My Marketing/Branding Favs Over 2 Years

In a continuation of the look back at my first two years of blogging, today I’m listing some of my…

Favorite Marketing/Branding Posts

From my perspective, brands aren’t color palettes or logos. They’re not tag lines or advertising campaigns. They’re an organization’s raison d’être. Here’s how I describe branding:

True brands are more than just marketing slogans, they’re the fabric that aligns all employees with customers in the pursuit of a common cause.

• Brands Are Dying; Deal With It (3/6/08). It’s time for companies to reinvigorate their brands.
• My First 8 Steps As A New CMO (9/13/08). I was pleasantly surprised by the enormous readership of this post which outlines how CMOs can get started.
• JetBlue’s “Happy Jetting” Is More Than Empty Promises (5/8/08). JetBlue showcases some basic principles of brand building.
• Ford (Finally) Turns Employees Into Brand Ambassadors (4/16/08). It’s critical to get your employees on board (and engaged with) any marketing efforts.
• CMOs: Start Building (Real) Loyalty (4/3/09). Highlights different research that can help CMOs build loyalty.
• 6 Steps For The President To Revive “Brand USA” (11/3/08). Even the USA has a branding problem.
• Marketing Lessons From An Ex-Marine (12/20/08). Find out how marketers can apply a Marine approach called BRASS.
• John Hancock Repositioning Provides Lesson About Empty Promises (4/24/08). Advertising should be used to reinforce branding, not create it.
• Firms Need Some Soul Searching (9/25/07). An important lesson from Aretha Franklin. 
• Don’t Let Profits Replace Purpose (8/13/07). Brands are much more than color palettes and logos, they represent a company’s reason for being. Many companies have lost site of that. 

The bottom line: Most organizations need to re-establish their raison d’être.