Reading Time: 6 minutesThere’s a temptation to believe that the sheer logic of a good decision will sway the crowd; that if you make a good case and present it in an inspiring way, you’ve done everything you need to for that idea to gain instant uptake in an organisational culture. We’ve yet to see that happen successfully. […]
Tag: Focus
Inspiration. Step 2 in activating purposeful culture change
Reading Time: 6 minutesAn amazing thing happens when you ask people to imagine their current workplace working to its potential. First, they smile. Then they hesitate. Then they want to talk about everything that’s wrong and why a better workplace is not real or practical or feasible. Purposeful culture change takes time. If you’re patient though and you […]
Agitation: Step 1 in building a purposeful culture
Reading Time: 6 minutesWhen we ask people about whether they want to change the brand culture, there is ambivalence. In a distressed culture, everyone can see that something is wrong. But the thought of change is not necessarily comforting. To make the commitment to building a more purposeful culture, it’s critical to point to a cultural agitation point: […]
How to develop, lock in and apply powerful brand values
Reading Time: 3 minutesValues are one of the great ironies of brand. Everyone professes their importance, and some brands invest considerable time finalising them. Then they systematically ignore them, often because they don’t know how to practically apply them. In doing so, they underplay the importance and guidance that powerful brand values can provide. Not all brand values […]
Stepping up to a Principled Culture
Reading Time: 4 minutesCulture change models, in our view, are best achieved by the right mix of emotions, intent and order. Emotions, because they are such powerful motivators for change. Intent, because everyone wants to know where they’re going. And order, because structure brings surety. Stepping up to a Principled Culture is no exception. Fit is the f […]
Should your brand commit to a deliberate strategy?
Reading Time: 10 minutesA deliberate strategy is one that locks your brand into an approach for the foreseeable future based on clear data and harnessing the resources of the organisation to make that happen. It is a highly intentional strategy – motivating people to come together and work, in harmony, to accomplish defined goals. But is it the […]
Finding your brand mandate
Reading Time: 5 minutesWhat gives you the right to sell a product/service at margin today? It’s easy to assume you have a brand mandate. Or that you deserve one. But what is your brand doing to earn/retain the mandate it wants/has?
Finding an obsession
Reading Time: 2 minutesWhen you apply the concept of provenance to brands, it becomes a concept centred on systematically and competitively ‘localising’ what you’re about rather than diversifying to try and meet the generalised needs of the wider world. So it’s about having a narrowcast brand: one focused to the point of obsession on a specific area of […]
Excitement vs risk: The very different emotions driving purchase of B2B and B2C brands
Reading Time: 3 minutesPhilip Kotler once described brands as helping people to make decisions. In a world of frenzied competition and bewildering choice, they are of course the fastest, simplest and most effective way to link a name to a perception of value. What can easily be overlooked however is that B2B and B2C brands are not just […]