Compelling brands don’t just magically appear. The great ones have figured out who they serve, how they are different, and why they are valuable. In other words, great brands show us how powerful it is to craft a meaningful positioning before you begin to form how you communicate the brand. Use a time-tested formula …

When I run purpose clarification workshops, I invariably have at least one leader tell me their purpose is to maximize shareholder value. This is the kind of answer that comes from someone that’s either posturing for the CEO or is too lazy or uninterested to really think about the question. …

Brands love taglines. They are those words that stick under the brand, intended to define why the brand is special. But 99 times out of 100, they are just noise — either self-serving crap or some incredibly ignorable vague platitude. This is a missed opportunity. Because, outside of the brand…

Quiet Quitting is trending among workers (so much so that even The Today Show covered it.) So what is it? Is it a new phenomenon? And what does it mean? Quiet Quitting is a confusing name As The Wall Street Journal describes it, “…some young professionals reject the idea of going above and beyond in their…

I have been reading a few articles that question the validity of a brand taking a purpose-driven approach. The articles pointed to brands that have stumbled in their attempts. I’ve seen similar situations. A brand tries to serve a purpose that is too broad (it’s going to take more than…

Your brand purpose is powerful. In fact, it may just be one of your brand’s most potent assets. So sharing the brand purpose should be a priority. I have found that most brands will find some avenue to announce their newly clarified purpose. Almost all immediately share it within the…

I have started conversations with organizations that believed they needed to clarify a purpose because it was what other organizations were doing. Now, I believe anything that furthers the growth of purpose among organizations is commendable — even if, like in this case, the reason to pursue a purpose was…

Artificial intelligence tools are getting lots of play. I read about tools that will write emails, sales collateral, and more. The latest is a slogan generator. Up until now, I’ve been kind of amused by all the ai applications. In my experimenting, they’ve returned mostly average results. So I haven’t…

Thrust is defined in two ways. The less frequently used definition is: a principal purpose, theme, or essence It might be used like this — “The thrust of my manifesto is that every brand has the power to make a difference in the world.” The more common definition of the…