The Practical Leader

JULY 3, 2019

” He felt customer service was well ingrained throughout his operation. The company featured service in their marketing with convincing and clever branding, they had a customer service department, and they provided extensive service training to frontline staff. Most Brand Management is Misguided and Makes Things Worse.

Ethics 49

Ethics Brand Management Brand Operations 49

In the CEO Afterlife

DECEMBER 31, 2011

My fascination isn’t my productivity; rather, it is the source of the idea. There has to be a break from day-to-day operations in the process. You’re Not a Real Marketer until You Create a Brand [link]. Brand Managers inherit brands and manage existing franchises.

Blog 222

Blog Mission Statement Strategic Planning Brand 222

Strategy Driven

AUGUST 11, 2020

First of all, see what brands appear to be most popular with consumers and ask yourself why that is. Looking at other successful brands and how they operate is a good way to plan your business model. Always keep yourself updated on consumer’s demands and trends in the marketplace to keep your brand relevant.

Brand 73

Brand Succession How To Tactics 73

In the CEO Afterlife

JULY 24, 2011

ABSOLUT Vodka’s advertising campaign is one of the most successful and longest running consumer products campaigns in the history of advertising. Marketers operate in a dynamic world. Whenever they change companies, they want to put their mark on their new company’s brands. This often leads to change for change’s sake.

CEO 100

CEO Advertising Brand Creativity 100

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 25, 2016

Organizations I work with increasingly struggle to straddle two painfully polarizing operating principles. But the managerial and operational ability to act on that data-driven information may not. Mapping these networks creates visibility and clarity for stakeholders and top management alike.

RACI 8

RACI Agility Brand Management Decentralization 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 23, 2018

One major Asian electronics company built a design lab to develop new hardware product ideas. When sales of the Frankenstein product missed their mark, everyone shared the blame. Explorers work in teams like R&D, customer insights, or product development. They didn’t have a handoff, they had a drop-off.

Project 8

Project Innovation Team Stage-Gate 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 30, 2012

When it comes to operational improvement, organizations today are light years ahead of where they were two decades ago, but there's no time to celebrate yesterday's wins. The question for top management is no longer whether your organization's processes need to be improved, but rather which ones, how much, and when.

Process 15

Process Strategy Offshoring Information Technology 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 26, 2017

But don’t assume your impressive résumé will guarantee you an offer, says Berrin Erdogan, a professor of management at Portland State University and the lead author of a recent study on the subject. “Hiring managers are not always eager to bring on someone who is overqualified.”

How To 13

How To Long-term Marketing Case Study 13

Harvard Business Review

MAY 31, 2011

The challenge for the Chief Marketing Officer is to create marketing and brand building that is both exceptional and efficient in the face of country, product, and functional silos. Pharmacia had a global team representing regional silos that met to coordinate marketing globally and to coordinate new product planning.

Brand 14

Brand Aaker Objective Team Building 14

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 23, 2014

A few years ago Dave Ulrich, a management thought leader from the University of Michigan, made a comment I found both insightful and profound: “ Every leader needs to have a model of organization design.” An effective organization design model guides a manager in answering five fundamental questions in a thoughtful and well-integrated way.

Ulrich 8

Ulrich Cost Efficiency Consultative 8

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 29, 2012

The New York Times and other traditional publishers are launching digital products tailored to the mobile web. But as more traditional businesses are being run on software and a larger component of a company's customer experience is being delivered online, everyone from marketing to general management needs to take notice.

Technology 13

Technology Venture Capitalist CIO ROI 13

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 26, 2012

Try out their products. Among the most impressive lines of questioning are those that address how the organization operates. Instead, perhaps this: "How do market research findings influence product design?" Or this: "What are the differences in careers involving market research compared those in brand management?".

Learning-by-Doing 14

Learning-by-Doing Marketing Brand Management Open-book 14

Harvard Business Review

JULY 17, 2013

You can argue that it boosts a company''s brand , manages risk , and just plain saves money. Another great example is Bruno Sarda, Sustainability Operations Director at Dell. Yet, Unilever has managed to bundle them all under one umbrella, the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.

Media 9

Media Public Relations Brand Video 9

N2Growth Blog

JUNE 11, 2010

In a perfect world you would build relationships with the largest possible universe of targeted constituents where you can productively engage and contribute. I created a successful language school in the 70s, the old way, of course, literally, physically knocking on corporate doors and asking to speak to the training manager.

Media 407

Media Influence Blog Real Estate 407

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 reason: a fundamental flaw in the management process that is supposed to renew brand health.

Brand 168

Brand CEO Stage-Gate SWOT 168

Harvard Business Review

JULY 17, 2015

’” Purpose might have informed the management of two failed brands – Blockbuster and Radio Shack — differently. The brand died a slow death, beginning when Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and then ultimately when its acquirer, Dish Network, decided to shut down all video rental operations in 2013.

Brand 8

Brand Merchandising Retail Real Estate 8

In the CEO Afterlife

JUNE 19, 2011

We operate by the mantra of “use it or you lose it.” As a young Brand Manager, I pounced on consumer insecurities, pumping products that solved bad breath, armpit odor, yellow teeth and bad skin. They know we can well afford their products. We dig in our heels and fight the advance of old age every inch of the way.

Advice 147

Advice Marketing Marketing Strategy Brand 147

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 18, 2017

Suppose you are a brand manager working at company headquarters in France, and you decline the opportunity to oversee the expansion of your product line to China. For example, if a young, single manager working in Dallas turns down an assignment at a branch in London solely because he does not want to live outside the U.S.

Career 9

Career Globalization Constraint Follow-up 9

Harvard Business Review

JULY 24, 2014

A brand can’t just be a promise; it must be a promise delivered. And brand stewardship can no longer be under the exclusive purview of marketing departments and brand managers. Brands may drive communications activities, but little else. Smart companies form brand councils to meet this leadership imperative.

Brand 8

Brand Strategy Advertising Brand Management 8

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 1, 2013

But a hospital-led system will fail when it tries to increase physician productivity or modify individual compensation. Physicians own and operate these medical groups and hold seats on the foundation’s governing body. The medical group must be owned and operated by its physicians. Making the Model Work.

Organization 8

Organization Chief Executive Officer Health Care Insurance 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 5, 2013

Over the next two years, this change in how sales people interact with customers will redefine what the product content will be, how the sales staff will use a new CRM platform to record visits online, and how new insights will be derived from these interactions across sales, marketing, and brand management — ultimately driving decisions.

Organization 8

Organization CIO Compliance CRM 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 20, 2012

Consumer packaged goods manufacturers are monitoring social media to get real-time information on their customers' perceptions and share it with brand managers. Healthcare organizations are implementing electronic health records systems so they can migrate from islands of medical services to sharing patient data across care providers.

Business Model 14

Business Model Process Innovation Media 14

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 16, 2011

Netflix's Reed Hastings snagged the top slot for his ability to successfully manage a winning business while launching and driving its competitor (in his case, Internet-based movie rentals) with equal zeal. Steve Jobs is renowned for answering such questions with a stream of visionary products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Parcell 11

Parcell CEO Airlines Trends 11

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 9, 2016

His prize, Victoria’s Secret, will generate $8 billion in revenue this year and operates in a dozen countries. From the outset, all three men viewed themselves as serving in multiple roles: founder, custodian, brand manager, chief financial officer, recruiter, and head of consumer insights. They operated on shoestrings.

Brand 8

Brand Merchandising Chief Financial Officer Retail 8

Harvard Business Review

JULY 9, 2013

Some companies now actively involve stars in their product development process and other aspects of their businesses. Undoubtedly, some of these relationships are simply glorified brand endorsements and can be classified as CDINO (Creative Director In Name Only), but some celebrities are having a bona fide impact on companies.

Creativity 8

Creativity Brand Advertising Video 8

In the CEO Afterlife

JUNE 8, 2016

Nabob survived near-bankruptcy in the ’70s by making the tough decision to streamline its business and become a specialist (versus the generalist it was originally set up to be, once carrying a myriad of product lines from coffee to jams to spices). It actually used to play in 12 different product categories.

Brand 100

Brand Brand Management Advertising Management 100

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 14, 2014

Big Food has a proven formula for its products that involves controlling the message and the channel. Companies build consumer awareness through paid media and get products in front of customers by offering promotional dollars to supermarkets to display products prominently in the aisles. Put the product ahead of the brand.

Word of Mouth Marketing 8

Word of Mouth Marketing Brand Marketing Incubator 8