How does a company go from the concrete visual language of “a computer on every desk and in every home” to this? Last week the chief executive of Microsoft Satya Nadella came out with a 1500 word email to all staff “boldly” outlining the future direction of the company. So what...
Just imagine the transformation in attitude and outcome if instead of writing a vision statement, you did a little “visioning”. I’m on a short break this week, but I’ve been party to a whole lot of vision talk lately so here’s one from the archives that might help shine a slightly different...
What’s going on with McDonald’s lately? The what’s going on with part of the question refers to recent campaigns such as “How very UnMcDonald’s”, and Hipster Hamburglars. Amidst falling global sales and food scares in Asia, the 70-year-old company appears to be flailing more than a bit while trying to figure out how...
Continuing my series of answering questions sent in by you, this week’s question asks about brand management. How can a small company manage a brand effectively and economically given the shortage of manpower in lean-running SMEs like mine? It seems a huge task. (Brand management as I see it is maintaining...
There are plenty of things your organisation does that builds your brand. There is also a pretty long list of things only you care about and which do virtually nothing to build your brand. High on that list (if not at the top) is what I have come to think of...
When was the last time you stopped and took a good hard no blinkers look at here? The present. The now. If you’re like a lot of the people I work with the easier question is when did you take the time to think about where you are headed. Where you...
Last year I wrote a blog called ‘To Preserve your Brand Stimulate Progress’. I was reminded again this week why it is an important concept that’s worth repeating. Look around and you can see the skeletons of companies who have failed to live the inherent tension best articulated by Jim Collins in his...
Enough is enough. It’s time for lazy, rubbish meta association so-called brand processes employed by way too many people to be consigned to the scrap heap of fluff and nonsense. You know the ones. If your “brand” was a car what kind of car would it be?” If your “brand” was...
The question for this week is one that many business leaders have faced at some point in their history – should we change our name? And the answer is usually that that is the wrong question. The better and more important question is why do you think you want or need to...
The implosion of Qantas this week seems to have made plenty of people nostalgic. There was barely an article that didn’t make some mention of the “good old days” when the Qantas brand brought a tear to the eye and ache to the heart for anyone heading home. Looking at the...