How One Association Brought Their Rebrand to Life

Should a calamitous event (say, a global pandemic) bring your rebrand plans to a halt? Not necessarily. A rebrand doesn’t happen in a vortex, and any truly successful rebrand is about a renewed brand purpose—one that can guide an organization’s actions in any situation, good or bad. At the American Lung Association, for example, their decision to forge ahead with…

4 Examples of B2B Brand Purpose Guiding the Way

B2B purpose is like a guiding lighthouse

There are a million and one reasons why cultivating brand purpose should be a priority for any business and, in light of the current COVID pandemic, here’s one more (with 4 inspiring examples to back us up)! Because a true purpose is the overarching, guiding force behind everything a company does, it’s the contingency plan you didn’t know you needed…

Sharing is Caring with Stack Overflow

As offices around the world go remote, we’ve heard all of the basics for working from home: maintain a routine, set up a workspace, remember to shower, and if you’re going to wear sweatpants, at least change out of the ones you wore to bed. For many organizations without much experience working remotely, there is a whole new learning curve…

7 Tips for Leaders During COVID-19

This is not a business as usual moment. Whatever plans you had in place for 2020 have no doubt been disrupted if not tossed out the window. Undoubtedly, it is a moment that will test the resolve of just about every business, its financial coach and leaders. In short, this is a leadership moment, during which brands, like individuals, can…

3 Examples of Company Goodwill In COVID-19

A time of crisis is a time for action, and as we navigate a constant influx of new information and policy updates on a worldwide scale, there is a distinct opportunity for individuals and companies alike to work together for the common good. Of course, there is plenty of fear and anxiety surrounding the current COVID-19 pandemic, but there are…

Why CSR is Not a Marketing Strategy

Over the years, this blog has applauded the efforts of a number of brands endeavoring to “do well by doing good” (i.e. Petco, J&J, Richline, Patron, Omni Hotels and more).  Framing such efforts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in this way, I may have implied that CSR is actually a strategy in itself.  Fortunately for you in our interview below, Karen Quintos, CMO of Dell, clarifies why CSR…

CMO Insights: Building Loyalty Through Sampling

This is part 2 of my interview with Daniel Lubetzky, founder and CEO of KIND Snacks and author of Do the KIND Thing, a book I’d recommend to anyone, especially those intrigued by the notion of doing well in business while doing good. In this post, we dive deeply into the evolution of KIND’s loyalty building activities.  Several items of…

Doing the KIND Thing with Daniel Lubetzky, part 1

Once a decade or so, I fall in love with a book by a business founder.  In the 90’s it was Herb Kelleher’s Nuts, the inspiring story from the founder of Southwest Airlines.  In the aughts it was S. Truett Cathy’s Eat More Chikin Inspire More People, a remarkable rundown on the rise of Chick-fil-a.  [Though I don’t share Cathy’s politics, I couldn’t…

Doing the KIND Thing with Daniel Lubetzky, part 1

Once a decade or so, I fall in love with a book by a business founder.  In the 90’s it was Herb Kelleher’s Nuts, the inspiring story from the founder of Southwest Airlines.  In the aughts it was S. Truett Cathy’s Eat More Chikin Inspire More People, a remarkable rundown on the rise of Chick-fil-a.  [Though I don’t share Cathy’s politics, I couldn’t…

CMO Insights: Corporate Social Responsibility

Admittedly, I’m a bit of a romantic when it comes to the notion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). I really truly want to believe that companies that are driven by a purpose that includes the betterment of the world will outperform those that simply want to make a profit.  As the theory goes, a clear mission translates to a more…