Exclamation points. Trending lingo. Emoji. When it comes to B2B brand voice, these may not be the first things that come to mind, but with the explosion of digital content and the increasing importance of social media in the B2B buying cycle, that’s rapidly changing. Many B2B companies are beginning to sound more and…
It’s been a few months since the initial shockwaves from the Wells Fargo scandal stole headlines and took over public discourse. In a true sign of the times (or perhaps the results of a presidential election that felt more like a reality TV show), the public (or at least the media) seems to have…
According to the Harvard Business Review, “study after study puts the failure rate of mergers at somewhere between 70-90%.” More often than not, brand is not promoted or leveraged to provide unity, clarity and solidarity during this critical inflection point, yet brand can make all the difference between success and failure for the companies…
That the world we live and work in is changing at an extraordinary pace is something few would dispute. For business executives, in particular, there is immense pressure to not only survive in this dynamic landscape – but thrive.
Continuous innovation – the ongoing enhancement of a company’s offering – is one strategy many companies are leaning…
According to Dealogic, the tech sector is seeing the highest levels of M&A activity since 2000.
The numbers are staggering. Globally, there have been 1,535 tech deals so far in 2016 (as of March 1), reaching $71.4 billion. This is up 53% from last year at the same time. In the…
In a year marked by unprecedented M&A activity in the technology industry, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (once again) made headlines last week with its announcement of plans to spin-off its technology services operations and merge them with those of Computer Sciences.
Change is Never Easy
As Chief Executive Meg Whitman tells it, the…
It’s the classic chicken or egg. What comes first: brand or culture? Leadership teams often ask us this very question during rebranding initiatives. While there is no one-size-fits-all answer, there are two critical questions that any leadership team must answer to understand the optimal relationship between brand and culture in their…
The toughest audience for your new brand may not be your long-time clients or future prospects. It may be your own sales force. Sales professionals can be a cynical lot. In many companies, the prevailing attitude is: Just give me a generous travel and entertainment budget, a few spec sheets, and lead-gen support…
Have you ever put on a favorite sweater or jacket, looked in the mirror and thought, with a sinking feeling, It’s just not working for me anymore? The garment’s the same. It’s you that’s changed.
So it is with a brand. The brand that got your company to its current level…
We are constantly amazed by the power of words, especially when it comes to employee engagement. Seemingly small tweaks in language can lead to meaningful changes in employee perceptions, morale and even behavior. In fact, according the WSJ, new cognitive science studies show that language “profoundly influences how we see the world…It turns out…
Wall Street is buzzing with the recent announcement that Dow Chemical and DuPont have agreed to merge. The deal fuses two of the oldest companies in the US into a chemical behemoth that will likely reshape the chemical and agricultural industries. In a restructuring twist, the companies have said they will ultimately split into three…
Earlier this year, Harvard Business Review published an interesting report charting what millennials across the world want from work. Their hypothesis was that, to date, much of the research done on millennials has been skewed towards a more Western population. Their findings point to some key differences across cultures that hold important implications for employers…
We recently published a whitepaper that examines how professional services firms can leverage the power of branding to stand out in an increasingly competitive industry. It’s fairly comprehensive in covering the process of building a solid and differentiated brand, from conducting internal and extensive research to identifying core brand attributes and developing a positioning…
We recently found ourselves in the following conversation:
Client: We need to engage employees in our company’s new mission. We need your help with the execution of the communications campaign. We already have the positioning and messaging. The CEO wrote it.
DB: Oh, that’s great. What kind of research was conducted in developing…
It’s official: 2014 was a breakout year for M&A. According to Thompson Reuters, last year was the strongest year for dealmaking since before the recession. And this momentum seems to be carrying into 2015.
Mergers and acquisitions are most often viewed from a financial perspective. However, as brand strategists, we have seen…
Achieving the right relationship between a company’s brand and its philanthropic or volunteer efforts is a delicate balancing act. But it’s well worth the effort. This whitepaper identifies four overarching principles that can guide a company in aligning corporate social responsibility activities with the corporate brand for authenticity and impact.
When it comes to maximizing the impact of corporate volunteer programs, a well thought-out branding and communications strategy can be your most powerful tool. This whitepaper shares seven principles for leveraging communications to enhance the long-term success and impact of your employee volunteer program.
Detroit is a city rife with possibilities and the drive to pursue them. The city, though, has a gaping problem: its economy makes it difficult for businesses to thrive. So Goldman Sachs is taking their 10,000 Small Businesses initiative to the recovering city, as MSNBC’s Morning Joe explored in a segment featuring Warren…