In the CEO Afterlife

JANUARY 22, 2015

Branding has flourished big time—we have product brands, service brands, country brands, political brands, cause-related brands, even cultural brands. In this post I want to help those of you who are keen to create your personal brand. To do that, you’ll need a brand strategy.

Brand 100

Brand Strategy How To Constraint 100

In the CEO Afterlife

MAY 23, 2011

The Perfect Brand Slogan. by John • May 23, 2011 • Branding , Marketing • 3 Comments. Most folks in the branding game will judge a proposed slogan or tag line by a defined set of objectives. If a slogan did not communicate the brand’s strategic intent, it was a non-starter. In the CEO Afterlife. Leadership.

Brand 196

Brand CEO Marketing Proposal 196

In the CEO Afterlife

OCTOBER 17, 2011

The CEO as Chief Brand Custodian. by John • October 17, 2011 • Branding , Human Resources , Leadership , Marketing , Strategy • 3 Comments. Never in the history of marketing has there been so much talk about branding. The ramification is clutter, the enemy of brand messaging. Leadership.

Brand 168

Brand CEO Stage-Gate SWOT 168

In the CEO Afterlife

AUGUST 1, 2011

Old Brands. by John • August 1, 2011 • Branding , Marketing • 0 Comments. I realize I’ve been around a long time whenever I reminisce about the brands I was associated with in my early career. Maxill apparently has plans to resuscitate Ipana as a “retro brand” in the professional dental market.

Brand 170

Brand CEO Stage-Gate Marketing 170

In the CEO Afterlife

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

Is Social Media an Excuse for Brand Positioning Laziness? by John • September 19, 2011 • Branding , Marketing , Strategy • 2 Comments. I valued the power of the big idea; big ideas facilitated growth on the brands I managed. Searching branding & social media wasn’t much better. In the CEO Afterlife.

Media 199

Media Brand Positioning Marketing Strategy 199

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 1, 2011

Best in ‘Positioning’ Durabilty: Five Unlikely Brands. by John • March 1, 2011 • Branding , Marketing • 2 Comments. If I asked you to name the five most distinctive brand icons of all time, where would you begin? Brands, to most of us are consumable goods and services marketed by big business.

Brand 184

Brand Positioning CEO Marketing 184

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 21, 2011

Good Brands Gone Bad. by John • March 21, 2011 • Branding , Leadership , Marketing • 1 Comment. Call it a hiccup or a long-term slump; every brand faces a crisis. Unlike BP, who mismanaged an accident, Halliburton and Monsanto self-inflicted the ethical decline of their brand image over many years.

Brand 140

Brand CEO Long-term Crisis 140

In the CEO Afterlife

JUNE 8, 2016

Speciality coffee shops are competing with retail brands for consumers’ attention in the grocery aisle, new coffee formats are being introduced (such as single-cup brewing systems), and U.S. The Vancouver-born brand wasn’t always just premium roast coffee beans. competitors are entering the market.

Brand 100

Brand Brand Management Advertising Management 100

In the CEO Afterlife

AUGUST 1, 2011

Old Brands. by John • August 1, 2011 • Branding , Marketing • 0 Comments. I realize I’ve been around a long time whenever I reminisce about the brands I was associated with in my early career. Maxill apparently has plans to resuscitate Ipana as a “retro brand” in the professional dental market.

Brand 131

Brand CEO Stage-Gate Marketing 131

In the CEO Afterlife

FEBRUARY 10, 2011

Branding the Aspiring Novelist. by John • February 10, 2011 • Branding , Marketing , Writing • 3 Comments. Personal branding isn’t new; Fast Company made Tom Peters article a lead story more than ten years ago. Today, ‘the branding of you’ is helping people meet their personal goals. In the CEO Afterlife.

Brand 100

Brand CEO Open-book Magazine 100

In the CEO Afterlife

FEBRUARY 5, 2011

Brand Surgery – excerpts from my Marketing Magazine article. by John • February 5, 2011 • Branding , Leadership , Marketing , Strategy • 1 Comment. Now my accountant, my lawyer, my portfolio manager and even my neighbour talk to me about brands. A vast number of famous brand names need brand surgery.

Magazine 100

Magazine Brand Article Marketing 100

In the CEO Afterlife

JANUARY 28, 2013

Here was an organization whose brand and company name stood for healthy breakfasts. This good work established Special K as the quintessential healthy, nutritious breakfast brand within the company’s portfolio. Marketers who launch products that compromise a brand’s core image are committing a marketing felony.

Brand 227

Brand Advertising Marketing Long-term 227

In the CEO Afterlife

APRIL 30, 2014

Call it a hiccup or a long-term slump; large or small, every brand faces a crisis. The racial slurs spouted by the LA Clipper’s owner sets a new standard for tarnishing the reputation of a popular brand. Whether a serious crisis is self-created or a swipe from the blind side, recovery is never easy for a brand or a business.

Crisis 188

Crisis Crisis Management Brand Advertising 188

In the CEO Afterlife

JULY 2, 2013

This served me well as a branded coffee marketer. Distinction in service, image and promise is what makes one brand jump from store shelves into shopping carts while another brand collects dust. Branding Leadership Marketing Strategy Advertising Consurmer Packaged Goods Social Media Theodore Levitt Vision'

Marketing 257

Marketing Levitt Telecommunications Brand 257

In the CEO Afterlife

DECEMBER 21, 2011

From wannabe pickers to professionals, Gibson and Fender are as close to transcendental as a brand can be. All one has to do is consider the role of marketing in the development of dominant brands like Nike, BMW, Coca-Cola, Apple, L’Oreal, Harley-Davidson, Rolex, FedEx, and MacDonald’s. Fender Bullet sells for only $199.00

Company 248

Company Brand Price Globalization 248

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 26, 2012

My original premise for this blog was to share a variety of leadership and branding principles with the current generation of business leaders. Of course the brand started with a monster of an idea – cool brand name – intrusive logo – defiant imagery. I counted 20 sub-brands and over a hundred stock keeping units.

Reis 240

Reis Brand Apparel Energy 240

In the CEO Afterlife

JUNE 25, 2012

Sure, I encountered bureaucracy at times, but I managed to navigate through the red tape by working within a cultural principal they all shared – the respect for great branding. Last year, I came out of retirement for six months to help a smaller company brand itself. How is one to print a brand name on the fruit?

Brand 242

Brand Retail Bureaucracy Constraint 242

In the CEO Afterlife

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

Last week I wrote about a complaint to the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal by a person with albinism – Is Political Correctness Coming to a Brand Near You? This person was offended by the brand name of a whimsical beer marketed by the Earls Restaurants chain. I think this would make for a brilliant brand name.

Brand 198

Brand Politics Media Creativity 198

In the CEO Afterlife

APRIL 13, 2016

When I was in brand management, social media did not exist. But I can tell you this: I would have had a field day with this exciting medium because I valued the power of ‘big ideas’ to infuse growth into the brands under my wing. By any comparison, my brands were under-financed. 1: Clear Brand Positioning. Not so fast!

Marketing 100

Marketing Brand Franchising Media 100

In the CEO Afterlife

DECEMBER 29, 2013

The best brand custodians know that you never promise a smorgasbord of benefits; trying to be all things to all people is a recipe for disaster. For the sake of brevity, I’ll list just five similarities between HR and brand marketing. Within every successful brand is a core promise. Every brand has a personality.

Marketing 173

Marketing Human Capital Human Resources Brand 173

In the CEO Afterlife

JULY 23, 2012

Since the heyday of packaged goods marketing in the 60’s, nothing has impacted the art and science of branding more than the social media tsunami. Who would have thought that brand promises broadcasted to the masses would be trumped by conversations between the manufacturer, their brand and the individual consumer.

Media 241

Media Brand Self-aware Case Study 241

In the CEO Afterlife

FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Last week I slammed Kellogg’s for maligning the good reputation of their Special K brand. This brand name is now on a new flatbread sandwich of egg, cheese and sausage that contains fewer calories than fast food restaurant versions. His greater cause was super-premium brand imagery that garnered lucrative margins.

Market Segmentation 228

Market Segmentation Brand Marketing Reputation 228

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 21, 2016

Equally nimble are some of the world’s most successful private label brand manufacturers. Store brands, particularly in the US are doing better than ever. over year ago – more than twice the gain of national brands. This does not leave much room or time for these players to pioneer new technologies or develop their own brands.

Company 145

Company Brand Competitive Advantage Retail 145

In the CEO Afterlife

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

Formerlife: CEO of Jacobs Suchard (Nabob, Kraft), Strategy/Branding Consultant. link] #branding #marketing #advertising #design Follow Me on Twitter. In the CEO Afterlife. Main menu Home. Leadership. No results were found for your request. Afterlife: Fortune Magazine Contributor, Wannabe Novelist. Search My Site. Human Resources.

CEO 229

CEO Company Brand Human Resources 229

In the CEO Afterlife

APRIL 17, 2011

by John • April 18, 2011 • Branding , Marketing • 0 Comments. Here’s a rather fascinating little anecdote about a very famous global brand, Toblerone. In the late 80′s, a merger with Tobler-Suchard brought this wonderful brand into my product portfolio when I led Jacobs Suchard Canada (Nabob Foods).

CEO 204

CEO Brand Brand Management Human Resources 204

In the CEO Afterlife

DECEMBER 18, 2014

In marketing, great branding steers clear of multi-benefits; one clear, compelling benefit will find a place in busy minds. Branding Human Resources Leadership Marketing Strategy Business Coca-Cola Culture Entrepreneurship Google PepsiCo Vision' That singularity continues to deliver outstanding shareholder value.

ROE 249

ROE Human Resources Marketing Strategy Competitive Advantage 249

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 26, 2015

The company attributed its phenomenal growth to astute brand building. The Strategic Health of Kraft Brands Remain Tenuous. There is truth to this, but for the record, the brand building referred to was not Kraft’s doing. This good work was performed by the brand builders of the acquired companies.

Core Competence 100

Core Competence Brand Reference Objective 100

In the CEO Afterlife

APRIL 1, 2012

Monster entered the market after Red Bull, discounted their product, proliferated the hell out of the brand, and committed a boatload of sins that would give marketing pundits Al Reis and Jack Trout migraine headaches. A market did not exist for his brainchild; Mateschitz believed he could create one.

Trout 249

Trout Reis Sports Brand 249

In the CEO Afterlife

MARCH 1, 2016

This company earned that honor by re-staging a tired coffee brand with innovative packing technology and breakthrough advertising. That night, I presented the marketing strategy that catapulted a regional brand to national leadership in Canada. I suffered these disorders during that gut-wrenching time. Now for the good news.

Brand 100

Brand Competitive Advantage Marketing Strategy CEO 100

In the CEO Afterlife

NOVEMBER 7, 2011

by John • November 7, 2011 • Branding , Marketing • 2 Comments. The comparison raised a couple of brand trivia questions. How many brand icons and slogans appeared on the old can? It may surprise you, but the former can carries eight Anheuser-Busch brand icons and/or slogans. In the CEO Afterlife.

CEO 239

CEO Comparison USP Brand 239

In the CEO Afterlife

JANUARY 20, 2016

Most of these opportunities fall outside of the core competency of the company and/or the positioning of the brand. Social media is a new model in which brand positioning is not only misunderstood, it is ignored. Engagement is critical, but not at the expense of sticking to brand/company’s character and core positioning.

Strategy 165

Strategy Core Competence Constraint Short-term 165

In the CEO Afterlife

AUGUST 5, 2015

Distinction in service, image and promise allows a brand to occupy a piece of a customer’s busy mind. More importantly, differentiation is the brand’s raison d’être, its reason for being that causes customers to think of it when they are ready to shop. Differentiation is still the name of the marketing game. Do Less, Better.

Brand 100

Brand Airlines Bottom-up Marketing 100

In the CEO Afterlife

JUNE 7, 2012

The branding wasn’t nearly as good. So I approached the maker and negotiated a deal whereby they would produce for me under a brand that I would create for a niche market – the tourist and gourmet trade. To make a long story short, I created a little business under The Black Bear Fruit Company brand name.

Niche Marketing 206

Niche Marketing Brand Retail Company 206

In the CEO Afterlife

NOVEMBER 20, 2011

by John • November 20, 2011 • Branding , Leadership , Marketing , Strategy • 4 Comments. Michael Jackson , the theme to “Billie Jean” and a phenomenal blend of marketing and entertainment drove the Pepsi brand to the pinnacle of contemporary culture. Make no mistake; the Pepsi-Cola brand is still big business.

CEO 242

CEO Advertising Brand Marketing Strategy 242

In the CEO Afterlife

APRIL 22, 2015

Leaders ought to be wary about bringing change to vibrant cultures, the positioning of brands, and effective business models. They love to put their mark on the brands under their roof. So does core brand positioning. Changing brand positioning is usually premature and almost always a mistake.

Brand 100

Brand Core Competence Retail Advertising 100

In the CEO Afterlife

DECEMBER 11, 2012

If the public didn’t want to pay that price, they could always buy Henkel or a private label brand. As much as ‘branded’ companies pride themselves on being differentiated, ‘value-added’ marketers, they continually exchange ‘price buyers’ with their competition. Behind this logic is a basic business issue.

Price 162

Price Discount Brand Incentives 162

In the CEO Afterlife

DECEMBER 31, 2011

You’re Not a Real Marketer until You Create a Brand [link]. Brand Managers inherit brands and manage existing franchises. It is not the same as creating a new brand, launching it and watching it grow. There is a way, but one’s bonus for success will not be paid in the usually currency.

Blog 222

Blog Mission Statement Strategic Planning Brand 222