Brand(ing):Inside & Outside

Rebranding Opportunities for the American Red Cross?

April 10, 2008

Tweet The American Red Cross has appointed a new CEO, Gail J. McGovern. McGovern, currently a marketing professor at the Harvard Business School, has many years of experince at for profit and nonprofit organizations. Announcements of the new CEO mention the trials of the American Red Cross, noting that the organization has had 7 CEOs […]

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Authenticity: Is it Organizational or is it Marketing?

April 8, 2008

Tweet Of all the current conversations about authenticity and organizations, none is more vibrant- and confused- than the conversation that mingles authenticity, authentic brands and authentic organizations. The Harvard Business Review March 2008 issue has a case by David Weinberger about the fictional Hunsk Engines, entitled “Authenticity: Is it Real or is it Marketing?“This case […]

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Authentic Organizational Partnerships: Co-Branding and The Abercrombie & Fitch Trauma Center

March 27, 2008

Tweet (photo from TheConsumerist) In an earlier post we considered how the new name of the Abercrombie & Fitch Trauma Center might affect the Center’s employees. Here, let’s consider why a partnership between Abercrombie & Fitch and the Columbus Children’s Hospital is inauthentic. And, let’s consider what criteria should be used to evaluate whether a […]

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Authentic Organizational Partnerships: Organizational Brands, Names, the Columbus Children’s Hospital, and the Abercrombie & Fitch Trauma Center

March 19, 2008

Tweet + = ??? In an earlier post, I mentioned that authentic organizations might find it hard to find appropriate partner organizations, because the qualities of the company you keep are often inferred to be the qualities of your organization itself. And now, in the news , is a great example of this very problem: […]

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Can an employee be “too authentic”?

February 28, 2008

Tweet “The guy was too authentic to do his job!” The employee in question worked for an organization that created “lifestyle” products for the action sports market. He worked as an editor and was responsible for updating the organization’s website every morning. The organization positioned itself as having authentic insight into the action sports community, […]

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You don’t have to ‘live the brand’ to give the brand

February 22, 2008

Tweet “Living the Brand”, an internally-focused branding strategy  heralded by marketing gurus , is being touted in the March 2008 issue of the Harvard Business Review. HBR features a case discussion about how to achieve organizational authenticity at the fictional Hunsk motorcycles. Marty, Hunsk’s new marketing manager, is intent on reinvigorating Hunsk’s brand by making […]

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It’s not that hard to recognize an organization’s authenticity. Even a child can do it.

February 16, 2008

Tweet “Mom, this company really shows their believingness.” So said my nine-year-old daughter. She had just noticed that the tag hanging from the T-shirt I gave her for Valentine’s Day was made from “100% post-consumer waste”. She already knew that the T-shirt was from a company called PositiviTee, that the graphic image printed on the […]

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Work-Life Initiatives are the foundation of Authentic Organizations

January 28, 0010

Tweet Earlier this week I met with a group of organizational change advocates, each of whom is dedicated to reshaping the relationship between work and life. Work-Life issues per se aren’t really my gig, although I’ve had a fair amount of work-life conflict in my day as an employee and as a manager. However, I […]

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