within China, led the meeting with a compelling look into the economic, social and political dynamics that drive business in the country. Based on the presentation by Mr. Hoffman, it is without question that multi-national corporations and smaller enterprises are still welcome to China, but the operational dynamics are changing rapidly in this fluid environment. Continue reading
Simple for you, befuddling for me: confessions of a former simpoholic
By Denis Riney
“Make it as simple as Google.”
One of my former clients started off our meeting with this declarative request as we were getting ready to take him through a “simplification exercise” to fix his very convoluted database.
Clearly, this gentleman had in his own mind an internal benchmark of what simple meant to him. Our team, on the other hand, wasn’t able to articulate in such clear language what the output of our work would actually be. It occurred to me that as a purveyor of simplified communications, I wasn’t making it totally clear what simplicity really meant.
New views on entrepreneurship from Harvard Business School
Last night I participated in a panel discussion hosted by The Economist and Harvard Business School on the state of entrepreneurship. In attendance was a stellar crowd of business luminaries, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs running all kinds of businesses. On the panel were executives from dynamic organizations such as Zipcar, Aspen Aerogels and Care.com. After a quick case to get the juices flowing, the group had a fantastic discussion. Some important insights emerged that I believe are noteworthy for companies large and small.
Can AirTran and Southwest fly together?
With Southwest’s pending acquisition of AirTran approved by shareholders, the bigger hurdle will be making it work. More than any of the recent airline mergers, simply repainting the planes is only a small step in successfully integrating the two organizations.
Wisequack
Aflac ran a half-page ad in the business section of The New York Times on Wednesday. It was not about Gilbert Gottfried, but rather being “recognized as one of Ethisphere.com’s World’s Most Ethical Companies.”
Was this a smart marketing investment? I believe so.
Brand decaf?
By Dan Dyksen
Barely awake, with my hot Venti in hand, I noticed that something was missing from my Starbucks cup. Like Nike, AT&T and Target (just to name a few), Starbucks has gone “nameless.”
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Should there be an app for that?
By Larry Roth
The Apple App Store just hit an historic mark of 10 billion downloaded apps. Add to this all the alternative app stores that have sprung up for everything from smart phones to TVs, and any software developer with a good idea can certainly see nothing but potential! But then the question arises, what about corporations? Should they be creating apps for their various stakeholders and constituents? As is often the case, there is no single answer.
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Improving financial performance through brand portfolio optimization
Here is a piece I wrote about “Improving financial performance through brand portfolio optimization,” along with some of my thoughts on authoring this article.
Google Instant – find your brand faster, or not
By Larry Roth
One of the things that has always kept me a loyal Google user has been speed. Don’t get me wrong, their search results are pretty good, but the speed of the results allows a user to quickly try many different search queries. One big improvement to recently occur was suggested queries—where Google provides suggested search strings as you type. This helps a user to refine their search query on-the-fly. I have found it to help me produce much better results.
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