5 Threats That Can Kill Your Brand in the New Year! – Part 4
Legal and Compliance
In most companies the legal department is referred to as “compliance.” However they do far more than make sure your company complies with the laws and regulations governing your industry. They protect you from liability exposures and potential lawsuits. They protect your intellectual property including trademarks,...
5 Threats That Can Kill Your Brand in the New Year! – Part 2
PRODUCTION
It’s hard to believe that your own team can damage your brand, but most brands are killed from self-inflicted wounds, not murdered by the competition. As you start out the New Year, be vigilant that your own people don’t take action that inadvertently hurts your brand....
5 Threats That Can Kill Your Brand in the New Year! – Part 1
MARKETING
We learned a lot about building an international brand during the two decades we grew Barefoot Wines. Most of it we learned the hard way, and that is why today we share our lessons in this blog devoted to brand building. Although we were successful, we...
Renew Your Brand Promise for the New Year
Renew Your Brand Promise for the New Year
This is a great time of year to renew your brand promise. Just like renewing vows in marriage, you recommit yourself to your brand promise. But unlike marriage vows, the promises are not yours. They’re the sum of your customers’ perceptions, expectations and beliefs about your...
The Brand Name That Says It All! Barefoot Bubbly Sells One Million Cases!
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
It was storming that night in 1996 when Michael slowly drove up the long dirt road that lead to his humble farmhouse in the rural hills of western Sonoma County. He was careful not to spin out in the mud nor get grabbed by the treacherous...
Know the Metrics that Make Your Brand an Acquisition Target
WHERE AM I GOING AND WHY
We’ve often said that entrepreneurs are brand builders. Unlike sole proprietors, or even those creating a legacy, most entrepreneurs, sooner or later, want to have a capitalization event. That may take the form of a merger, IPO or cash infusion by a new partner, but it...
How to Recognize Opportunity (and Make It Sustainable)
KNOCK! KNOCK!
We often hear, “Follow your passion” as the universal prescription for happiness and success. But we say “Follow your opportunity, passionately” as a more plausible road to success. Opportunities abound! The key is to find a way to take advantage of them using your passion. So...
Successful Brand Builders Use Representatives to Insure Program Execution at Every Level
SEND MORE MERCHANDISING MATERIAL!
The best brand building signs and merchandising materials we ever saw were in the dumpsters of the very distributers who were expected to use them to sell the products of the brands they represented. What were they doing there? Because the distributers only had a limited...
The Norwegian Brand Promotes a Culture of Environmentalism
NORWAY IS THE CLEAN WAY
We are posting this blog from Norway where we came to support and present at the annual “Mixer” which supports entrepreneurialism at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. This is the largest technical university in Norway and has a robust entrepreneurial program...
Domestic Solar Brand Needs Repair
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
Orders for domestic solar roof installations are, well, “through the roof!” As solar power finally becomes mainstream, we thought we’d share our experience with solar. We were early adopters. We put in our first solar array in 1998 and have been using solar to produce both...
The Mob Museum Adds History, Color, and Character to the Las Vegas Brand
PROHIBITION GAVE PERMISSION
It's ironic that the same former federal courthouse in downtown Las Vegas that was the site of hearings and criminal proceedings against so many mob members wound up being a tourist attraction in the very town that was, in large part, originally built up by the...
Rebranding a Commercial Neighborhood with Paint and Sensibility
BARIO TO BRAVO
We all have them in our towns: 50s-era strip malls with parking in front, originally designed to be convenient to an automobile-oriented society. Simply drive in, get your products and services, and drive out. Not much walking, not much community feeling, and not much fun. These...
Brand Equity Requires Constant Reinvestment
GROW OR DIE!
There's no treading water in the market stream. Some say, “Sink or swim.” We always like to say, "Swim upstream or get washed out to sea!" What really distinguishes so-called serial entrepreneurs from their cousins, the merchants, brokers, and individual service providers, is their constant reinvestment...
VinoPro Reinvents Itself and the Wine Sales Business in the Process
THE BRAND BEHIND THE BRANDS
For the second year in a row, our client VinoPro again made the Inc. 500 list, showing 190% growth over last year. In 2013, they hit the ultra-prestigious Inc.500 list where they ranked No. 238 with a whopping 1,810% growth. Now, that is something to cheer...
Facebook Reneges on Its Brand Promise
“YOU REACHED 9 PEOPLE”
Without notice to its subscribers, Facebook suddenly changed its algorithms, essentially reneging on its basic brand promise. Remember, the brand promise is not so much what is made by the brand owners as it is the expectations of the brand’s customers, what they have come to...
The Freedom Tower is More Than an Office Building – It’s a Brand
THE JEWEL IN LOWER MANHATTAN’S CROWN
When we were in New York City last year the cupola antenna was being hoisted into place at the top of the new Freedom Tower in the newly rebuilt World Trade Center. As a huge crane gently positioned the last piece of the Tower's stature in...
All Your People are Salespeople When They Believe in Your Brand
OVER DELIVER
Our new book, The Entrepreneurial Culture, 23 Ways to Engage and Empower Your People, will be coming out in September. This book was written specifically for corporate executives who want to improve their company culture by borrowing techniques successful entrepreneurs use every day. They know that...
Traditional Corporate Structure Can Hurt Brand Health
THE DEFICIENCIES OF SCALE
In order to stay fresh, relevant, and dominate their space, brands must constantly reinvent themselves. But does the traditional company structure itself suffocate a brand’s growth and evolution? Does the structure itself create its own roadblocks, choke communication, and suppress innovation? Traditional corporate structure puts marketing...