Successful B2B brands are built from the inside out. A company’s own people are the living embodiment of the brand in a way that is rarely the case with consumer businesses. How a B2B company’s people act, speak and even think will be far more effective in communicating the brand’s promise than…
Although it seems like just yesterday we were reading about the rise of the millennials, a new generation is hovering outside the threshold of the corporate world. Generation Z is about to hit the workforce, and their unique motivations will force brands to reevaluate their internal and external strategies. While businesses have a few years…
Two regional banks’ futures are on the line, and all stakeholders await the decisions of the top brass: will a merger-of-equals result in lay-offs? At large firms today, most communication happens through email, and that’s how a lot of news is delivered (hopefully employees never have to learn company news via…
Few would dispute that the world in which we live and work is changing at an extraordinary pace. In this dynamic landscape, business executives face immense pressure to not only survive – but thrive. In other words, they have to keep up with the pace while bumping up profits.
Continuous innovation is a strategy we hear…
Last year we 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 a fairly comprehensive look at the process of building a solid and differentiated brand, from conducting internal and extensive research to identifying core brand attributes and developing…
A tale as old as time
From early humans drawing pictures on walls to parents telling bedtime tales; from ancient civilizations that invented myths to modern creators who create sagas on the screen and plots on the page — storytelling is a tradition as old as humanity. Today, it’s also one of the most popular…
It’s the classic chicken or egg question — which element comes first when aligning brand and culture? Leadership teams often ask us this question during transformation initiatives. While there is no one-size-fits-all answer, there are three critical questions that any leadership team must answer to understand how to begin optimizing the relationship…
In the second post of our archetype series, we looked at how a brand team can successfully identify which archetype their brand is and why. Once they’ve aligned around the role the brand plays in its customers’ lives, that information will serve as a guide as they develop brand strategy and express it through…
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…
While a comprehensive verbal and visual system forms the foundation of a brand, it’s only the beginning of executing an effective branding strategy. To be successful, a brand needs to be expressed consistently across all internal and external touchpoints. Consistency is critical to establish a well-defined brand and eliminate confusion in the marketplace…
As we noted in the first post of this series, brands are similar to people — they’re driven by unique personalities that help create their identities. To help our clients tap into their own archetypes, we’ve developed an interactive exercise that guides them through an exploration of nine Jungian archetypes. We challenge workshop participants…
According to Dealogic, a record $962.6 billion worth of cross-border deals have been announced via 5,498 transactions so far this year. This represents a 38% increase in volume year-on-year ($696.1 billion in 2017 YTD), despite deal activity having dropped 18% over the same period (6,680 deals in 2017…
Mergers and acquisitions are most often viewed from a financial perspective. However, as brand strategists, we have seen firsthand that success often relies on less tangible factors. The “fit” may look great on paper, but achieving that promise requires more than a rationalized product portfolio. Success requires a rationalized workforce that understands the how’s…
The legendary management consultant, educator, and author Peter Drucker liked to say that “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” The best-laid strategic plans invariably hit a wall if they are not aligned with the organization’s culture — the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle business transactions…
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…
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…
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…