Tag: Branding
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Is there a Business Model behind that Values Statement?
There are many fledgling businesses that have laudable intent and shaky commercial foundations. This is a problem because, in an ideal world, the businesses that stand for values we share should also be able to sustain themselves as businesses. That’s the key premise underneath social entrepreneurship and conscious capitalism. Purpose-driven organizations need compelling values, but they also need coherent…
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Make Distinctiveness Matter by Linking It To Organizational Purpose
Does it really matter if an organization is “distinctive”? When an organization’s distinctiveness (identity) is linked with the organization’s purpose (greater social goal), the organization’s unique qualities provide the unique resources needed to achieve that purpose. Organizational Distinctiveness is more than Positioning Managers often dismiss the concept of organizational “distinctiveness”, thinking that distinctiveness is only…
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Capturing Authenticity in Your Business Name: Dangerous Mathematicians
Over the weekend I took my family over to Brooklyn to visit our groovy friend Lizz. Part of the plan was to wander around Boerum Hill and explore (okay, window shop and eat ice cream). As per usual, I found it necessary to stick my nose in someone else’s business. Wouldn’t you *have* to go…
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Organic Discount or Competency Penalty? The real reason organic wines sell for less
Stereotypes about non-profit and for-profit firms explain why organic wine can’t command higher prices. Today’s Freakonomics column picks up on UCLA research reported earlier this week by Matt McDermot at Treehugger.com. The researchers, Magali Delmas and Laura E. Grant, demonstrated that organic wine cannot command as high a price as conventional (non-organic) wine. This despite…
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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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Girl Scouts Rebrand Their Cookies: “Every Cookie Has A Mission”
The Girl Scouts have been busy with their organizational re-branding efforts. With the start of the 2010 Cookie Season, they have a new branding campaign specifically designed to make Girl Scout cookies meaningful. Back when I wrote the post Wal-Mart Knocks Off the Girl Scouts, about Walmart entering into competition with the Girls Scouts on…
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Bias Bingo: Blending Branding and Learning
I love it when basic business science can be applied to important causes. So, I was excited when my favorite FemaleScienceProfessor pointed me towards a clever website designed to teach about gender bias: The Gender Bias Learning Project. The Gender Bias Learning Project is a great demonstration of how basic web skills, clever marketing skills,…
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EmployER Branding vs. EmployEE Branding
Sometimes the distinctions between terms are irrelevant; they don’t make much of a difference. Not so with the distinction between employEE branding and EmployER branding. Just the switch of one letter, and the switch of the organization’s focus, makes all the difference. EmployER Branding EmployER branding is all about creating a sense of place. It…