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…

It’s always interesting to see what is getting the most attention over the course of the quarter. It gives us all insight into what topics readers are finding most important. Here are the top 5 from this last quarter. Ask this one question to make your brand more relevant —…

We all want prospects to know and like us. We want to carve out a little place in their brains where we reside. But prospects already have a head full of stuff, making it hard for us to request a little corner in there. We need to become valuable to…

There is a lot of work that goes into the day-to-day business of branding and marketing. It can consume anyone in charge of a brand. Which makes it tough to take a step back and assess efforts from time to time. Because of this, I see something happen with organizations…

When purpose emerged as a factor of modern marketing, there was a false perception that arose. Some mistakenly believed that adopting a purpose was the long-awaited secret to winning over prospects. This caused a problem as inauthentic marketers grabbed at the first purpose that they thought they could reasonably claim…

Your prospects’ decision to engage with you comes down to two questions. Do I like you? Do I trust you? At first glance, it seems like a pretty easy task to help them answer those. Except for that part where it’s not. You can’t expect to throw out a few…

I’ve always held that an inspiring message is more powerful (in the long run) than a fear-based message. But I have struggled with proving it beyond my personal experience. That’s what made a study from mntm research encouraging. Here’s an excerpt: “How do you hook an audience’s attention and get…