A common question is: “How much is a brand really worth?” No one wants to hear “it depends,” but like so many other things, your brand value escalates with how much you invest in it. According to BrandZ, brands account for about 1/3 of the value of Fortune 500 companies. The combined value of all [...]
The definition of a brand is “everything that gives an entity its recognition, meaning and value.” The brand perception held by the public, your customers and others familiar with your brand may or may not match the intended brand image. Crafting a brand blueprint is the process of identifying all the touch points your brand [...]
Everybody knows what branding is, right? I used to think so, but I am no longer convinced. The definition of a brand is “everything that gives an entity its recognition, meaning and value.” Seems simple enough but there are many misunderstandings that inhibit branding execution and reaching the full potential of brand value. Here are some [...]
Just back from a trip with a new dose of customer service frustration. I am reminded of the book by Ted Cohn, Why are you making it so hard for me to give you my money? His point isn’t that companies don’t want your money—they just don’t want to serve you to get it. No more [...]
Perhaps, nothing! Perhaps, millions of dollars. The answer depends on how you manage your brand. According to BrandZ, brand value contributes almost 1/3 of the value for Fortune 500 companies, or close to $2 trillion.
A brand is defined as “that which gives meaning, recognition and value to your entity.” A brand is often confused with [...]
In today’s competitive marketplace, companies are only as good as their people. The best companies get that and have unique hiring processes to hire people who are aligned culturally with their company’s brand promise.
But, so many companies don’t. How many times do you encounter those in the service profession (such as retail associates, telephone customer [...]
Most leaders get it wrong. If an employee is doing 70% of their job description really well and 30% marginally or worse, what do you do? If you said, “focus on their strengths,” you were right! Most of us have a tendency to want to “fix” what isn’t right. Here is the downside of focusing [...]
The first time I heard the phrase “hire an athlete” was early in my career. I was working for Hallmark Cards, Inc. and my boss used the phrase. Coming from a family with a long line of athletes, I naively asked what he meant. Was he being literal? Not at all.
Hiring an athlete simply means [...]
We all get caught up in the gravity of day to day business–the forces that keep us where we are today. We repeat our processes, our systems “lock us in” to doing business a certain way, our training is teaching the same skills and knowledge as last year, and then we wonder why growth is [...]
When you stop and think about it, how many of us are settling? Doing something that is acceptable or tolerable because our dream didn’t work out?
But wait, how many of us actually tried to attain our dream? Further, do you know what your dream is?
My experience is there are far too many people who [...]