Harvard University’s Department of Psychology is conducting some interesting research related to corporate brand reputations, and you can participate by taking a 10-minute survey on the Mind Survey website.
The tests are broken down into 19 categories related to emotional triggers, and each test references the same collection of corporate brands .
The 19 surveys included in the Mind Survey project focus on: [Read more…] about Corporate Brand Mind Survey from Harvard University
Mr. Bill Marriott of the Marriott Hotels takes time out of his busy schedule on a regular basis to write on his blog. As a busy executive, you would think that he has very little time to do such things and that he would also have a staff to handle such administrative functions. However, what Mr. Marriott is doing and what other business leaders should mimic is Mr. Marriott’s commitment to quality, his commitment to excellence and his unfailing commitment to the core of his business conglomeration – – the customers.
Blogs have quickly become a marketing magnet, enticing and attracting customers who otherwise may not have considered a product or service showcased in a blog. Companies who blog on a frequent basis and blogs that speak directly to the customer are more likely to be successful than those blogs that simply exist. Customers want to know that you have their needs and considerations in mind. They want to feel and see genuine customer service. Blogs contribute to this and fill this need by offering a connection between the company and its customer base. Customers (and competitors!) read blogs to see what the company is doing, what their future plans are and, again, to connect with the company on any level. Customers generally want to feel good about spending their money with you.
Maintaining blogs can help a company’s success rate, no matter how big or small the company is. Blogs are designed in nature to be a voice or a personality for the company, therefore establishing solid connections with the blogging audience is key in making the blog as successful as possible. Bill Marriott maintains a very connecting blog where he also allows others to comment on the blog and he even responds to those comments on occasion. While yes it is true that most executives are very busy individuals, what I believe is important here is the ability for an executive to connect directly with his readers and make a significant impact with his business. Let’s look at some elements of the blog to make that assessment:
What is your blog doing to attract customers? How can you make your business blog more attractive to customers and invite them to comment?
Integrating a social media plan into your branding strategy has moved from being an option to becoming a necessity for survival in today’s fast moving marketplace. Not too long ago, the thought of adding a viral component to a marketing campaign was a nice add on but hardly a requirement for success. Today, the companies that are going to survive and thrive are the companies that understand the importance of social media and experiment with it to find the best ways to leverage its reach and power in order to drive returns.
With that shift in strategic direction in mind, consider the ways that social media differs from traditional media described below. [Read more…] about Branding in Social Media vs. Traditional Media
The leadership development industry is estimated by some to be as large as $15 billion (USD). There are many University courses, seminars, books and articles, all trying to convey leadership principles, and many fail. A reason is that leadership is best learned by experiencing it and the many leadership teaching products and services are lacking here.
The primary source of learning to lead, to the extent that leadership can be learned, is experience. Leadership development through experience.
Morgan W. McCall, Jr.
Unless you are on the fast track at your organization you don’t get the opportunity to be mentored by senior managers who will mentor and guide you.
There is an alternative learning method that some enlightened professors are using and that you can use yourself — Business Cases using movies. Movies are stories and stories can be a surrogate for experience.
a knowledge-sharing story offers a surrogate experience. When one reads a novel, one often feels as if one is living the experience described in the novel. So too when a story is recounted, the narrative form offers the listener an opportunity to experience in a surrogate fashion the situation that was experienced by the storyteller.
Storytelling in Organizations: The power and traps of using stories to share knowledge in organizations
Deborah Sole, LILA Harvard University
Daniel Gray Wilson, LILA Harvard University
OK, got the logic? Leadership is best learned by experience, stories can be an alternative for experience and movies are stories.
One of the best sites that offers movie leadership case studies is the Hartwick Institute. You can purchase the case study and teaching notes at reasonable prices.
This site has a scholarly approach and describes how to use the selected movies to teach and learn leadership skills.
Another, less scholarly but still worthy of a visit, is MoviesForBusiness.
The concept is the same but it takes a more entertaining approach. There is a free lesson based on the Wizard of Oz and you can even get an MBA (Master of Bijou Advice), obviously not accredited.
Here are some additional resources —
Now you have another reason to go to the movies.
I’m happy to announce that my book, Harry Potter: The Story of a Global Business Phenomenon, was released on Tuesday in the United States after a successful release in June in the U.K. It will soon be available in multiple languages around the world as well.
The book’s primary audience is graduate students and marketing/business professionals who are interested in learning about the marketing strategies behind the making of one of the biggest brand success stories in history.
It is written in a manner that makes sense to readers whether or not you’ve read a book or seen a movie in the Harry Potter series, because it’s primary goal is to dissect and analyze the marketing and branding of a children’s fantasy novel that became an international sensation. I also discuss the steps another brand would need to take to attain similar success.
If you’d like to learn more about the book, you can follow the link to a recent interview. The book is available in bookstores and online through sites such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders and more. I hope you’ll give it a read through and stop back to share your thoughts about the branding and marketing of Harry Potter.
Image: Susan Gunelius/Palgrave Macmillan
What better way to get your company’s name in front of thousands if not millions of eyes than to do it through a medium with which everyone will remember? Playing board games, of course!
Hasbro will release later this month (tentatively August 26th) a new and extended version of the popular Monopoly board game called Monopoly Here & Now. The new version promises to feature such countries as Cape Town, Jerusalem, London, Paris, New York, Rome and Taipei and will be printed in 37 languages and sold in 50 countries. With this new deal, will Monopoly perhaps monopolize the board game industry?
Initially, Hasbro solicited the public’s opinion in deciding which cities would be represented in the new Monopoly Here & Now game in January 2008 by asking for their input in selection. Fans of the new board game had the opportunity to “vote” their selected city in and bragging rights for life. Hasbro’s idea of allowing the adoring public to be a part of the changes they’re making within their board game division was a savvy move on their part.
Often when companies want to increase the buzz about a product or service, they will make a release statement to the general public with offers of free products or a chance to partake in a new development, as the case with Hasbro. Adding to the idea of involving the public in a major business decision, Hasbro’s idea of including major countries and cities provided more of a network opportunity for Hasbro to establish themselves as industry leaders.
Why Public Inclusivity Is A Good Practice
Hasbro could very well have had their marketing and development team design and supply the new board with the countries and cities that would be included in the game. There are literal development teams that survey and research marketing techniques, consumer buying patterns and analyze which areas to concentrate on and where to focus the bulk of their development energies. When Hasbro decided to ask the public about which cities and countries should be included on their new board game, it certainly wasn’t because they were at a loss as to what to do; it was a strategy to garner public attention and create a buying sensation. Public inclusivity is a phenomenal business practice for large corporations like Hasbro because it does create a consumer buzz and because people are far more likely to buy a product where they have an emotional attachment. Companies like Hasbro create consumer’s emotional attachments by offering them chances to participate and be a part of a product’s development. Other types of this kind of consumer marketing is when there are contests to:
1.) Name the new logo for Google.
2.) Wendy’s design a new hamburger.
3.) Bloggers who maintain websites and need new Blog design’s.
Public inclusivity is ideal for companies of any size and works wonderfully for a company’s media relations campaign. Consumer marketing and spending ramps up when there are reasons for the public to get involved.
What are some things that your company can try to engage consumer inclusivity? What areas of your corporation would benefit from it?
