I’m always on the lookout for books to add to my reading list. It’s particularly nice when that reading connects with the enduring question about how to achieve a brand result. One such book is Deep Work by Cal Newport. And while the headline gives away the link between the two things,...
An organisation’s brand is a result. But what are the elements that contribute to the achievement and how do they relate to each other? These are the questions I explore every week in my writing and every day in my thinking. So, I developed a formula to answer to them. Numerous...
No one cares what your name is. Well, perhaps your family and close friends might have a thought or two — but out in the world at large, nope. Some 25 years ago I decided to work for myself, and immediately became fixated on what the name of my business should be....
The New York Times provided some excellent grist for this week’s mill with a story about the company I often feature as an exemplar of how you achieve a robust, resilient brand result – Patagonia. The article is well worth reading in total, but the aspect I want to highlight is the way...
When you have a question, don’t settle for the first answer, even if it feels like it’s the right one. When you accept the first answer in a rush to move something forward or get to the next step, a whole world of detail that can launch understanding and clarity...
Over the break, I plunged into Walter Isaacson’s expansive and illuminating look at Leonardo da Vinci’s life and work. While many gems are sure to find their way into my thinking over the coming months, the following passage felt like an excellent place to start 2018. Isaacson writes: “What prevents perpetual motion,...
Identity is a foundation of a brand, and so the identities of the people who work at the organisation and who make the promises and deliver the experience have a significant role to play in the result. And organisations are finally waking up to that relationship. Enter a whole slew of...
The business is starting out and needs a foundation to build on. Or it’s been around a few years and is growing, fast. A venerable family-owned company is going through a changing of the guard. Or the not-for-profit organisation is trying to stay relevant. The reasons to gather around the...
The idea that you can change a brand by changing a name and logo returned to the headlines last week (did it ever really go away?), with the ‘Big Australian’, BHP, the latest company to peddle the myth, dropping the Billiton and updating its logo. The new veneer makes for a...
The experience employees have becomes the experience customers have, which circles back around to employees in a loop. It can be a doom loop or a boon loop, and the identity of the organisation provides the energy.If the employees of your organisation feel caught in a mire of draconian decisions, disconnected...