Here are four strategies for infusing your organization with greater optimism: Be Aware of Negativity: Take action when you see negativity start to spread: When you notice your people harping on negative situations, help them change their state to break the rumination cycle. Consciously foster positive...
By: Greg Breeding - President & Creative Director at Journey Group. I’ve served as an art director for the U.S. Postal Service for seven years. It’s a curious and delightful job and one that has brought me a great deal of creative fulfillment throughout my tenure. The...
Focusing primarily on short-term goals can hinder long-term motivation because achieving short-term goals without an overarching purpose doesn't result in lasting feelings of fulfillment. When companies focus primarily on short-term goals, it’s usually because they don’t have a strong company vision. For them, what has to...
By: Tyler Williams - Lead Link of the Brand Aura Circle, Zappos Here is our mindset shift at Zappos. One of our insights is that our current customers are incredibly loyal and love us. Similar to how my mother loves JC Penney and literally asks for...
Leadership qualities go beyond simply having followers or giving orders. If you are a leader of a ten-person team and only two of them follow you, you are not leading. Influence is a key marker of a leader. How do you recognize a leader? It’s not by their prominence....
Nobody buys anything for the sake of having it. Purchases always solve problems. And, problems are always driven by deeper needs. In between the problems and the deeper needs are tensions. These tensions are value-driven: in other words, they are driven by wanting the world...
If you’re like most businesspeople, you’ve entered problem-solving meetings excited to devise a solution, but then left feeling like you wasted valuable time. Often, the solution is similar to something already in place or it was brought up early in the meeting. It feels like the...
A company is stronger if it is bound by love rather than fear. Herb Kelleher The passing this week of Herb Kelleher—the man who filled the skies with flying hearts—made me reflect on compassion and the way we treat ourselves and each other. At the beginning of each...
As the year comes to a close, we want to say a special thank you to Brian Beitler and Mckeel Hagerty for their contributions to the Cult Branding blog. We also want to thank Tom Grimes, Marcus Thornton, and Tony Hsieh for many great discussions...
While revolution must be led from the top, it rarely starts at the top. The spirit of revolution already exists in the hearts and minds of motivated employees and loyal customers. It shows up in the individual stories that employees tell about the work they do. And it shows up in the individual stories that customers tell about the products they love. Often a leader need only act as a kind of managing editor, shaping the stories to align with a shared vision.Marty Neumeier[1. Marty Neumeier, The Designful Company: How to Build a Culture of Nonstop Innovation, 2008.]
Despite what many agencies still claim, brands aren’t logos or taglines and they can’t be made or changed with a single ad campaign.
A brand is a living entity with three elements: vision, culture, and customer. These elements influence each other and collectively create a perception about the company. That perception is the brand.
There’s more than one way to create a brand. But, we think there’s only one way to create a brand that will be relevant now and in the future. And, that’s creating an Authentic Brand.