Category: Authentic or Not?
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Wearing the Brand: Good idea, bad execution by Thai Highway Police
Employees are often asked to wear clothing and accessories that visually reflect how their organization wants others to see it. Anyone who’s seen a Southwest Airlines employee in shorts and a polo shirt, a New York Symphony Orchestra violinist in his tuxedo, or Jennifer Aniston sporting some "flair" has seen employee branding in action, in…
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Authentic Organizations Turn Green from The Inside Out
How does an Authentic Organization create green products? In her advice to organizations that want to reposition their corporate brands as “eco-friendly”, Susan Gunelius of Corporate Eye argues that organizations need to start being green before they claim to be green. As Gunelius explains: Your customers aren’t going to believe messages claiming your (corporate) brand…
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The Case Against A Marriott Boycott (part 2): Marriott is not Anti-Gay
Another reason not to boycott Marriott? Marriott is not an anti-gay organization. Marriage equality activists who advocate boycotting Marriott hotels are encouraging consumers to punish the Marriott Corporation for its connection to the Mormon Church. Boycott activists argue that the Marriott Corporation’s profits ultimately subsidize the anti-gay activities of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints.…
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What Makes an Organization Authentically "Mormon"?
Some supporters of GLBT rights are calling for consumers who support marriage equality to boycott "Mormon Organizations". These supporters want to punish the Mormon Church (Church of the Latter-Day Saints, or LDS) as well as Mormon individuals for supporting California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage. (Note: The Mormon Church officially opposes same-sex marriage. However, not…
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What Do Sarah Palin, Bill Marriott and John Templeton, Jr. Have In Common?
They are all damaging some organization’s reputation, by causing "collateral reputation damage ® ". Sarah Palin is causing collateral reputation damage to Palin Wine. Bill Marriott is causing collateral reputation damage to The Marriott Hotels & Resorts Corporation. John Templeton Jr., MD, is causing collateral reputation damage to the John Templeton Foundation . Palin, Marriott…
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Musselman’s Applesauce Refocusing on Its Core Identity
Claiming your authentic identity can be good for your organization. Sometimes, getting back to the core of “who you are” can help your organization create a distinctive position relative to competitors. This is the reasoning behind the new ad campaign by Musselman’s (the company photo credit : fauxto_digit that makes applesauce, apple juice, and other…
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If Stephen Colbert were the CEO of Zappos: Explaining a layoff to your employees
On The Colbert Report , it’s called "The Word". In Web 2.0, it’s called "transparency ". Historically, it’s called "telling the truth". As I was working on a more serious post about Zappos , I could not push aside my annoyance at the contradiction between the way the Zappos layoff has been discussed in the…