I canât think of a more special breed of people than creatives. Every time a creative pitches a bold campaign, challenges the status quo, or takes a big risk, theyâre standing exposed in front of thousands of consumers, peers, shareholders, and competitors. And yet, they keep doing...
If you can model a principle, test it against history, and refine it, youâve just taken your decision-making to another level. Suddenly, emotion stops hijacking the process. Bias gets sidelined. You get clarity. Thatâs the beauty of algorithms. Theyâre nothing more than precise instructions, like words,...
Your marketing can promise the moon, but if your people canât deliver it, the brand breaks. Every CEO Iâve worked with who built a cult brand started by aligning culture with the brand promise. Salesforceâs Dreamforce is a masterclass; even the volunteers feel like part of...
If youâre in the CEO chair, youâre carrying two brands at once: your corporate brand and your personal one. And theyâre inseparable. What you say, post, or endorse can strengthen trust or shake it overnight. Cult Branding teaches us the principle of Openness, be intentional and...
The customer doesnât care about your org chart. They donât separate the âmarketing experienceâ from the âoperations experience.â Itâs all the brand experience. The most effective CEOs I know break down turf wars and get the C-suite aligned around a single narrative. Hereâs how: Create a Brand Council....
AI is everywhere in the CEO conversation. The mistake I see? Treating AI like a cost-cutting tool rather than a connection-deepening tool. The cult brands donât bolt technology onto an old culture; they integrate it to make the customer feel known and valued. Top brands used...
If youâre a CEO, you already know the quarterly game can trap you. Iâve watched too many leaders mortgage their brandâs long-term equity to please the market in the short term. Thatâs a slow path to irrelevance. Brands that last, such as Apple and Patagonia, resist...
âI once asked a truly great chef how he got to be so good. He said, âItâs all in the recovery. How you correct your mistakes.âââBilly Joel, And So It Goes Thereâs a quiet brilliance in that quote from Billy Joelâs new documentary. Itâs not about...
Reclaim the Inner ChildPlay. Create. Touch the parts of you untouched by judgment. Life becomes dull when you abandon the one who still dreams. Pick up a brush, a journal, a guitar, anything that brings wonder back to your fingertips. Confront the ShadowDonât look away. Turn...
Many brands chase growth by casting the widest possible net. More impressions. More clicks. More eyeballs. But in the race for reach, they often miss the people who matter mostâtheir Brand Lovers. From The Cult Branding Workbook: âThe sole purpose of business is to create a customer.â ...