Brand Champions

Is Obama Delivering on Brand Promise?

As you recall the Obama brand platform centered on hope during his run for US President. While his term is four years, with the possibility of another four, many are using the first 100 days in office as a bench mark for assessing President Obama's ability to deliver on his brand promise. 

We recall that the focus of Obama's brand platform was on change, with reasons to believe including change, patience and regulation. The Senator, and now President, also talked about the importance of rediscovering the core values of the United States, including diplomacy, inclusion and moral values. From my experience, especially in terms of internal branding, the process of brand development allows stakeholders to discover or rediscover their mission and core values.

If you are in education branding, that means engaging faculty, staff, students and alumni and helping them understand and find relevance to your school's core values and mission. If you are in business that means engaging employees including the front desk, human resources and all others so that they understand. One of the most effective ways to do so is to develop a new employee orientation program centered on mission and core values. Those first few days of employment is when you have the best opportunity to recruit and and retain your brand champions.

So far opinion polls at home and abroad indicate that the majority of people are supportive of the direction that the new administration is taking the USA. What do you think, is Obama delivering on his brand promise? If so, or if not, what are the proof points?

Brand Champion U Class Meets to Talk Personal Branding

Last evening I had the pleasure of meeting with graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Denver as part of Professor Good's Identity & Branding class. It was great to engage in a dialogue about my favorite subject, branding, with a group of like-minded brand champions.

I applaud Professor Good for providing this valuable resource for his students. As we know there are very few classes about this valuable subject. The class in comprised of advertisers, designers, social media marketers, web developers and others. They represent the future of our profession, and as a brand and social media expert, I think the future of our industry is in good (no pun intended) hands.

We discussed topics ranging from recession-proof brands to developing a personal brand strategy. Throughout the class I reinforced the importance of mission and core values. As millennials, these people understand better than generations before them the value of purpose and beliefs. So I think they will do well in helping their organizations and clients realize how to bring these concepts to life.

Brand champions are redefining marketing!

DORA Gives a Brand Personality

Good news! I see where one of my past clients, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) is in the Spotlight feature of the Denver Business Journal. The column provides an overview of the Department, quotes from one of the Department's directors and information about their new online offerings.

I remember when we first started the branding project, the eleven divisions that make up the Department were lacking an overarching strategy to connect them. As is the case with any brand building project, there were varying degrees about the need to do so. Often larger entities do not see the need, while smaller ones want to connect to something larger. Over the course of a year or so, we conducted research to determine audience opinions about the image of the organization, developed a brand platform to communicate the essence of the organization in an accurate, authentic, concise and consistent manner, and created an internal branding program and establish a culture to support the organization's mission of consumer protection.

One of our recommendations was to leverage the acronym DORA. We felt that if DORA was the focus and it was taken literally, like one of my colleagues' aunt Dora, that strategy would not only help tie the divisions together and dilute some perceptions that government is unfriendly, but it could create a personality for the Department. We also hoped that when DORA launched a new campaign, which they are doing so now, then the media would also warm up to DORA, and use it as the brand name. In the past, whenever a story related to the Department was seen or heard, it was always at the division level, or sub-brand. So, it great to see DORA front and center and people are getting to know her.

And, of course, it is great to know that government is embracing branding, and understands the value of recruiting brand champions.

Brand Champion of the Day- Chick-fil-A

Unfortunately many brands are in a downward spiral, just like the economy has been. Chick-fil-A is going in the opposite direction, fast! In fact, this 63-year-old family-owned business has plans to open 64 new restaurants in the next year, including 11 percent in my state of Colorado. Depending on your take, that is a brand in recession!

Those of you who know me understand that I am not often a fan of traditional advertising like television, radio and print. For me those are expensive, quick-fix, difficulty to measure solutions. I consider social media like blogs, twitter, facebook and others to be engaging. However there are times traditional marketing channels are the right choice, especially when they are utilized to create awareness and support the brand's mission and core values. I must admit the Chick-fil-A Cows campaign has been a hit. Creating animated cows as brand champions, and encouraging us to eat more chicken is quite interesting and sustainable.

I can count on one, maybe both hands, the number of times I have eaten at a Chick-fil-A. But, I have been a brand champion for many years, and remain one today. For your efforts, Chick-fil-A, you are the Brand Champion of the Day!

Executing Your Brand Strategy Via Mobile

I am currently reading The Mobile Marketing Handbook by Kim Dushinski. It is a very practical how to guide and reminder of the importance of brand building using mobile technology. Dushinski appropriately informs us that "Ironically, mobile is the most global marketing tool and the most local at the same time. While more than 3 billion people worldwide have mobile access, many of these people with cell phones still don't have desktop Internet access, TV, or even newspapers."

When we are enjoying a baseball game at the ball park, sipping a latte at our favorite neighborhood coffee spot or waiting for our flight to board, take a look around and see how many people are using their mobile device. Wouldn't be important for us to understand how many of those people are current or future champions of our brand? Wouldn't it be important for us to understand how to connect with those brand champions via a technology that almost everyone embraces?

I look forward to working with my own organization and our clients in leveraging brand strategies by going mobile.

Brand Challenge for Craigslist

In the past few days where one goes, what one reads and what one sees there is reference to the person now known as the Craigslist killer, the medical school student who is a suspect for murder. As you know, the suspect may have found the victims on the popular classified web site Craigslist. It would not be appropriate for me to go into anymore detail on that case because I am not a lawyer and obviously do not know the details.

What I do know is that any brand, whether it be a person, organization, community or nation, can in the blink of the eye, have its image and reputation challenged through no fault of their own. Think about how Hurricane Katrina and the mess associated with that event changed the City of New Orleans brand. Those brands that have a strong sense of mission and core values are the ones that are most likely to survive no matter what challenges they face. As a result, I think Craigslist will fend off this challenge to its brand.

Do you know what your brand stands for, and what would happen if it suddenly faced a challenge like Craigslist? Would your brand champions defend your brand no matter what the situation?

Brand Champion of the Day- Public Broadcasting Service

Every Monday and Friday I feature someone or some organization as a Brand Champion of the Day. Today, it is my pleasure to recognize the Public Broadcasting Service. This year PBS turns 40 years old. Having written that makes me feel really old. By the same token, it helps remind me that for a good chunk of my life I have had the opportunity to learn a great deal from my many hours of viewing programming on PBS. I have been a brand champion for forty years!

On Wednesday of this week, a new web site was launched allowing us to view online 130 episodes from 20 programs. Fans of Frontline (I'm one), Nova and others can watch streaming video. Full-length episodes from almost every prime time show can be seen in their entirety online. I look forward to taking advantage of this new site.

When I hear or see the letters PBS images like quality, progressive, culture, history. learning. intellectual and others come to mind. They truly are an education brand. For all you do, PBS, you are the Brand Champion of the Day! Join me in congratulating the Public Broadcasting Service.

Are Brand Champions Saying Yahoo! or Yahoo?

This week we learned that search-engine company Yahoo is planning to lay off approximately 600 of its workers. Like many other organizations, Yahoo now faces challenges in the new economy. During the first three months of this year Yahoo earned only eight cents per share, a 78 percent drop in net income from this time last year.

Since its inception, Yahoo has been successful in recruiting champions for its brand. People liked its name and its functionality. With the planned layoff of a large chunk of its workforce, Yahoo will most likely lose many of these people as champions for their brand. Will they be able to retain any remaining champions of their brand?

This unfortunate situation also requires an analysis about the brand name. When things are going well, a name like Yahoo! feels fun and quirky. When things don't go so well, the name Yahoo! looses steam fast. Something for those of you who are starting a new business to think about. Here is hoping we are able to say Yahoo! again, instead of Yahoo?

Is There a Relationship Between Education Brands and Standardized Tests?

Much of the work I do is developing educational brands from pre-k through doctoral programs. At some point in the brand building process the subject of testing comes up, and questions arise about the relationship between standardized tests and the brand. At the elementary and secondary school levels the topic centers on assessment from state and other types of testing. At the higher education level the conversation focuses on the ACT and SAT entrance requirements.

This week there has been much written about the decision by New York University to change their entrance requirement from requiring applicants to take either the ACT or SAT. Now applicants can opt to submit three SAT subject tests or three Advanced Placement tests. With all of the buzz surrounding the decision I wonder what impact it will have on the University's brand. Will the University appear progressive in its decision or will skeptics think that the decision has diluted the academic attributes of the brand? Has the University recruited a new set of brand champions or now have a challenge of retaining others?

What do you think the relationship is between an education brand and standardized tests.

Would Bankruptcy Enhance or Dilute the GM Brand?

It appears that General Motors has tried to avoid bankruptcy for fear that no one will want to buy a car from a brand that is in Chapter 11. When United Airlines, Frontier Airlines and other carriers undertook a similar process, the affects seem to have been short lived. Passengers still fly those airlines. I understand that GM is attempting to establish incentive programs and anticipate what consumers will do before taking the plunge, but the clock is ticking.

According to USA Today, GM has received $13.4 billion US in federal loans and must reorganize by June 1 to get more aid. I think getting bailout money may have damaged the brand more than any type of bankruptcy filing. In fact, filing for bankruptcy might demonstrate to the consumer that GM has a plan for sustainability and could restore confidence in the brand. Bankruptcy might allow the company to recruit some new brand champions and allow others to re-engage with the brand.

Most organizations are going through some type of financial restructuring, so GM could be well served to do the same. What do you think?