Featured Insights
Brand tradition: a real intangible value
August was truck month for Chevrolet. You may have seen the brand commercials that feature fathers and sons where the father buys a new truck
Balance Digital and Traditional Media for Best Brand Building Outcomes
Digital has steadily increased in share over the last five years at the expense of traditional media. However, recent Harvard research reports that traditional media
Today’s consumers expect a truly seamless shopping experience…
…and understanding what motivates them is more critical than ever. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic drove significant numbers of consumers to try online shopping for
Grocery product transparency builds shopper trust
One of the many behavioral impacts of COVID-19 has been the shift in how consumers shop, cook and eat. A growing number have become “omnichannel
Excellent customer brand experience starts within
We live in an experience-driven economy. Approachable, easy-to-engage brands meeting or exceeding expectations are almost always winners. So, why is a great customer experience so
How brands get inside our minds
What is the secret to the success of some brands over others? Does it involve creating just the right connection? Or a great customer experience?
Customer empathy: the secret to success (or failure)
“Put yourself in their shoes.” My parents always encouraged me to practice this way of thinking. I did not realize it at the time, but
Enriching brand experiences with ingredient strategies
Ingredient brand strategies can play an important role in product differentiation—especially if the ingredient is patented or offers a significant performance improvement to the host
The constant struggle of measuring customer experience
There’s no denying that measuring the digital customer journey frustrates many CMOs. A recent CMO Council study revealed that the top priority of CMOs is
Using AI to make brand experiences better
How will AI influence future brand experiences? Will AI have a positive or negative impact? Most experts believe the influence will be positive; however, let’s
Identifying blindspots between your brand and customers
The coronavirus has certainly slowed down the pace of business for many. One bright side may be that the slowdown offers a valuable opportunity to
Adding greater meaning to a brand promise
Johnson’s new “Choose Gentle” commercial really nails it. The company elevates gentleness to a societal level when it states, “…gentle makes us kinder, better people.
How the Nike brand benefited from Zion’s shoe “blowout”
By now, most everyone is aware of Nike’s high-profile shoe failure during the nationally televised Duke and North Carolina basketball game. How Nike handled the
The value of brand authenticity
Can a founder’s passion for creating a brand be the most significant contributor to brand value? A study just released by the Journal of Consumer
Top brand challenges for CMOs heading into 2020
Managing a brand is a complex task and not getting any easier. In the latest Gartner Brand Survey* of 400 marketing leaders around the world,
Social media and brand-building: the key to a successful marriage
Now that the honeymoon phase is over for brands and social media, it’s interesting to see which marriages have sizzled – and which have fizzled.
Filling in a brand narrative…your way
Have you ever experienced “the movie was not as good as the book?” Often, even when the movie is great, key characters or scenes are
Building brand relevance in today’s fast-paced market
Every day it seems new technology disrupts an industry. Or an iconic brand announces a new product or service designed to maintain its relevance with
What do Ford Motor Company and General Mills have in common?
That’s an intriguing question. The answer: both made acquisitions where more than 80 percent of the value received was intangible. Ford paid $2.5 billion for
How to focus on your brand’s high-value sources of growth
One of the American Marketing Association’s seven big marketing problems is “effectively targeting high-value sources of growth.” This is a real top-of-mind issue, as it
Digital spending and the long-term implications for brand value
WARC has released a media spending forecast predicting digital formats will exceed $100 billion and make up one-half of American advertising expenditures in 2018. This
Well-defined business models drive brand success
Last week, Amazon followed Apple in reaching the trillion dollar milestone. Both are modern-day super brands built on fundamentally different business models. In their classic
Do you know the power of brand storytelling?
My Uncle Curtis was a great storyteller. He lived several hours from where I grew up, so I only saw him at Thanksgiving, Christmas, my
Financial impacts of balancing digital and human brand interactions
It is often difficult to reach people in today’s ultra-digitized world. Creating meaningful customer relationships requires a blend of digital and human experiences designed to
Engaged employees deliver brand success
After understanding the consumer, the second most important step in brand development is training employees to consistently deliver the brand promise. Seeing an organization fully
Driving Brand Growth With Consistent Customer Experience
My wife and I recently met with a representative of a highly reputable window replacement brand. We had been contemplating upgrading our home’s windows since
Why Engaging Emotions Drives Long-Term Brand Growth
The foundation of a strong, long-lasting relationship is trust. It is true for all types of relationships, and especially true for brands desiring to create
Connecting Brand Investment to Results in Turbulent Times
According to Forbes Business Council, 68% of consumers believe we are already in a recession. There’s no doubt that inflation and higher interest rates will
The Dilemma of Measuring Effective Brand Campaigns
Each year brand managers are tasked to achieve sales and profit objectives. This frequently leads to questions on how to improve the effectiveness of marketing
How to Develop More Effective and Efficient Brand Building
Today’s hybrid world combined with the fragmentation of media channels makes effective and efficient brand building more challenging than ever before. The critical missing element
Why Brands Must Innovate to Survive
After the jaw-dropping interview Scott Pelley had with Google CEO Sundar Pichai on CBS’s 60 Minutes, I realized we are entering a new era of
The Double-Edged Sword of Brand Extensions
One popular way to grow a brand is through extensions—using an established brand name or trademark on new products. Extensions can be relatively easy for
How Advertising Works: Myths vs. Realities
Close to 25 years ago, the academic and research community began to really understand the role of neuroscience in successful advertising. It was a new
ChatGPT: The Dawn of a Marketing Revolution?
A trip down memory lane. ChatGPT may improve efficiency, but it does not necessarily make brand communication more effective. This week I was retiring a
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