If you have not heard much about brand coaching up until now, it would not be surprising.
I have been a brand consultant for many years, working with many companies and implementing many new brand and communication strategies. In the past, companies and 
managing directors were in a hurry to outsource their identity and branding needs – let the experts do it, they would say.
That was fine by me!
Today, however, the world looks very different. Business is different. And the way people look at their business needs has changed dramatically. Today CEOs, startup managers, entrepreneurs, and marketing graduates have all had a taste of the freedom of self-help. Continue reading
CHANGE IS NOT easy. Any time we want to try something new or try to change something about ourselves, certain people are only too happy to smile and say: “A leopard cannot change its spots.”
Some recruiters, moreover, take a pass on anyone who either a) has no social media footprint, or b) refuses to share it out of privacy or other concerns. The mere act of writing that sentence made my skin horripilate and break out in goosebumps. The idea of being browsed is bad enough (it sounds like stalking), but being punished for refusing to submit to the prying eyes of strangers? It feels like a sci-fi plot – and a fairly predictable one too!
communications give rise to a false sense of intimacy among people who do not really know each other. This happens because we project our own feelings and opinions onto the others whenever there is an information gap.
YOU MAY NEVER be able to change a leopard’s spots into a zebra’s stripes, but by curating your personal brand you can make sure that people interpret your spots in the right way. Our online culture pushes us to make snap judgements about each other based on images, but the tools exist to create a full personal brand online, as long as we do not neglect any part of it.
Since 1993, there has been a small and steady footwear manufacturer in Zemun whose rise to recognition has been less than meteoric. It is a boutique shoemaker, designing for both men and women, and bringing out new and interesting models each season. Reasonably priced and attractive, this brand should be taking the country, the region, and maybe even the world by storm.
web address that belongs to 
Very importantly, having a website is a legitimizer. A company without a website will not be taken as seriously as one that does. A business that only uses social media could be regarded as “cheap” or untrustworthy. Just like the Yellow Pages once was, when you can set up a website for the price of a good meal, it makes people wonder why you do not have one.
If we have to write about ropes, then we should first learn about them. A piece of copy that tells you how many fibers make up your rope and their composition (nylon, high modulus polyethylene, and aramid) will have most of the world sleeping well ahead of their bedtimes.
This is a tricky one. Many engineering-led companies are indeed proud of their products for very real and tangible reasons. A sign-making machine from Gerber Technology is the result of product design, engineering, and technical achievements made by real people. But as a brand are you proud of the object or what the object can do for others? Gerber makes machines, but they really help people “reach their optimum” in whatever they do. That is something to be proud of, and it is the stuff of a story or two.
Talking with a friend this morning, she was worried about her branding and her business. She is a yoga instructor in New Delhi and holds classes and seminars. She is well respected within her small community but is only one of many that offer her type of classes in her city.
The world without brands is a world without consumerism. No marketing. No advertising. They are not needed. We consume what we require. We supply our needs at a STORE. We do not have a favorite STORE.
In my travels, I have often come across many customers and clients who think that a brand begins and ends with a logo. That all you really need for good branding is a fancy symbol, fancy lettering, and – KAPOW – a brand is born. So many times, when people ask me for branding, this is all they think about.
refreshing an old one. This is for the simple reason that, since the brand is a feeling, you first have to settle on the concept, forge the language with which you will talk about it, dream up the stories that make this concept important for the life of your target consumer, and then, once all that is done, you can take a picture of it.
When I am shoe shopping – which does not happen more than once a year or so – I do not go out with the intention to shop randomly until I discover what I want. If it is a new pair of sneakers, I look for Pumas. If it is work shoes, I favor Italian brands. In the first case, it is a quite specific brand. In the second, it is a specific category.