Brand Champions

Branding School

Tonight I had a great session with brand champions from the world of community colleges here in the United States. We covered numerous topics, including the role of brand champions in helping organizations build and maintain a sustainable brand.

I look forward to continuing our dialogue beyond tonight. Tomorrow participants will attend a number of sessions at the North American headquarters of SAS here in Cary, North Carolina. I hope they will think about what they learned tonight and see the connection between our session, and those of the next two days.

I also look forward to hearing how they plan to implement what we discussed in tonight's branding session to their work back home. What does it mean to be a brand champion in your organization?

Becoming a Brand Champion

Today I am headed to the great state of North Carolina, where I will be presenting at a national marketing conference for community colleges in the United States. Tomorrow evening I will be facilitating a three-hour session on Becoming a Brand Champion. I look forward to meeting fellow brand champions.

Because brand development is still a relatively new process on many college campuses, there is a strong need for schools to also develop brand champions. For many of the participants, this might be their first introduction to what it means to be a brand champion, and for others this might be an opportunity to hone their brand champion skills. No matter where they are at in their brand champion development process, tomorrow evening will provide participants with the opportunity to engage with like-minded individuals from around the nation in a dialogue about becoming a brand champion.

How do your employees participate in brand champion building programs?

Brand Ideas

Last Friday I attended a fantastic event in Denver. The series, known as the Denver IDEA Cafe takes place every Friday afternoon at 2:00 pm at a local Panera Bread. Each Friday entrepreneurs gather to tell their story and exchange ideas. John Wren, who has been doing this for a number of years, is a terrific facilitator. I highly recommend it.

As a follow up, I want to invite those who were at the IDEA Cafe last week and any others to attend my branding presentation at the Cherry Creek Chamber of Commerce on March 25. I will be speaking on the topic of Branding- Latest Fad or Sustainability Strategy. I will be covering the basics of developing a brand strategy for individuals and businesses.

As many of you know, the purpose of this blog is give brand champions a forum for us to communicate. After last Friday, I am strongly considering a meet up group for brand champions. What do you think?

Brand Champions to Meet in North Carolina

I want to let everyone in the education world know that I will be delivering a pre-conference workshop at the national Community College Enrollment Management & Student Recruitment Symposium. The session will take place on February 11, 2008, 6:00-9:00 pm at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Durham, NC.

The workshop entitled, Becoming a Brand Champion on Your Campus, will cover topics including, why colleges and universities are embracing branding, best practices and case studies, the process for developing a sustainable brand, insights about becoming a brand champion. There will be an interactive activity that will allow participants to engage with each other in an "on-brand" experience. I hope to see you there.

You are welcome to email me in advance with any questions or thoughts you might have about the session.

Branding: Latest Fad or Sustainability Strategy?

Your organization may or may not sell coffee or manufacture motorcycles. But, like Starbucks and Harley-Davidson, your company relies on employees to understand and embrace your company's vision, mission, values and gaols. At the same time, your company is likely to feel increasing pressure from competitors around the globe, so effectively positioning your company in the minds and hearts of your employees and customers is critical to your long-term success.

To address these and other issues, many organizations have changed their logos, created catchy taglines and developed trendy advertising campaigns. These approaches to branding have achieved limited success. As a result, many think branding is a fad or gimmick. An increasing number of organizations have undertaken a different approach to brand development, they build their brands from the inside out, and understand the importance of focusing on long-term sustainability.

On November 29, 2007 at 11:30 am, as part of the Colorado State University- Denver Lunch and Learn Series, I will be discussing the keys to developing a sustainable brand. Joining me will be Karen Gerwitz, Director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). The two of us will share our experiences in developing a sustainable brand for DORA, and its relevance to your organization. If you are in the Denver area on November 29, we hope to see you there.

For more information go to: www.learn.colostate.edu/courses/BSLL/BSLL1046.dot