brand experience brief: carl’s jr. sports-themed restaurant
My new Brand Experience Brief (audit and analysis of a new or interesting restaurant and retail concept) is about a unique location of the West-Coast burger chain, Carl’s Jr. It’s a new sports-themed...
View Articlegreat brands never have to ‘give back’
The brand-building principles, Great Brands Never Have to ‘Give Back,’ may be the most surprising one of the seven in my new book, What Great Brands Do; The Seven Brand-Building Principles That...
View Articlebrands aren’t dying; traditional branding is
James Surowiecki’s column in The New Yorker last week, Twilight of the Brands, seemed to suggest that brands are dying. He argued that the usefulness of brands has decreased given that “consumers are...
View Articlethree reasons i’m betting on taco bell’s waffle taco
If you’re like most Americans, you probably never thought about tacos for breakfast (other than tacos from Jack In the Box at 4 am after a night out, right?!) Well, that’s about to change as Taco Bell...
View Articlegreat brands do brand as business
This post wraps up the series of posters from my new book, What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles That Separate the Best from the Rest — Great Brands Do “Brand As Business.” This...
View Articlejef holove on making tech wearable and sticky
Juniper Research recently reported that smart wearable device shipments will approach 130 million by 2018, 10 times higher than in 2013. That’s a lot of devices — and a lot of growth. And the Harris...
View Articlea brand-builder’s guide to sxsw
Dangit! I can’t make it to SXSW this year and I’m mad as hell. Well, maybe not that mad – but looking at the schedule of sessions and knowing all the cool people who will be there, I’m pretty...
View Articlethe best brand-building bits from the gathering
A couple of weeks ago, executives from the U.S. and Canada gathered to discuss and celebrate some of the world’s most cult-like brands. The conference and awards gala, The Gathering, was produced by...
View Articlebrand book bites: eat move sleep
- the book: Eat Move Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes — an eye-opening book about improving your lifestyle habits - the brain: Tom Rath, the author of five bestsellers including...
View Articlebusiness growth through brand focus
My new Harvard Business Review post, What Shake Shack Knows About Growth that McDonald’s Has Forgotten, explains that if your single focus is not grounded in your brand identity, your business will not...
View Articlethe big brand idea
What is the one thing about a brand that has stood the test of time? That’s how Moe Abdou, Founder & CEO of 33voices, began his interview of me. In our in-depth conversation, we cover topics...
View Articlewhat is the current state of wearable tech and other key questions
Wearable technology was a hot topic at the International CES this year and I was pleased to moderate a panel of digital health and fitness experts on the subject. Panelists included Jef Holove, CEO,...
View Articlerh (the new restoration hardware) is a great brand in the making
A thorough write-up about RH (formerly known as Restoration Hardware) in a recent Businessweek caught my eye. As Susan Berfield documented in the piece, the approach that CEO Gary Friedman is taking...
View Articlegreat brand quotes
Here are the first in a new series of posters intended to inspire fresh thinking about brands and brand-building. Each poster features a quote from my new book, What Great Brands Do: The Seven...
View Articlehow to build a fitness tech ecosystem
A panel of fitness tech executives gave helpful advice and shared valuable insights about building a digital fitness ecosystem at the FitnessTech Summit at International CES. The following are short...
View Articlewhere are you looking for your next big idea?
“Great brands ignore trends” is one of the principles in my new book, What Great Brands Do, that has consistently been coming up in the interviews I’ve been doing about the book. It’s just so...
View Articlethe dangers of discounting
I’m concerned about the retail industry. Earlier this month, a Federal Reserve survey reported that retail sales had weakened in many areas because of winter storms. As retailers report their first...
View Articlewhat women want from digital technology
Earlier this year, I was interviewed about what women want from digital technology. (Thanks to Robin Raskin, Maria Bailey, and the team at MommyTech TV for the interview!) I’ve studied the topic...
View Articlebrand experience brief: rh (restoration hardware)
This Brand Experience Brief builds on my recent post, “RH Is a Great Brand In the Making,” in which I described the full-scale transformation that Restoration Hardware is undergoing. I had written the...
View Articlebrand book bites: absolute value
- the book: Absolute Value: What Really Influences Customers in the Age of (Nearly) Perfect Information – a provocative read about the new context of marketing today - the brains: Emanuel Rosen...
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