Why Brand Strategy Needs A Simulator Now
Most mid-market leaders are not short on ideas. They are short on confidence. They are being asked to move faster with less certainty, make bigger bets with less room for error, and separate useful AI-enabled ...
How Financial Engineering Destroys Brand Value
Claire’s, the tween accessory retailer, is in turnaround mode. Again. Claire’s is hoping to pierce the boredom barrier among its target audience of not-yet-teenage girls. The Wall Street Journal wrote a glowing review of Claire’s ...
How Under Armour Forgot The First Rule Of Brand Strategy
Never confuse the customer. Once, at an advertising agency meeting with our IHG client, one of the agencies admitted that their commercials for Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express were confusing. The stated benefits for ...
Brands Must Take The Risk Out Of Buying
The recessionary mindset we see in society and the marketplace is a significant reset of aspirations and expectations, but it is not the explanation for everything. It is, however, a big shift in how consumers ...
Brands Must Take The Risk Out Of Buying
The recessionary mindset we see in society and the marketplace is a significant reset of aspirations and expectations, but it is not the explanation for everything. It is, however, a big shift in how consumers ...
Harley-Davidson’s Brand Problem Is Bigger Than Its Bikes
Financial geniuses on Wall Street appear to be happy that there is new leadership at Harley-Davidson, Artie Starrs as CEO. As with the appointment of the previous CEO, Jochen Zeitz, analysts and those with significant ...
Why Checkout Abandonment Is A Brand Problem
The standard diagnosis of checkout abandonment treats it as an engineering challenge. Forms are too long. Payment methods are missing. The mobile experience is too slow. Fix the mechanics, recover the revenue. This logic has ...
Solving Business Problems Through The Lens Of Brand
Most companies lose momentum because their best thinking cannot get through the organization. The strategy is understood in the room, but not in the field. The portfolio makes sense to leadership, but not to the ...
When A Nation’s Brand Comes Under Pressure
What happens to a country’s brand when the story it’s spent decades building is reframed overnight by global press, mistaking proximity for understanding? It’s not hypothetical. Across the Gulf and beyond, businesses and institutions are ...
When Honoring A Brand’s Past Means Changing Its Future
For more than twenty years, The Blake Project carried the same identity into the world. It was there when we opened our doors in 2003. It appeared on our first proposals, our first client deliverables, ...