Brand Champions

Disconnected States of America Brand

 

Every day I mistakenly think that the United States has a plan to help turn the world's economic around, and every day I realize how the presidential election and the two primary US political parties interfere with the urgency to get the economy back on track. The election seems to be dividing the parties and dividing our states. We need to remember that we are the United States of America. That is our brand.

The political challenges in the United States are diluting an already fragile US brand. I think there are additional challenges because the brand platform of both parties is fuzzy and politicians are not sure what direction to go. If the government was a business they would have failed or been taken over just like the companies that they are apparently trying to manage.

As we know so much of the stock market is based on confidence. Based on yesterday's down turn, there is little confidence in the US brand. Where are the US brand champions? What are your solutions for enhancing the US brand?

Brand Champion of the Day- NACAC

 

Those of you who are regular visitors know that every Monday and Friday I devote this space to brand champions of the day. I just returned from four delightful days in Seattle, where I had the opportunity to meet new friends, revisit a wonderful city and enjoy terrific entertainment.

I flew to Seattle to participate in the annual conference of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. After being a regular visitor during my days in college enrollment, I had not attended for several years. I felt that it was now time to re-engage, and I am glad I did. The event was well organized and the content for sessions very timely. For their work, NACAC is the brand champion of the day

The highlight for me was the closing event which took place at the Experience Music Project. This was my first time there, and what an opportunity to live the Paul Allen brand. Food, beverages, conversation and live music filled the evening. Although the festivities were designed for higher education professionals, the star of the show was a wonderful doctor from Seattle.

Enrollment Professionals Are Brand Champions

 

For the past few days I have attended an enrollment management conference in Seattle. During the conference I facilitated a brand strategy session that included college and university admissions personnel.

More and more I am of the belief that the role of enrollment managers are such a key to the brand development efforts for colleges and universities. The admissions staff is the largest piece of the face of any institution of higher learning, and their understanding and embracement of their school's brand strategy is critical to its success.

Should enrollment offices play a bigger role in educational brand development?

Washington Mutual Brand Champions

 

I am sitting here in Seattle, Washington and hearing that Seattle-based, Washington Mutual and hearing the news that the banking giant stock has plummeted to 16 cents a share and taken over by Chase. How ironic. Another example of the financial fall out taking place in the good old US of A.

I have worked with Washington Mutual for the past four years and have found employees to be extremely helpful and proactive. A group that fully understood what it meant to be a brand champion. Just like I wrote last week about the challenge flight attendants have in championing their brand, the same will take place now at every WaMu branch. Unfortunately the mortgage arm, just like their competitors got out of hand and the rest is history (or at history in the making).

It will be interesting to see how much, and for how long will the WaMu brand sticks around. How would your brand stand up to a merger or take over?

Brand Champion of the Day- Yankee Stadium

 

Earlier in the week the last baseball game was played in Yankee Stadium. If we believe that a brand is a name and the associations that people make when they see or hear the name, iconic associations like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, New York City, World Champions and others come to mind for me.

Brands strive for an emotional attachment to their name. For most people, when they see or hear the words Yankee Stadium, there is usually an emotional connection. It seems that people either love or hate the New York Yankees, and Yankee Stadium is the symbol of that emotion. Yankee Stadium also represents respect. Even those who are not Yankee fans, respect the success of the brand. I think most of us are brand champions of Yankee Stadium.

I would argue that Yankee Stadium is a top five sport brand name when it comes to venues around the world. For this, Yankee Stadium is the Brand Champion of the Day

Seattle- City of Brand Champions

 

This morning I am flying to the City of Seattle. Tomorrow I will be facilitating a brand strategy meeting and later attending an enrollment conference there. I look forward to spending a few days in what I consider to be one of the homes to many champion brands.

Brands that come to mind include, Starbucks, Seattle's Best, Pike Place Fish Market, Microsoft and more. I am also excited about flying another champion brand, Southwest Airlines. These brands should serve as examples of best practices when people ask me what I do over the the next few days. 

Who are some of your hometown brand champions? 

Will the Financial Crisis Burst the Higher Education Brand Bubble?

 

Last Sunday I was watching Meet the Press and at the same time preparing my travel schedule for an upcoming higher education enrollment conference in Seattle. The focus of the Meet the Press program was on the global financial crisis. Listening to the opinions of political and financial experts and getting ready for dialogues about admissions led me to think about the ways higher education might be affected by the ripples of the financial crisis.

For the past few years there has been much speculation among higher education senior administrators and enrollment people about the change in demographics in the United States and abroad, and how those changes might impact higher education. Namely, the fact that the number of high school seniors begins to spire downward this year, the increase in the percentage of Hispanic students, and the challenges in the ability to pay for an increasing number of families.

Now comes the tsunami financial crisis. Combined with the issues stated above, colleges and universities are in for trying times. From my experience, almost all institutions have undertaken a branding initiative in the past five years. Most have concentrated on creating taglines and trendy advertising campaigns. To date only a few have taken a broader brand development approach. Schools will need to think about brand and sustainability beyond external communications and carbon footprint campaigns, to long-term cultural and financial approaches. The need to recruit and retain brand champions will be as competitive as ever.

Is your brand positioned for the long haul? 

37th Ryder Cup Creates Brand Champions of Sport and Beyond

 

Each time I watch the Ryder Cup I wonder why we can't all just get along. This event epitomizes how competition and international relations can co-exist. Here are brand champions of golf from all over Europe and the United States fiercely trying to defeat each other's team, but with great respect and dignity.

If we can do that on a golf course in Kentucky, why can't we do the same in our economical, political and other arenas.Although I think sport is often overrated, especially when it comes to sport analogies, in the case of the Ryder Cup, we can learn some lessons.

Do you agree or disagree?

Brand Champion of the Day- HEMA

 

Founded in 1926 in Amsterdam, HEMA is a Dutch department store chain known for its low priced generic house ware products. Currently there are over 150 stores in the Netherlands and several more in Belgium and Germany. Today, I want to recognize the company as the Brand Champion of the Day.

HEMA, like many other European retailers has survived many challenges, including World War II. Any company that has achieved longevity for more than 80 years has strong brand awareness and equity. For that, they deserve to be recognized. However, today I am highlighting HEMA for another reason.

HEMA is a company that fully understands online marketing. As much as any 21st century retailer. Check out today's brand champion of the day by going to their site. Wait a few seconds and see what happens. Now that is a website, one that is sure to recruit and retain internal and external brand champions! 

Brand Champion- Donny Deutsch

 

I do not watch a lot of television, but one show that I try to catch every week is The Big Idea on CNBC hosted by Donny Deutsch. His is one of the only programs on cable television devoted to brand development. Anyone engaged with building a brand, which we all are destined to be, should be a regular viewer.

As you might know, Donny was one of the leading ad guys in the United States, and is now one of our country's most passionate champions of brand. Unlike many people who have simply replaced the word advertising with the word branding, Donny understands the difference, and does a credible job of demonstrating this on his show.

Have you checked out The Big Idea yet?