Rebranding can often take more guts than brains. The smartest, most savvy branding experts could come up with the ideal new pathway to re-launch a brand, but if the internal stakeholders don’t buy in, then failure is inevitable. Leadership with the guts to foster change is as much—or even more—important […] keep reading
Testing positioning: why marketers are wasting their time
Honestly, I don’t know if a majority of consumer goods companies test their choices for positioning statements, but the ones with which I have worked certainly did not. Sony never tested anything. Their practice was inspired by a belief that their marketers knew how to market, and would never trust […] keep reading
How to win at war gaming (hint: it’s a branding exercise)
Whether we call it a “competitive simulation,” a “brand duel,” or even a “strategic chess match,” nothing sums up the no-holds barred branding exercise better than the term “War Games.” Yes, I said branding exercise. While it appears to be merely a marketing exercise aimed at developing future-proof strategies and […] keep reading
Why branding matters: the abhorrence of sameness
When I would travel abroad for clients in Europe as the Chief Creative Officer for Young & Rubicam’s former healthcare powerhouse agency, Sudler & Hennessey, I would pick up small presents for my twin girls. Since they were around five or six at the time, such gifts were simple and […] keep reading
Logo testing: how to get it right
There’s a natural human desire to reduce the mysteries of life down to an exact science. After all, such rigor can replace one’s natural courage and judgment with a proven methodology for sorting out uncertainties. As David Letterman’s classic comedy bit illustrates, we have an addiction to rank unrankable things […] keep reading
A perfect storm of blame: human nature and the opioid crisis
Perhaps the greatest transgression in deconstructing any crisis is the sin of pride. Journalists write righteous articles chronicling the devastating aftermath as if doing so somehow obscures the fact that they didn’t catch on in the first place while it was happening. Politicians legislate the tail end of the issue […] keep reading