Should a calamitous event (say, a global pandemic) bring your rebrand plans to a halt? Not necessarily. A rebrand doesn’t happen in a vortex, and any truly successful rebrand is about a renewed brand purpose—one that can guide an organization’s actions in any situation, good or bad. At the American Lung Association, for example, their decision to forge ahead with...
Would you take on two C-Suite roles at once? Mika Yamamoto of F5 Networks would—and she did, taking the lead as both CMO and CXO for the application services company. Why did she do it? To drive simplicity across the organization, of course. Under both titles, Yamamoto boils everything F5 does down to one question: does this activity remove friction...
Which sounds better: a package delivered to the office filled with branded swag or a LinkedIn post announcing your newest product launch? The answer is, hands down, the former. Why? Because there’s something truly special about a personal touch—it’s more genuine, and it gets people excited about your brand in a way that makes you stand out. These days, it...
There are a million and one reasons why cultivating brand purpose should be a priority for any business and, in light of the current COVID pandemic, here's one more (with 4 inspiring examples to back us up)! Because a true purpose is the overarching, guiding force behind everything a company does, it’s the contingency plan you didn’t know you needed...
As offices around the world go remote, we’ve heard all of the basics for working from home: maintain a routine, set up a workspace, remember to shower, and if you’re going to wear sweatpants, at least change out of the ones you wore to bed. For many organizations without much experience working remotely, there is a whole new learning curve...
Without context, here are a few rapid-fire quotes: “You’re not doing it just to look good, you’re doing it because you want to.” “There’s no point in doing anything if you’re not going to try to get better.” “This world is built on collaboration.” “If I don’t keep my promise, that means I’m lying. And if I’m lying she won’t be my...
Healthcare. To many, the word itself is an oxymoron, with "caring" often missing from the provision of health services to those who need it the most. In fact, in an Gallup poll published in August, the healthcare industry ranked just above the pharmaceutical industry and the federal government as Americans' three least favorite business sectors. These negative feelings run deep...
Loyalty programs. We're all familiar with them. You make several purchases at one of your go-to stores or businesses and you get some form of reward in return. It's a win-win from both consumers and brands. But what about the bigger prize at play here, the data that consumers generate when their loyal purchase decisions are aggregated and analyzed? And...
AI. Machine Learning. Augmented Reality. Today's CMO has to be both artist and technician to keep up with all the new tools that are coming down the line. Unfortunately, this marriage of technology with creativity often feels forced. If it's not done properly, the tech/marketing combo can seem disjointed from the overall brand story. Not so with Australian winemaker, 19...
It was impossible to predict the evolution of social media over time. Possibly the biggest change was the shift from connecting with friends to a new extension of businesses for workplace productivity and added customer service value. The importance of social media for business is increasingly immense in the age of overlapping social communities, and stepping up monitoring can help...