by admin | Jun 12, 2014 | Innovation
After all the angst generated by the Affordable Care Act, and all the punditry, noise, and debate that accompanied its rollout, you might conclude that there are no practical solutions to our healthcare challenges. But, of course, there are new answers and solutions and new, creative approaches to solving healthcare problems. You just have to look at innovative, private sector enterprises. And if you do, you might find one of the more innovative answers to eldercare right there in your old-fashioned television set. Just ask Kian Saneii, CEO of Independa. Read more about whether or not your television is the future of healthcare innovation...
by admin | Jun 11, 2014 | Brand strategy
What happens when you make a certified public accountant the chief marketing officer? With Exec VP-CMO Matthew Jauchius at the helm, the collaboration between marketing and procurement at Nationwide Insurance has led to a trim in agency fees of 7% each of the past three years. It’s also resulted in the company’s “Join the Nation” campaign — aimed at “the head and the heart,” Mr. Jauchius said –which increased unaided brand awareness 28%. Read more about how Nationwide improved their brand scores...
by admin | Jun 11, 2014 | Brand strategy
If you know me at all, you know I’m a proud Kardashian fan. But even if you don’t like them, you have to admit that the Kardashian name is the pinnacle of branding. A masterpiece, if you will. When you hear Kardashian, something very distinct and powerful comes to your mind: fashion, extravagance, family, drama, Kimye, North West, maybe even trashiness. Regardless of what it is, it’s specific and memorable. Genius? Even I would hesitate to go that far. But it is a perfect example of what we should all be doing whether you’re branding yourself or your business. Let’s get right to it. Here are 5 things that the Kardashians do very well, and what you can do to mimic the success of the Kardashian brand. Read all five of the steps to branding like a Kardashian...
by admin | Jun 10, 2014 | Brand strategy
The best brand names become a part of consumers’ vocabularies and synonymous with the items they represent, like Kleenex has with tissues. “A name is a moniker that a company is going to wear probably the longest of anything we develop,” says Sasha Stack, a partner at the Boston offices of brand-strategy and design firm Lippincott. So why do names like Sprite and Verizon work so well? We asked Stack to guide us through the naming process using some of her favorite projects, as well as the brand names she most admires. Read more about the value of a name for branding...
by admin | Jun 10, 2014 | Communication strategy
I resisted the temptation to write about GM’s internal report on the Cobalt ignition switch crisis until I had the time to review the entire 315-pages. The details of the report by Anton Valukas, partner at the law firm Jenner & Block, reveal a catastrophic breakdown in communication. Today’s column isn’t just for those readers who want to know more about theGeneral Motors failure to recall thousands of cars with safety problems. It offers valuable lessons for any leader who wants to improve the communication of critical information. “As a whole, from beginning to end, the story of the Chevrolet Cobalt is one of numerous failures leading to tragic results.” Most of those ‘failures’ can be directly tied to poor communication, according to the Valukas report. The investigation reviewed 41 million documents and hundreds of witness interviews. The report covers 15 years of failures and gets highly technical, but it’s clear that poor communication, information overload, and bewildering PowerPoint slides take much of the blame for the loss of 13 lives. Read more about these two misleading words...
