In branding, there’s a pretty basic guideline: don’t change your branding signals (colors, look and feel, packaging, logos, etc.) so much that customers won’t be able to recognize them. There is valuable brand equity invested in a brand’s visual identity and it can be lost if the changes go too far.
On a recent trip to […]

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Photo Credits: Mark Rutter
I spent a good portion of last weekend doing some research on vision and mission statements. The difference had never been very clear to me, but somehow I had always thought of them as crucial exercises for companies and individuals who want to be successful.
What I learned is that the “mission” […]

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Being a car enthusiast, I’ve been following the automobile industry bailout proceedings very closely. At the same time, I’ve been thinking about those events, and what led to them in the context of branding.
Here are five branding lessons we can take away from the automobile industry meltdown:
Your brand has to stand for something
What […]

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Photo Credits: aplumb
Businesses often overlook simple ways to build competitive advantage, little things that are easy to implement and don’t cost much that are nevertheless very important to the end user.
One example is snacks on planes. The cost of a small snack is probably not more than $5 per passenger, yet airline bosses have decided […]

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Photo Credits: pshutterbug
Personal branding expert Dan Schawbel asked his Twitter followers for their definition of Personal Branding. Here is my take, in 140 characters or less:
The art of articulating and communicating your skills, personality and values so that others seek you to help them solve a problem.
While these are very few words, each of […]

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Photo Credits: basykes
Putting a human face to your target audience is one of the most effective ways to get your message across. That is why effective marketers use testimonials: they show how people like you are using the product and benefiting from it.
A recent development of the ongoing presidential race has been the appearance […]

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With both the Democratic and Republican conventions now over, it’s time to reflect on how each of the two major parties are faring from a branding standpoint.

Let me start by saying that I’ve always been fascinated by political branding, and by how most people still don’t get it. One common complain you hear a […]

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You have to assume that when a Fortune 500 company like Grainger makes a big deal about changing a font color on their website, there is a very good reason behind it. This seemingly insignificant change can probably represent hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra sales.

Photo Credits: Darwin Bell
The best products are those […]

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Features and benefits don’t sell. The way those features and benefits are communicated does (ever wondered why top sales copy writers make so much money?). An effective marketing message helps customers create a vivid mental picture of the way the product will make them feel. Good marketing appeals to emotions, not just […]

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Photo Credits: Jaggat Images
During a recent factory visit I was introduced to a vendor’s rep, and an interesting thing happened. “This is Mario, from our Latin American team”, the plant manager said. The rep, extending me his hand, replied: “Great, where in Mexico are you based?”.
Actually, I’m based in Miami, Florida, not Mexico, […]

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