AI Has Not Replaced Brand Emotion. It Has Moved It.
AI has put an end to emotions in marketing, we are told. Just look at what LLMs rely on in making brand recommendations. It’s all about facts. Not about emotions. An analysis by Digital Bloom ...
Marketing Rarely Fails On Its Own
Marketing rarely fails on its own. It reveals where purpose is being treated as language, and where it’s being treated as a discipline. When a campaign underperforms, most brand leaders look to adjust the marketing ...
The Distinction Between Brand Power And Brand Greatness
As we approach America’s 250th birthday, our celebrations reflect on the greatness of our country. Inherent in our celebrations is the belief that America is a great land. America is a great brand. As Americans, ...
How Brand Mismanagement Brought Allbirds Back To Earth
Allbirds, the sustainable sneaker brand once the de rigueur shoe for Seattle and Silicon Valley Techs, has sold its assets and intellectual property at a shocking discount. The once high-flying sneaker brand has finally lost ...
Think Of Positioning Your Organization’s Brand Like Raising A Child
For C-suite leaders facing massive disruption whether from AI, tariffs, or global realignment the question of brand positioning is no longer just a marketing issue. It falls on the shoulders of senior leaders to guide ...
When Website Performance Becomes Marketing’s Weakest Link
Marketing teams have become exceptionally sophisticated at acquiring traffic. Media efficiency improves each year. Creative testing is constant. Audience targeting continues to evolve. But an overlooked constraint often sits immediately after the click. When website ...
Heritage Brand Strategy: Four Types, Four Distinct Strategies
Today, heritage brands occupy a difficult position. Squeezed between private label that sets value and insurgent brands that speak to values. Having worked on several, I have found that they often take the same approach ...
How To Restore An Iconic Brand
When an iconic brand begins to fade, the decline is rarely dramatic. In iconic brands, financial performance often lags changes in cultural relevance and brand meaning. Revenue may hold steady. Market share may appear stable. ...
Failure To Relevantly Differentiate: Amazon’s Grocery Blind Spot
Last week, I discussed the new brick-and-mortar Amazon entry: a big box store with a large helping of Amazon logistics, data mining, and merchandise expertise. As part of that Amazon discussion, two brand stumbling blocks ...
Brand Positioning Is A Leadership Decision, Not A Marketing Exercise
Brands that lead today do three things exceptionally well. They create an emotional advantage that customers cannot get elsewhere. They establish a distinctive advantage that customers recognize as meaningfully different. They build a connective advantage ...