Brand Champions

Kennedy Center Honors Delivers On-Brand Experience

For the third year in a row I am posting my thoughts on the Kennedy Center Honors experience. An evening when lifetime achievements in the arts are recognized. This event is a model for developing and then delivering an on-brand experience. The emotional response that is felt by viewing it is what every organization should hope for when executing their own brand strategy. This is of course if they have a brand strategy. And if they understand what their mission and core values are all about. This is of course if they have a mission and core values.

The 2009 event aired last Tuesday evening included some of my all time favorites. People who clearly understand their own personal brand, and realize the value of recruiting and retaining brand champions. People like the comic genius, Mel Brooks and the ballad legend, Bruce Springsteen. Like successful organizational brands, these personal brands have stood the test of time. They are recession-proof. They have a clear mission and others know what they stand for.

I am so glad that I attained a BA in history so that I could apply my knowledge to Mel Brooks films. What can you learn from experiences like the Kennedy Center Honors that can apply to your brand building efforts?

Rex Whisman

Brand Champions Blog

BrandED Consultants Group

Woody Allen Understands What It Means to Be a Brand Champion

Yesterday I heard a repeat interview from last June on NPR with one of my all time favorite actors, Woody Allen. He fielded some challenging questions about his life and his work. The topic was not officially defined as a brand discussion, but as I most often do, that is how I related to the dialogue. Anytime people are talking about identity, they are discussing brand.

Allen was asked about whether or not he cared what people thought of his personal life, especially in terms of his marriage to a much younger woman, who was the adopted daughter of his ex-wife. Allen handled the question quite well. He indicated that he did not think anyone should live their life by what the outside world thought. If one did, he believed one's life would then be inauthentic.

That is an interesting perspective that organizations can and should think about too. I often hear pundits say that a brand is defined by your customers. Like Allen, I believe that if you let the outside world define your brand, your organization will not be authentic. The organization needs to define itself based on its mission and core values. Should internal and external audiences be a part of the process? Absolutely. But when the organization understands itself will it have the opportunity to recruit and retain the right brand champions.

Does your organization, or do you, let others define your brand?

Rex Whisman

Brand Champions Blog

BrandED Consultants Group

Take Me to the Promised Brand

Many define the word brand as a promise. Although I define the word brand as your name, you won't get any arguments from me about the importance of a promise. I advocate the promise statement is a part of your brand platform. No matter where it is placed on paper, in minds or hearts, the promise is what the organization states that it will deliver to its internal and external stakeholders if they engage in a relationship with the organization. It should be the guide for how your employees live your brand.

A promise is not a tagline or a jingle, and it should not be invented over lunch with some colleagues, or especially an ad guy. Although some organizations have indeed taken this approach, others have not even been that forward-thinking. We don't hear much about those organizations anymore. Why, because they don't exist.

At the next monthly meeting of the Brand Cafe in Denver, participants will share their organization's brand promise and discuss how their organization delivers on that promise. Others will come to learn about the methodical process that is required to develop a brand promise and how to ensure its success.

Does your organization have a brand promise, or does it just take out an ad in the local newspaper? How does your promise statement fit into your brand strategy, brand management and internal branding process? Or does your organization come up with an annual ad campaign and call it a day? How do you recruit and retain brand champions without a promise statement?

Rex Whisman

Brand Champions Blog

BrandED Consultants Group

Brand Champion of the Day- Second City

I am always on the look out for sustainable brands. Those organizations that understand who they are and have stood the test of time. As an education brand consultant, I help colleges and universities, and pre-k to 12 schools understand that a sustainable brand is based on mission, core values and stakeholder engagement. I can't think of a better example of how these concepts come together than Second City.

This year marks the fiftieth year anniversary of Second City. For half a decade this organization has offered classes, delivered fantastic performances and produced a hall of fame list of comedic alumni, household names like Joan Rivers and Bill Murray to name two. Others include John and Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Mary Gross, Jerry Stiller, Tina Fey, Harold Ramis and Gilda Radner.

The other day a colleague of mine asked if I had ever featured a comedian as Brand Champion of the Day. He rightfully suggested Second City and its ensemble of the finest in the land. For staying true to your brand, always delivering on your brand promise and producing tons of brand champions, Second City, you are the Brand Champion of the Day!

Rex Whisman

Brand Champions Blog

BrandED Consultants Group

Brand Value- What is in a Name?

What is the most valuable asset that an organization possesses? In the view of most brand professionals it is the name of the organization. Historically the most valuable brand name in the world is Coca-Cola. Interbrand and others have developed formulas by which they place a monetary value on the brand name.

Whether your organization adheres to a formal  process of brand valuation like that advocated by Interbrand and others, I think it is important that every organization at least includes a dialogue about the value of their name. It has to be a part of your internal branding process.

When we engage in this type of discussion it helps everyone in the organization think differently about their organization, and most likely feel better about their association with the brand. What value do your internal and external champions place on your brand name?

Rex Whisman

Brand Champions Blog

BrandED Consultants Group

Has Your Brand Been Googled?

How often do you Google yourself or Google your organization? I hope you do so often. If your brand does not appear high in the number one search engine rankings then your brand does not exist. In the past several years I have become much more search conscious and hopefully becoming more search savvy. I understand the value of placing high on the first page of Google.

I bet that if you go to Google right now and type in words Brand Champions or Brand Champion this blog appears number one. That is the place I want to be. High on the first page. Especially when people are doing research about a topic related to what I do. I consider myself a brand champion and the work that my organization does for our clients to help them recruit and retain brand champions. We are brand champions helping brand champions recruit and retain brand champions.

If you want to learn more about how this incredible brand called Google came to be and how it can benefit your brand, I encourage you to take a look at Ken Auletta's book, Googled. He does a great job of telling their brand story for them.

Rex Whisman

Brand Champions Blog

BrandED Consultants Group

Brand Champion of the Day- Michael Brewer

For many people around the world, December 25 represents a day of faith and celebration. Today December 25 happens to fall on a Friday, a day when I recognize someone or some organization who understands what it means to be a brand champion, and highlight them as the Brand Champion of the Day. When all of those concepts come together at one time we have Michael Brewer.

You probably have read about Michael's courageous battle to recover from being lit on fire a few months ago. Earlier this week he was released from the hospital and can spend this holiday with his family. On Wednesday I watched his mother talk about Michael's recovery and learned about the Pray for Michael Brewer fan page on Facebook. That day I became a champion of the Michael Brewer brand.

Today I hope you will join me in recognizing Micheal's gallant efforts, become a fan on Facebook and Pray for Michael Brewer on this day of faith and celebration. Become a champion of the Michael Brewer brand.

Rex Whisman

Brand Champions Blog

BrandED Consultants Group

Creating an Internal Brand Strategy Through Facebook and LinkedIn

For over a year now I have fed my blog posts to Facebook. During that time I have had many people comment about those posts on my Facebook wall. Thank you. At first I was a bit frustrated that people were commenting there and not on the blog itself, because those who landed on my blog would not see those comments. Shortly thereafter a light went on for me. Who cares?

I realized that most of the people who go directly to my blog are those who land there after doing research on sites like Google. This blog is most likely to appear as the first listing when someone goes to Google and types in the words brand champions. People doing so may end up being champions for my brand, but that relationship will take a while to develop, or never will. My current brand champions are those who are my friends on Facebook or my connections on LinkedIn, where I also send my blog feeds. 

As social network sites like Facebook and LinkedIn continue to evolve from personal to business communications and marketing channels, we need to think about our audience. The content needs to be relevant to them and enhance our brand essence. This approach in many respects is an internal brand strategy for you and your organization. The people there usually share your mission and core values so why not engage them in your brand development process? Be happy that they are posting on your wall!

Rex Whisman

Brand Champions BlogBrandED Consultants Group

If At First Sex Does Not Sell Your Brand Try, Try Again! Or Go Green!

I guess that is the philosophy of the powers that be at Carl's Jr. It must have been about a year or two ago when Carl's Jr. hired Paris Hilton to eat a burger with very little on, thinking that guys were going to get turned on and go out a buy a bunch of burgers and fries at their nearest Carl's Jr. The reason I remember that short-term, ad agency tactic is because it was a success, but because it failed miserably. Now I see that Carl's Jr. is back at it again.

This time they have hired Kim Kardashian to be their spokes-kitten. Apparently this time Carl's Jr. is trying to go green by trying to sway men to enter a contest and win a salad date with Kim. I have to admit that it has been a very long time since I ate at Carl's Jr. so things may have changed over the past few years. But, the reason I have not eaten there for a long time is the same reason I advocate that they concentrate on developing a long-term sustainable brand strategy based on quality of food and service.

Why do some organizations never learn that sex rarely works as a brand strategy? As my friend and brand futurist, Martin Lindstrom says in his quote in Monday's USA Today article on this topic, "What does sex really have to do with burgers?" Ditto! This is not the way to recruit and retain brand champions.

Rex Whisman

Brand Champions Blog

BrandED Consultants Group

Fresno Attempts to Build a Brand From the Inside Out- Kinda

You may have read about the City of Fresno's latest attempt to "re-brand" itself. On the one-hand I applaud the decision makers for recognizing that any hope for developing a sustainable brand strategy needs to start internal. It sounds like Fresno realizes that it needs to engage its citizens first and get their buy-in.

That might be as far as I am willing to go in supporting the brand strategy, from what I know about the brand initiative. Why? Because it appears that like many other attempts (which usually fail) this one is focused too much on advertising and slogans. Fresno's new adopted slogan is "Be World-Class, Be Fresno." Hmmm, that doesn't do it for me.

I don't think World-Class when I hear or see the word Fresno. I think diversity, agriculture, California and other associations. I believe that every brand strategy needs to have some aspirational stretch to it, but not super aspirational, not in my lifetime stretch. I don't think this will be a sustainable brand strategy for Fresno. In the short-term it will kinda be successful. Too soon to tell whether Fresno will be able to recruit and retain brand champions.

A sustainable brand strategy is based on mission, core values and stakeholder engagement. Not just a slogan and an expensive ad campaign. What do you think are the keys to sustainability?

Rex Whisman

Brand Champions Blog

BrandED Consultants Group