Turning Discord Into Harmony
Ultimately, change is simply what happens to us all, all of the time. The lesson is not in the amount of change we can handle, but in the way we manage that change.
Blogposts
Demythologizing the McElroy Memo
In 1931 a young P&G executive wrote a document which proved crucial to the formation of ideas about contemporary brand management. But attitudes about branding have since grown up around the memo's opportunistic policies. This article deconstructs McElroy's directives, reassessing our perspectives on how brands need to be viewed in today's post-globalisation strategic universe.
Videos from the 2009 Brands with a Conscience ceremony
The following videos are from the Brands with a Conscience ceremony at MIP in Paris earlier this month, which the Medinge Group has been running for six years. The filming was done by Elmine Wijnia, wife of long-standing member Ton Zijlstra. The first is a video introducing the ceremony, featuring Medinge chairman Thomas Gad,
Branding New Kinds of Places: the Example of Experience Retail Centres
The author, a town planner and place and destination brand practitioner, discusses the challenges of creating place brand strategies for completely new types of urban development using the example of the emergence of places that combine retail, leisure, entertainment, sports, cultural and heritage facilities to a greater extent than has been seen hitherto.
Mythology, Leaders and Leadership
The author challenges the myths of leadership definitions, and puts forward research on leadership that works, requiring the support of legends, communication and role-modelling.
Saving Detroit, by Not Making the Same Old Mistakes
Detroit has not ever used a brand orientation in its automakers’ marketing strategies, and it talks of trimming brands and numbers to allow it to compete. The author believes in being more focused on brands and not losing economies of scale, and building more of what consumers want. The tools are there, such as consumer-targeted blogs, but manufacturers need to use them.
The Second Wave of Sustainability Hits Swedish Brands
This article introduces the argument that Swedish brands have moved beyond other countries’ positions on sustainability.
An Introduction to Storytelling in Employee Branding
The real power and opportunity for using stories in organizations is in listening to stories, helping others to create their own authentic stories and making sense of the stories told.
A Participative Approach to Brand Building
The argument of this paper is a simple one: creating value for customers is an organization-wide responsibility. The author reconsiders the market orientation papers of Narver and Slater and Kohli and Jaworski and introduces the concept of Participatory Market Orientation.
How to Improve the Chances of Successfully Developing and Implementing a Place Brand Strategy
This paper tries to answer critical questions by describing the criteria and factors that contribute to successful place branding. By assessing the place, the players and the plans they make, it is possible to predict the likely success of a place branding initiative.