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Articles by Ed Burghard
Why Community Branding Efforts Fail
As I traveled the U.S. giving talks to economic development professionals on how their community brand could uniquely deliver the American Dream, I had the opportunity to listen to stories of many failed community branding efforts. I found the stories unfortunate because for the most part the failures were avoidable. The typical root cause of the failures tended to be one of three things. 1. Misunderstanding of the real scope of a place branding initiative.
Two Moments Every Brand Needs To Win
In 1986 Jan Carlzon, the former President of Scandinavian Airlines, wrote a book titled Moments of Truth. The core principle presented in the book was that every decision is a process. A process made up of many moments where your product must be judged as a better option than the competition. But, Carlzon also noted that not all moments are created equal. There are a few moments you absolutely need to win or your product will be eliminated from consideration.
Measuring Branding Success
This is a challenging subject. Many people believe the only measure of success is the final results. For example, if you are selling a product did you sell more because of the investment in your communication campaign? If yes, then it is judged a success. If no, it is judged a failure. While on one hand I agree with the notion any investment in a communication campaign should deliver incremental results (at least to a degree to offset the investment), I don’t subscribe to measuring success that way.
Beware Of The Underfunded Branding Project
Doing the wrong thing can be worse than doing nothing. I have often been asked to review RFPs to contract for a branding initiative. Most are jargon filled documents even the author has a hard time explaining. These poorly written RFPs are an open invitation for an agency to strike gold. Confused clients are the easiest to please and to generate revenue from. I once was a panelist for a place branding discussion session.
The Difference Between Brand Image And Identity
Image and identity are not the same and require different strategies to address problems. After reviewing numerous RFPs seeking agencies that were written by economic development professionals, I realized these terms are not generally well understood. I have often found that agencies are contracted to help with a company’s brand image when in fact, the core business problem was actually one of brand identity.
Beware Of The False Promise Of Rebranding
Rebranding is one of the most misused terms I have heard in my career. Agencies often use the term in their sales pitch to convince potential clients to hire them. The pitch promises a significant improvement in bottom line performance. But, more often than not, these exercises end up being little more than creating a new logo or a set of branding guidelines. They fall way short of the client’s expectation of revitalized business growth. Why is that?
Brand Promises And The OGSM Framework Original
To avoid a major strategic blunder, brand owners need to ensure the investments their company makes are focused on better enabling their brand promise to be realized. One of the most effective strategy design and deployment tools I have used (and recommend) is the OGSM (Objectives, Goals, Strategies, Measures) Framework. It is the process we used at P&G to manage our global business. It is also used by countless other companies and facilitated by innumerable consultant groups.
Forced Moments of Serendipity
Mark Tomaszewicz Chief Experience Officer, Bulldog Drummond Mark never likes to do things the same way twice. An explorer of ideas, people and experiences, he is happiest when he’s helping other see the world differently or checking out a new vantage point on his own. Purposeful wandering has led Mark to run up mountains, down random streets and on long car rides with just the right music. He is always striving to make a meaningful impact on the world while not taking himself too seriously.
Brand and Culture Are Misaligned at Most Companies
Denise Lee Yohn Brand expert, Author Denise Lee Yohn is a leading authority on positioning great brands and building exceptional organizations, and has 25 years of experience working with world-class brands including Sony, Frito-Lay, and Oakley. Denise is a consultant, speaker, and author of the new bestselling book FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies.
Brand America - Today’s News
strengtheningbrandamerica.com It is a great question often asked in the context of trying to figure out what makes a manager a good leader. But I'd like to explore the question on a more personal level - What makes you a good lea...
Where Dreamers Become Doers
How we define the American Dream may be changing, but a recent survey shows that residents of Louisiana and Idaho are attaining that dream better than most. At the community level, people in Salt Lake City, Baton Rouge, Toledo and York, Pennsylvania, say they are achieving that dream more often as well. Better enabling the American Dream starts with knowing what it really is. Simply stated, the American Dream is the national ethos of the United States.
Uncommon Questions to Evoke Curiosity
We’re a team of business leaders, design thinkers, writers and brand strategists committed to doing things in uncommon ways. We’re curious about the people and places around us and fascinated by the search for what’s next. There’s no benefit to pretending that you know something that you don’t. If you want good answers, they come from asking good questions. Relying on any single question to serve as the omnibus catch-all is dangerous.
Memo to the CEO: Are you the source of workplace dysfunction?
Rudeness and bullying are rife, says Stanford professor Bob Sutton. Wise leaders figure out how to fix their teams and organizations; and they start by taking a long look in the mirror. There are a lot of jerks in the workplace. I should know. Over the last decade, since I began digging into the effects of incivility, thousands of people have asked me for advice about dealing with bullying bosses, board members, clients, and colleagues.
Having Conversations That Make Us Think
I recently read an article about our individual ignorance (Why We Believe Obvious Untruths) that made me stop and think about the current state of our union. To say that we are living in two Americas is a gross understatement. And for society’s sake, we have to bridge this divide and learn to listen to each other (notice I didn’t say agree with). We have self-segregated into our own communities, stratified by income, education, and political beliefs.
Is Your Brand Getting VUC'D
If you’re an executive who’s responsible for the health and performance of a retailer, restaurant group, hotel chain, airline, or fill-in-the-blank for almost any other business category, you are likely getting VUC’D. If you're a leader with any responsibility for people, innovation and growth today, you are most certainly operating in a constant, just-in-time, everything-feels-like-it’s shifting storm. As a leader, you’re under a new level of pressure in this new operating environment.
What Brands Can Learn From The General Store
One of the most commonly asked questions when engaging with brands is “How do I best connect with consumers in this new age?”. It’s a fair question as the process can be complex, overwhelming and intimidating.
Stand Your Ground
Sometimes standing your ground is easy. Consider an issue or subject you’re deeply passionate about—one that you will not budge on. Taking a stance tends to come without much thought and often with some fire and vinegar. Now consider being asked to do something you don’t believe in—it’s likely that the same passionate stance will nudge you forward. What do you do when your prerogative isn’t the popular vote? Do you make your voice heard? Do you go against the grain? Or do you simply follow the crowd?
Be Different to Make a Difference
"Different is better than better." This maxim, courtesy of best-selling author and Hall of Fame speaker Sally Hogshead, is more true now than ever before. Today's level of competition in the business world means that simply being better than others does not create a sustainable advantage. Moreover, trying to one-up your competitors usually leads to commoditization. When competition is high, strengths matter less and differences matter more.
Strike Out Swinging
Every year, alongside the veterans, a fresh group of ballplayers make their way to the Cactus League or the Grapefruit League for a shot at making it to The Show. Most won’t make it; but they’re all there driven by the belief that they will. That’s their job, their career, and so they work their butts off to leave it all on the field and know that they gave their dreams the best shot. It would be great if every employee approached their careers like spring training.
You Can’t Claim You’ve Got An Authentic Brand, You Must Be Authentic
Brand authenticity has become a topic of many business conversations because customers are now equipped with the tools and information to discern whether a brand is in fact what it says it is—and they place their brand loyalties and make their purchase decisions accordingly. In the past two weeks I’ve been in three separate client meetings in which someone expressed the desire for their brand to be known as authentic.
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