Brand positioning is the critical factor in determining the success of an organization. It goes beyond merely defining your brand identity and image. Strategically, brand positioning places the brand in the mind of its target audience, creating a space that differentiates a brand from its competitors. Luckily for marketers, there are marketing tools that can help nail down your brand’s positioning, and one of the standouts is the Brand Ladder. WHAT’S THE BUZZ ABOUT THE BRAND LADDER? Developed by Professor Kevin Lane Keller, author of Strategic Brand Management, the Brand Ladder is one of t ..read more

Download the template You’re at the Board table. After plenty of back-and-forth, a course of action is decided. Not everyone agreed, but it’s done. The decision is added to the minutes. On to the next item. Two days later, you’re walking down the hall and someone asks you what was decided. You start rambling about perspectives… considerations… all the time you’re thinking: ‘What’s the best approach here?’ ‘Is a memo going out?’ ‘Did we agree to be talking about this yet?’ You are suffering from Comm x Comm – Communication by Committee. Some of the symptoms: Important information gets buried ..read more

Has your organization gone through significant change in a short amount of time? Are you constantly evolving and adapting in response to little (or big) triggers everywhere? If the answer is yes, it may be time for a rebrand.  Take a step back and consider how accurately your brand reflects your values, vision and mission. Has your purpose shifted? This process of redefining and refreshing a brand is commonly referred to as rebranding. REBRANDING FOR SUCCESS Often the goal of rebranding is to create a more relevant and resonant brand that better aligns with your organization’s current ..read more

Some brands are recognizable just by their tone: from Nike’s inspirational messaging to Old Spice’s humorous TV ads to Wendy’s cheeky Twitter feed. These brands have a tone of voice that is integral to their brand personality, sets them apart from their competitors, and has helped earn the trust of their audience. Developing and maintaining a clear and consistent tone of voice is crucial for building brand identity. Agencies and marketing professionals often use a helpful tool called a “Tone of Voice Matrix,” to assign attributes and characteristics to define tone of voice. By using a matrix ..read more

The ‘vision, mission, values and pillars’ strategic planning model we all know was originally taken from religious and military doctrine into western business use in 1941. In 1941, people got their information from radio, newspapers, movies, magazines, posters and leaflets. Times have changed. The framework started strong, but across millions of iterations over 80 years, the original premise has been watered down from what should be highly meaningful and engaging vision, mission and values statements into the lowest common denominator motherhood statements that ensure no one feels left out ..read more

Toaster ovens are great. Wait, no they’re not. At best, a toaster oven is a cheap substitute for the tool you really want – the toaster, or the oven (clever name, though). But as an oven, it’s too small and inconsistent and as a toaster, it’s too big and inconsistent. Some brands are like that. But most don’t start out that way. They get like that by contorting themselves to try to meet the needs of anyone who knocks on their door. As scrappy entrepreneurs we’re taught that you never say no to a potential customer. You say yes and then figure out how to do it. Board-led brands can become toa ..read more

Every brand has a story. It’s how you share it that sets you apart. Great brand stories cast the customer in the role of the hero who embarks on a journey that follows the natural narrative progression of beginning, middle and end: In the beginning, your customer has a problem to solve. The middle is the solution you offer that your customer uses And the end is their success. At first, your job is to define your brand story for yourself and why it’s important your audience hears it. Then, you need to start digging deeper and get to the nitty gritty of it all. When you start crafting your b ..read more

Shakespeare, the greatest storyteller, said the eyes are the window to the soul. In business today, your brand story is the window to your organization’s soul. How clear is your brand story? Brand stories tell your audience a lot about your organization, from its inception to its current position and everything in between. Great brand stories weave in the reason your brand exists, where you want to go in the future and how you’re different from your competitors. A strong brand story is memorable, evokes an emotional response to create a lasting connection between brand and audience and answer ..read more

You’re planning to update your Credit Union website and want to elevate your member experience. Whether your site is outdated and desperately in need of a remake, or it’s new and you love it, there are steps you can take from the beginning to set you up for success. Re-building a website is a definitely a case of ‘well-begun is half done.’ Starting well won’t eliminate all the hiccups, but it will provide you with the systems to move through the project consistently and address any challenges effectively, as they are presented. #1 Understand your customer. Gain as much fresh and relevant info ..read more

If you’re about to invest six months to a year of effort and tens of thousands of dollars on your new Credit Union website, you want to be sure the results will move the needle for you on the key metrics that matter most. The last thing you want to do is pull leaders and staff through a drawn-out process, only to be disappointed with an end result that’s just a slightly better version of the site you have now. There is an alternative. Take advantage of the requirement to redevelop your site and use it to start leading with your brand. This way, instead of adding another layer to a vague or ou ..read more