Crafting a brand is complicated because, by definition, your brand is tied to people. Yes, people are customers and customers are people: People = Customers, Customers = People. Deep insights into what people really want are the building blocks for great brand development. Let’s cut through the marketing jargon, demographic nonsense, and vanity metric noise to focus in on what it is people really...

Brand thinking is hard. It can challenge the way things have always been done and force conversations that aren’t always comfortable to navigate. It can come in stark conflict to your business plan and cost you lots of time, energy and money. Brand thinking is hard, yes…and it’s necessary. As the Millennial Generation quickly becomes the primary force in consumer spending, our marketplace is shifting. Shifting from...

Never doubt the power of ‘the real thing.’ More than 50 million Twinkies start making their way to stores this week, and the first step in restoring the brand is re-engaging the brand relationship that Twinkies has with America. Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co., the hedge funds that purchased the Twinkies brand, understood the depth and capacity of the relationship that Twinkies had...

Have you heard the story of the two fishermen? The first fisherman set out for his day at sea intent on catching as many fish as he could. He loaded his boat with all the lures, hooks and weights he could find. He planned on casting out his lines at various depths with various lures, hooks and weights to catch any...

Red, white and blue forever. Independence Day commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Americans from New York to Los Angeles will adorn their houses with the colors of independence: red, white and blue. Red, white and blue fireworks will light up the skies and red, white and blue flags will wave through the air as a representation...

“America Runs Relaxes on Dunkin.” Or so the strapline may soon read. Dunkin Donuts has set in motion a cafe-style customer experience redesign that rolled out in 90 stores and will be finished in 600 stores by the end of 2013. They have added comfortable faux leather chairs, free wi-fi, flat-panel televisions, jazz music and even updated the menus to digital. All in hopes of, as CEO...

The San Antonio Spurs are a great example of brand trust: T = r + d (Trust = reliability + delight). For the last few decades, the Spurs have been defined by a culture of selfless work and a team-first mentality. This culture has developed a brand defined by one word, trust. They deliver on their brand promise – selfless and team-first winning basketball...

Wizard. What color hat did the wizard you just imagined wear? Mine wore purple. I’m not sure why, but it is certainly a purple hat. Your wizard may have worn a red hat, a blue hat or even a grey hat (shout out to all of those Gandalf fans); but undoubtably, we all thought something. Chances are our wizards are not too unlike...

A billboard in the middle of the desert seems like a silly way to sell jackets. In the same way, a billboard in the middle of Times Square that fails to tell your story is a silly idea too. There is a true science to tactical marketing. There are metrics and statistics. Measurables and vectors. Tactical marketers are skilled, well, tacticians....

Sometimes you can just feel IT. IT’S in the air. Hangs on the walls. Shows up on the face of smiling business owners. Becomes a part of the lexicon. Nashville has IT. By IT, I mean that entrepreneurial spirit. The belief that the glass is always half full and the grass will always be greener just beyond the next horizon. There is no escaping the spirit in this...