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Blockbuster Leverage their Brand Nostalgia

Why Blockbuster’s Last Summer Sleepover is a Showstopping Brand Strategy. The Blockbuster brand is synonomous with others such as Kodak and Melways that were once an iconic part of life, but by missing a critical opportunity to shift with consumers and technology have become dinosaurs.…

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Why Traditional Brand Positioning Works in Disruptive Times.

I saw a post this morning on social that said; “What a year this last week has been”. As the world seemingly accelerates into economic turmoil I’ve been reflecting on the learnings for brands from the GFC. The one thread that stands-out for me above…

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Why heuristic bias is bad for your brand

A highbrow challenge for brands of every description. As defined by Wikipedia; A heuristic technique is any approach to problem solving or self-discovery that employs a practical method, not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect, or rational, but instead sufficient for reaching an immediate goal. When…

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The 3 golden brand rules to standing out in a crowded market

The strategic brand thinking at the heart of every successful brand. Over the weekend I was having a conversation for the thousandth time with the owner of a relatively new, fast growth business who I realized was hearing it for the first time. The conversation…

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Vero – True Social. Just another social app?

First of all, lets start with this disclaimer. If you can’t be bothered to keep up with yet another social media app then there’s no need to find out more about Vero. Because that’s exactly what it is, but apparently ‘with a twist’. Vero is the…

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Marketing guru Seth Godin talks about Brand Authenticity

The differentiating power of brand authenticity When best-selling author, entrepreneur and marketing guru Seth Godin spoke with Brandchannel editor Shirley Brady about what brands need to do to stay relevant, authentic and innovative at the Brandemonium 2017 conference in Cincinnati, his view on the role…

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Why saying ‘sorry’ is such an underrated brand strategy

The Power of a Brand Apology There’s something about politics and brand management that creates a powerful aversion to apologising. There may have been a time when if a company did something wrong, the best policy was denial and steamroll at full speed until the…

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A brand-eye view of the internet in real time

Our Digitally Connected World Captured If you’re looking for evidence that the world of commerce has changed, just spend a minute mesmerized by a real time  representation of some of what’s happening on the web. In the time it takes to read this post there…

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Top 5 Tips for Creating Inspiring Workplace Culture

  With the average person spending around 1842 hours at work per year we believe happiness and a healthy work culture are an imperative part of day to day operations. Happiness at work has become serious business these days with more and more workplaces wanting…

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Meet Hygge, the Cosy New Consumer Trend.

Feel like staying home this weekend? curling-up on the couch under a cozy rug in your PJs with candles burning, a glass of red from Vino Mofo, dinner from UberEats and a movie on Netflix?  Turns-out you’re not alone, but part of the global consumer…

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Employee branding is a CEO’s best friend

How do you lead, when everyone’s their own leader? Recently I read an article on the Design Business Council blog by Greg Branson about how CEOs are adapting to changing employee attitudes. In the article Greg talks about a Wolff Olins report that revealed a…

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How personal brand is the foundation for building your business brand

Simple Personal Branding is great for Brand Building Recently I bumped-into a friend of mine; Graeme Goldman at a business event. Graeme is one of Australia’s brilliant entrepreneurs quietly going about growing impressive businesses and brands. His retail watch business, 8th Avenue Watch Co is…

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PwC Brand Not Shining So Brightly After Oscars Blunder

For those yet to see the footage, confusion hit the stage at this year’s Academy Awards when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced the incorrect winner of the Best Picture award as ‘La La Land’, not ‘Moonlight’ after they were given the wrong envelope on…

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Amex Vs Visa – A battle of brand association

All brands have meaning in the minds of their market. Whether carefully and strategically considered or by default, all brands hold associated meanings in the minds of the market place. Well considered brands establish a competitive brand proposition (their brand strategy) with layers of meaning…

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From Bandwagon To Brand Wagon?

AFL Women’s League An Untapped Brand Sponsorship Treasure Chest. If  last Friday night’s opening game of the AFLW is any indication, the belief that there’s no interest in women’s sport is fading fast. Even the AFL themselves were not prepared for the crowds that came…

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Branding, invisible gorillas and the art of standing out

How much are consumers really noticing your brand? In 2004 Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons shared the Ig Nobel Prize in Psychology, awarded for ‘achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think’, for the experiment they completed at Harvard that inspired The…

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David Jones – One Name: Endless Possibilities

Department store giant David Jones unveils new Spring/Summer 2016 collections and new brand promise. Department store giant David Jones has launched their new Spring/Summer 2016 collections, along with a new brand promise ‘One Name: Endless Possibilities’. The new campaign was launched over the weekend, with…

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The Toast Maker – A gently amusing poke at brand story telling

Does this amusing parody of brand story telling diminish the effectiveness of this branding approach? OK, so we’re the first ones to rave about the virtues of authentic brand story telling. We love to discover a passionate, artisan craftsman sitting at the heart of a…

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Influence Marketing – A Relatively New Social Media Movement

What traits are important for a successful social media influencer? In the world of social media, an influencer is a individual who has the power to make others believe that they need a certain product or service because of their real (or perhaps perceived) authority, relationship with the…

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Is brand personality the most underrated way to build brand engagement?

The Brand Strategy of Stand Out Personality In the world of retail and hospitality, so many businesses get caught-up in the operational whirlwind of attracting, serving and delivering product to their customers that they find it challenging to take a breath, step back and assert…

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Amnesty International – What do consumers really think about this Not for Profit Brand

All brands have associations – both positive and negative Whether carefully and strategically considered or by default, all brands hold associated meanings in the minds of the market place. Well considered brands establish a differentiated value proposition (their brand strategy) with layers of meaning to…

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Busting the First Mover Advantage Myth of Branding

Watching a TED Talk recently from Organizational psychologist Adam Grant I came across a brilliant insight that challenged the long and firmly held belief of First Mover Advantage. For as long as I can remember in business and brand the ‘first mover paradigm’ dictated that…

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The 12 Steps to Building a Loved Brand

Loved brands are profitable brands Is the whole ‘Loved Brands’ thing a fluffy piece of feelgood PR from the branding community or a commercially savvy strategy? That so much cynicism surrounds the brand industry must be a reflection of the inability of the industry to…

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Will Coke’s plan to sue UK Govt over ‘soft drink tax’ impact brand reputation?

A questionable brand strategy In response to the UK Governments announcement it plans to increase tax on high sugar content soft drinks, Coke has announced plans to sue. As the soft drink market continues to decline globally Coke has been doing a good job of…

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Anthony Bourdain – A Lesson in Creating a Powerful Personal Brand

Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.  Anthony Bourdain is a reality TV personality, chef and author who has been exploring the world and sharing his travels with us all on his series No Reservations, The Layover, and Part’s Unknown. Bourdain has been in…

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Zika Virus spells disaster for Brazil’s Olympics but opportunity for Aussie brand

One Brand’s Loss in another Brand’s Gain The US Olympic Committee’s recent announcement that their athletes may choose to sit-out this year’s Games in Brazil if they have health concerns over the Zika virus may prove to be an ominous sign. Facing a whole host…

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Why 2016 is the Year of the Challenger Brand

What exactly is a Challenger Brand and why are they so interesting? We’ve long been fans of Challenger Brands – businesses with the mindset to disrupt their category, to unlevel their playing field and upset their competitors’ apple carts. We categorise ‘challengers’ by mindset – what’s…

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IKEA Chief believes we have reached ‘Peak Stuff’ – What does that mean for consumer brands?

Has the West has reached it’s peak of Consumerism? During a recent interview with NPR in the US, IKEA’s Global Chief Sustainability Officer, Steve Howard opined: “If you look at things like oil–well, actually, oil sales have peaked in the U.S. and Western Europe. Beef sales have pretty…

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The Power of One – Brand engagement starts with a single customer

Do you have a Single Customer Engagement Mindset? We were talking brand engagement with a client recently and I was reminded of this You Tube clip from the Sasquatch Music festival back in 2009. The clip starts with a single guy entranced by the music…

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This Local Government is turning parking fines into inspiring Christmas spirit

  The Lexington Parking Authority in Kentucky, USA has launched a brilliant ‘Food for Fines’ program It’s not often the concept of a parking ticket and inspiring brand engagement appear in the same line of thought, but that’s exactly what this innovative thinking parking authority…

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How Marketing & Christmas lights helped Columbian Guerrillas to put down their guns

An Inspiring TED Talk on how Marketing can be a Powerful Tool for Change Colombia is a country of exceptional beauty and promise, and it’s also a country where the F.A.R.C. guerrilla movement has incited violence for 50 years. The human cost of the war…

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