Category: Image & Reputation
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Fix the Brand of Men’s Figure Skating: Send Out the Clowns, and get me Johnny Weir
The ‘Brand of Men’s Figure Skating’ is broken. The brand lacks coherence, it isn’t compelling, and sometimes it isn’t even attractive. And it’s all because of what those guys wear. In an ideal world, the Brand of Men’s Figure Skating reflects a hearty frisson between between the brand’s two defining attributes: Athleticism & Artistry. Althleticism…
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Does the iPad Signal a Change in Apple’s Core Brand & Identity?
If products reflect an organization’s values and an organization’s identity, does Apple’s new iPad tell us something about where Apple as a company is headed? And, if that’s where Apple is going, do we all want to go there too? Here’s a proposition: Apple as an organization is changing, from an organization that’s “about” creativity…
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Mockulation ®: Regulating Wall Street Using the Psychology of Public Mockery
What does it take to rein in the outrageous compensation of CEOs? The absurd bonuses of Investment Bankers? The “bail us out so we can award ourselves bonuses”-behavior characterizing Wall Street this year? Do we need more transparency? More shareholder oversight? More whistle-blowing? More government regulation? How about just a little bit more public mockery?…
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Crafting Business Avatars: An Authenticity Exercise
We all need to stop playing around with how we represent ourselves visually online, at least where work is concerned. That’s what Gartner Consulting advises. They released a report last week proclaiming that Enterprises Must Get Control of Their Avatars. The animated avatars that an organization’s employees use when they participate as organization members inside…
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The 10 Day Boycott: A S.M.A.R.T. response to Whole Foods’ CEO Mackey
Boycotts don’t work. Boycotts rarely, if ever, achieve the goal(s) set out for them, in large part because boycott organizers lack clear goals for what response the boycott is supposed to trigger and especially for what the boycotting action has to demonstrate in order to be seen as “successful”. So I’ve got a proposal, for…
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The Two-Faced CEO: Citizen or Whole Foods Shareholder?
In today’s transparent and political economy, the two-faced CEO can’t catch a break. When he acts as a Citizen, he might damage his organization’s reputation. When he acts as a Shareholder, he might limit his own participation in our political conversation. Neither option is good. What’s a CEO to do? The broohaa over the anti-ObamaCare…