Are you tune in or tune out?

One of the senses that switches on most of the day are our ears. Its probably the first to be awakened. Occassionally, we all got woken up in the middle of the night by loud noises. Listening is second nature but active listening is not. Hear me.

Active Listening is an asset today. Everyone wants to speak, tweet, update status, make noise but alot less people wants to actively listen in. By Active Listening I mean to absorb and empathize. As an experiment, lets do a recap of the conversations you had today. How many conversations can you re-tell, not recall? Your memory is your testament of active listening. We tune out when we stop active listening.

The price to pay for tuning out often can be hefty. First to collaspe are relationships. Marriages break up, partners going seperate ways, board members share heated exchanges. Most of it point towards the inability to listen and solve problems by either parties which became indifference.

Tribes today wants to talk and be actively listened to. Brands need to understand that your tribes want to be engaged in a conversation. Retweets were invented because its a response after active listening. Its a 'we hear you and now listen again' to someone else.

Companies really need to start tuning in. Activate their active listening and deploy resources to engage tribes in a conversation. By that, I mean to empathize where they are coming from and respond professionally. A 'we hear you' response to 18% of your customers could be more important than the same 18% who complains about your pricing.

Active Listening = Absorb + Empathy. It could save your next relationship, professional or personal.

Please leave your comments, if any.

Design in branding

It takes more than good design to deliver a great brand. Branding has a whole spectrum of stuff like staff training (internal brand alignment), store experiences (brand experience), choice of communication medium (where tribes are listening), crafting the messages (brand story) etc. Tribes buy into the entire brand story, not just the cover of the book. It is important to realize that design can evolve but the essence of the brand should remain engaging and relevant.

It is so easy for us to get mesmerized by great designs and the rest of branding gets lost in the glitz. Why? It is far easier to sell what we can see and touch. Humans (and clients) are after all visual driven.

Here are two interesting products I came across which has elements of design for branding.

Fixa sells tools for the kitchen. Its brand name talks about getting things done while its packaging shows you the result. Fixa communicates that it 'fixes' food into their end state (ready ingredients). All that in its brand and packaging without hard selling. To the Nordic folks who created this, clever!

Ecolean is a Swedish company that designs and manufactures eco-packaging. Designed to be light and thin, when flattened, the packaging weighs less than 14g each. It is also metaphorically shaped like a pitcher, complete with handle and spout. Ecolean allowed their clients to brand themselves with eco friendliness. What a story to tell the others. Chinese FMCG brands are lapping these up rather quickly.

Bottle designs are a great way to be creative about branding. We can all recognize Absolut Vodka tribes with their empty bottles around them as badges of fun and wild parties. Here is a concept of Samurai Vodka bottle design.

I reckon you will agree this SAMURAI Vodka packaging looks pretty neat. Will it fly like Absolut with a successful brand? Maybe. Only if it has worked hard like Absolut to focus on its branding. Absolut has invested a huge amount of time and effort (lots of $$$ too) in brand communications and parties to resonate with the young and hip tribes.

In my opinion, brand consultants are not to be just focusing on design to wow clients. That is akin to decorating a nice bubble; beauty with no substance. Dubai? They must seek to be clever architects that fuse creative design, market research and marketing to deliver branding as a holistic process. Tribes are attracted to complete brand experiences, not simply aesthetics.

Please leave your comments, if any.

Time business

Beauty and wellness businesses like FIL and Spa Botanica in Singapore are doing well despite the downturn. Besides the experience they provide, the owners themselves are brands for their businesses too. They are in the business of looking good but what is driving their business is the demise of pastime. Hear me.

Its rare to hear people say I am doing so and so to pass their time. Even kids complain about the lack of time. Pastime is dead. If you are in the business to help people past their time, its time to relook it. In our increasingly busied and hurried lives, we need to make time to do something.

These are some of the businesses leveraging on such a need.

1) Consultant to arrange your messy home, you lost that ability over time.
2) Walk your dog because you do not have time to feel guilty.
3) Spa businesses: relax and look good. Makes you feel good over time through spa packages.
4) Club Med. Helps you escape your own time trap.
5) We drop off your car when its ready. I can't waste anymore time on public transport.
6) GPS. Getting lost is a waste of time.
7) Laundry services outside gyms. I do not want to waste time doing more laundry.

By the way, I am still waiting for number 7 outside of my gym at Suntec.

Seen any opportunities that revolve around time management recently? Helping your consumers save time will make them happier than you think.

Please leave you comments, if any.

Prototype is the new 'try'

Prototyping is a launch and learn technique. Business in Beta talks about this. Essentially, we want to learn from a series of prototypes in order to get closer to the desired solution. Here is my story for the local bus company for a better service experience.

The X'mas mood is on full swing and shoppers can't wait to give and receive presents. Me too. Taking public transport is a wise thing to do. Problem is, alot of us share the same thoughts. I took a snapshot of the Bugis bus stop where I missed my bus. Heres how my bus can go right past me when it is just 2 meters away from me.

I cannot see which is my bus when they all arrived and lined up this way like train carriages!

The only clue to me is there are about 3 buses lined up with their side mirrors hanging out. How do we try solve this?

Can we put in bus numbers on side mirrors? Lets prototype this.


Install a series of energy saving LEDs that works on all AM/PM conditions (Thank you Audi) at back of these mirrors. One look and you can tell bus 33 is here even when the buses are lined up. It also makes it more prominent to guard against accidents.

This idea can be brillant, stupid, mediocre or plain dumb. Thats not the point. The point is that the journey of uncovering great brand experience or service is foremost recognizing the problem. Then learn through a series of trials and errors. Adopt fail forward attitude that works to find the best solutions through a series of  failed prototypes that gets us closer to the final solution. Each prototype is a step closer to that great idea.

When will you finally get a great idea to make tons of money?Only when you waited long enough for people (your customers) to accept or reject it and tell you about it (did you even bother to ask?). Finding out the whys and iterate your prototype from your previous experiences.

Make prototyping your new try.

Please leave your comments, if any.

Patience is a key ingredient for success

Today marks the birth of INGENS as a registered company. INGENS means "remarkable, extraordinary" in latin. It is a starting milestone of my dream. Primarily made up of researchers and designers to deliver branding solutions to clients.

Lots to do in the coming weeks to set up the ground work. Domain registration, innovating methodologies, resourcing, organisation chart, business development, having fun etc. I truly realise what it means to build something from a dream or vision. Today is a flag off from the starting line. How long did I wait for this? A couple of years. Compared to director James Cameron, mine is a short wait.
 
James Cameron faithfully waited 12 years before realising AVATAR on the big screen. What are your dreams? Has it been realised? If not, I hope it is in the making...like INGENS is to me. But unlike a film, building a company is a process not an event.

Do watch AVATAR. I find it to be more effective in educating environmental protection than the recent Copenhagen Summit 2009. It is clear who needs to be educated if any form of change is to take place, you and me. Tribes (no pun intended) who care to start green (or blue for our ocean friends) movements, not policy makers. I have not eaten shark fins for the past 16 years, its a start.

Please leave your comments, if any. Movie poster taken from IMDB.

Happiness (x) & Pleasure (y)

x is different from y. I labeled them clearly.

Happiness(x) is an inward state of mind. You seek happiness by doing things that make you happy. Having happy surroundings, happy people, happy things and hopefully we get to be happy? Not really. You can have all the right 'ingredients' for happiness and yet you may not feel happy at all. It has to come honestly inward. Someone in a super fun Christmas party may be feeling very unhappy inside and tries very hard to feel otherwise. You cannot feel happy and sad at the same time. Happiness is ultimately an inward process which you seek to attain. What makes someone happy differs from people to people.

What about pleasure(y)?

Pleasure is transient and it does not equate to happiness. Pleasure is an event not a process. Humans get bored easily over events therefore they don't really last. Good food, nice looking companions, nice clothes, cigarettes and sex. These are fleeting, pleasurable things. Is your happiness defined as a series of pleasures?

Christopher Gardner (Will Smith) in the movie "Pursuit of Happyness" defines happiness as not being poor? Money is the idol here, not happiness. I say his love for his son is the real happyness.

Are the brands you surround yourself gives you pleasure or contribute towards happiness?





Christmas is 4 days away. Festive shopping is at its peak now. I hope the gifts or brands you choose are all conduits of happiness and not momentary pleasure.

Happy Christmas.

Please leave your comments, if any. Movie Poster taken from IMBD

Apply Opposing Thinking

One of the most intriguing and difficult task from the use of Design thinking is having opposing thoughts to reside in our mind at the same time. Diversity and Singularity. Hot and Cold. North and South. Pulling us in different directions, our minds are forced to work somewhat illogically but it is where innovation and creativity will occur.

When it comes to branding products and services, the same opposing thoughts can be applied to challenge and change status quo. Why? Why fix something when it is not broken? Rather the question is, why have we not challenged the status quo. Then go on to create Purple Cows like the Sound Sticks II speakers.

 

Some 5 years since it was first launched, it is still seen around today. All speakers of equivalent age were already dusted off display shelves. What is their magic? Harmon Kardon understood design thinking of having opposing thoughts. Sound Sticks only has circular shapes, air cushion stands, totally transparent as opposed to the conventional speakers which are square/rectangular, sharp edges, opaque or quite simply...boring.

Lets take the Bao which is a popular snack bun commonly found in Singapore and apply this form of thinking. Conventionally, the safe way to rebrand this snack would be just to create new fillings with fancy names, contemporary logo designs with new shopfront image. However, they still look the same as the $1.30 ones I got from AMK Blk 233 coffee shop. It is still boring and unremarkable. Does not make you stop and take a second look. Probably for a short while.

If we are to apply opposing thinking, the new Bao would look rather different. In its size, shape and the way it is delivered to customers. Mini baos served on a stick like satay, odd shaped ones, long ones filled with whole shrimps, filling on top of it, above it, underneath it etc. A new Bao concept.

Will the existing tribes or loyalists protest? Maybe but brands today are not here to please everyone. Being safe is risky. Being mediocre is mediocre at its best. It gets us nowhere.

Please give your comments, if any.

Market Research versus Brand Research

Many of my clients are confused over the two, and when to use these services. There are numerous Market Research firms out there that offer market research services that guide and inform clients to make the best decisions. Most of the time, solutions are not provided; recommendations, at most.

Brand Research is more specialised and focused – mainly, qualitative measures to achieve the desired depth, and it is the understanding of how tribes (or potential ones) perceive brands. The Brand Strategist will then use these insights to craft brand-positioning strategies. In this case, the Brand Strategist comes out with a solution for the client. Action-ability is the essence of brand research; it is engineered for a solution.

Be it a Brand Book or even a Design Brief to architect a new brand experience, the brand researcher needs to have an exploratory mindset when designing the research study; and later on for formulating recommendations. As such, a brand researcher needs to engage his exploratory and integrative mindset more than a typical market researcher who analyzes and reports findings. If we argue about who provides more value, it really depends on what a client is really after: to inform or to invent?

Please leave your comments, if any. Thank you Enrico for your editorial inputs. Much appreciated.

That little knife on the road

2009 is drawing to an end. A new list of resolutions will encapsulate those who plan for the new year; I am no exception. In fact, I am planning for each new day, week, month. etc. For any resolution-builder, I hope that you spend more time thinking about each 'to do' item than your holiday plans. It is amazing how many people spend more time detailing their holidays rather than what they should achieve for the whole year. I am also guilty of this - I try to lessen it each year. I argue that the most important ingredient is not the list but the righteousness or commitment to make it right.

Fact: If righteousness is not in it, it is actually not worth putting it in. We know we want each resolution to be right because we are going to be tested for it: A commitment that this is the right thing to do.

Let me explain by telling the story of a little knife lying on the road last Saturday morning. It is a fruit knife that was dropped by one of the passing vehicles. It stayed harmlessly on the road, 10 meters away from where I was sitting at the bus stop. The possibilities of this little blade doing damage was real. It could have flown into somebody's face from a passing vehicle, or it could have punctured a car tyre and sent cars into accident spirals, etc.

If I chose to ignore it, it would have stayed there until something happens. If anything would have happened at all, God knows. The light turned red for the oncoming traffic before I picked the blade up and threw it into the dustbin. Did I do the right thing? Maybe. But my purpose on wanting to do the right thing was certainly within me, and I am tested my commitment that very moment.

Example: If you want to be more charitable in 2010, your mind will automatically seek the moments where charity encounters are present. Just like when you commit to see more of the colour red, your subconscious mind will automatically seek them for you. You will see more red.

Your resolution item, whatever it may be, is not entirely important. Why? It may change, deviate or be taken away. And the best is that you can write a new one if you want to. However, the commitment behind it is so much more important: Have the skills to self manage and self correct. The discipline to make the decisions each day to get closer to each goal. Only if you make the commitment to do that, then your list becomes an absolute possibility.

The same goes for brands and tribes that you made a commitment to, collectively by themselves or to their customers. They too will face a time where their values will be tested - a knife on the road moment. This begs the question: will you pass the test?

Please leave your comments, if any.

Soft Power in Branding

The term Soft Power refers to the ability of getting what you want through co-option and attraction. This is as opposed to Hard Power which is the use of power through coercion and intimidation. Soft Power is mostly used in politics to gain attraction to the leaders' intent for the party or government.

The use of Soft Power dates back to ancient Chinese Philosopher like Lao Tsu  in the 7th century BC. Joseph Nye from Harvard University later wrote a book in 2004 titled Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics to further develop this concept. Today, Soft Power is used widely in political and diplomacy actions all around the world. Canada has used Soft Power to brand itself to the world using these Soft Power traits.
1) Co-opting and inclusion
2) Validation
3) Respect
4) Attraction
Read more about branding Canada here.

How does this concern us as consumers and brand consultants? Is Soft Power the new Art of War? Maybe.

The recent downturn and crisis has made consumers reflect about their attitudes towards consumerism. Studies have shown that consumers now look deeper into the background, values and intent of brands more so than ever before reaching for their wallets. Our value system has since changed immensely. Humility and respect for one another moves further up.

Brands today should realize that their products and services are viewed quite differently. Tribal engagement besides tangible rewards should also take into account how to gain validation, respect and attraction. Successful branding should take Soft Power strategies into serious consideration. Are your co-brands sharing your same value to engage and respect for your tribes? Do they share the same values with you first even before the brand?

Soft Power I believe is the next important tool which brands can effectively harness to gain stronger emotional connectivity with their customers and stakeholders.

Please leave your comments, if any.

The Charity Brick Tribe

100 over volunteers. 10.30pm to 6.00am.  Thousands of Lego bricks were being sorted into 2,300 identical Lego fun packs to needy children and elderly in the wee hours of 2nd December 2009. The Charity Brick Tribe did their best to complete the task within the time window but still did not manage to pack all of it. Sore fingers and Panda eyes. The Tribe was tired but happy. Youngest tribe member is at the age of 6. City Care is the organizer for these volunteers.

We Are One is truly a unique charity event that MediaCorp and LEGO has jointly organized to raise funds for the Community Chest. For every $2 donated, a brick is added. If you are one of the thousands that supported this cause, I would like to give my thanks to you. You made a difference.

In the business of giving, there are always amazing tribes being assembled quickly. ERA agents form a 16-men team to help out in this event in the span of 24 hours. This is an excellent example of how flash mob are also formed virally. I was told that this ERA team did it through only one person who made a few calls. Amazing.

Right after the event, we all parted our own ways with handshakes, high-fives and picture taking. Like a Lego design, the tribe is quick to form and disband.

Question is, how do brands continuously engage their tribes for their cause and movement? Could there be a dedicated engagement program in the brand strategy that solely measures and looks after customer interests? Banks are infamous for such programs. They know it is far easier to keep a customer than to convert new ones.

Going beyond service levels to improve customer retention, tribe engagement is as much an art as it is science that is geared towards long term brand building. To Lego, you just earned another reason for keeping me as a customer.

Official news link here.

Please leave your comments, if any.

PS. I made a private art piece for someone special.

Who is in the dream team?

We want the best team in the world to achieve amazing things. Be it sports or business, its all about putting talented people together and making it collectively. We know '1' is an extremely lonely number and unsustainable in the long run. No successful leader I know or read about can do everything themselves. They usually have a dream team rallying behind them.

A brand dream team is hard to assemble but does not excuse us from having one. Talents are out there, we just need to find them. A dream brand comes from a dream team. The key is first to identify the roles in this dream team. Here is my list in no particular order of importance or ranking. Each role is like a table leg supporting the table (brand). I doubt even the most multi-talented amongst us can encompass all of these skills.

1) Story Teller - People love listening to stories. All great presenters are great story tellers. Any brand has a story to tell its customers that romances and captivate them. This role takes on crafting and communicating a brand story which delivers the impact needed to drive its products and services. The Story Teller is an advocator of customer engagement.

2) Experience Designer - This role handles all communication and customer facing experiences. Working closely with the Story Teller, this person takes care of the details to communicate the brand to customers. They prototype experiences or image how it feels like to be living and breathing the brand. The key is to  deliver that experience to customers from multitude of angles. From the way the packaging feels to how it is disposed or re-cycled. This role creates multi sensory platforms rather than visuals to translate the brand promise to an acutal experience.

3) Design Researcher - Someone who has a passion for life and people. They are not marker researchers who get stuck in an office all day and claim they understood 'what is out there'. This person listens and observe before asking questions. Like a dry sponge with child-like curiosity, consumer behaviours are recorded and analysed by them. They constantly take notes, beam down ideas and cross pollinate them to feed brainstorming sessions. R&D folks love them.

4) Brand Strategist - This role takes on a T-shaped design. Left-right, they deal with the breath of issues that encompass market sentiments, trends and competitors. Top-down, this person handles strategic branding to details like pricing and market channels to penetrate. This role is a fusion of a brand management and marketing with a dose of creative thinking.

5) Brand Orchestrator - The boss (fiend or friend, the team decides!). The visionary or realist who reports to the business stakeholders and to manage the team's performances and results. Primarily, the brand owner who assembles and orchestrates different members and rally them behind the brand's vision. This role pull all available resources to ensure the dream team work in optimization. Being a juggler and hurdler who also surmount difficulties in order to attain what the dream team must accomplish. The dream itself.

I would also like to acknowledge this fantastic book Ten Faces of Innovation for inspiring me to write this post. Read it to know what are the different roles and design thinking to build a truly innovative culture in your organization.

Please leave your comments, if any.

Judging brand values

Perceived brand value is highly subjective for individuals. Consumers decide the value of a product or service with your brand. Paying $6 dollars vs 90 cents for a cup of coffee exemplifies this. Advertising is to communicate that value to your target consumers and convince them that it is worth it.

I am forced to assess my own brand value and take a good look at myself recently. A 'man in the mirror' moment. Drawing up various value assessment list for myself. It also leads to me think how brands are measured? By ratings, sales or profits? A popular convenient store brand recently advertised its list of 'Most Wanted' brands. What is it based upon I wonder?

One way to measure brand value is by how much value it adds to its customers. Here are 5 brands I picked.

William J Bill Clinton Foundation (Social) 

Operation Hope (Financial Literacy) 

City Harvest Church (Religious Faith) 

Al Gore (Environment)

Martin Luther King Jr (Human Rights) 

Each of these brands touch on the lives of thousands and some up to millions of people.

They are not the Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft, GE and Nokia (Top 5 Global Brands 2009) we know of. These brands above may worth less in monetary value but I believed they exceed at providing intangible brand value.

What amazes me are the tribes that followed these brands. Their faith and belief in these brands are best spoken through their massive actions to ensure success and longevity in these brands. Case in point, Martin Luther King, Jr’s speech “I have a dream” has generated near to 8 million views on You-Tube today. It is first recorded nearly 50 years ago. Dr King’s movement paved the way for the first Black president in America today. Ideas that turn into a brand which became a movement, they eventually outlive the brand themselves. Tribes who follow movements are hardcore loyalists. They talk about the brand movement in the most passionate way and help spread ideas. That’s how they really grow in their intangible value.

I found that they have these three common traits.   

1) Authenticity. Authentic brand always prevails. It is backed by something real and solid.

2) Passion. Passion will fire your work ethic. These brands show interests in others? They are light beacons of inspiration and passion to their brand facing followers.
3) Servant-leadership. Leadership branding that understands this; in order to lead, they need to serve others first. They understood that serving their tribes will only make them higher.

Please leave your comments, if any.

Embracing rituals that matter

Rituals are behavioural routines being performed during product or service interactions. The way we queue up in food courts and boarding of buses are Singaporean's societal rituals. We have rituals of tapping EZ link cards on buses. We also have rituals of blowing out candles on top of Birthday cakes and then making a wish. In fact, no one did explain to me the rationale behind it. Some rituals can be so ingrained in consumers that it has already altered behaviour subconsciously. Let’s take a closer look at some other advantages of doing so.

Reinforces brand promise

Apple invented the click wheel as their de facto iPod navigation. Apple can keep adding new menu functions for new models but this ritual of ‘round the wheel clicking’ remains at the heart of it. It has become an integral part of Apple’s iPod identity. A knock off iPod which tries to copy their product experience will need to try a lot harder to mimic the same product experience. In a way, distinct rituals prevent copying of brand experiences. Ritual sort of adds on an additional experience trademark to products. A brand that innovates in rituals actually gains more in the long run. If properly aligned with the brand promise such as Apple’s design simplicity and intuitiveness, the click wheel ritual further reinforces it.

Successful brands do have a few rituals to compliment their entire brand experience. The McDonald’s value meal arrangement on your tray and their staff asking you about upsizing your meals are all part of McDonald’s brand ritual. If McDonald’s somewhat remove them, the McDonald’s experience may seem somewhat incomplete. Or simply observe how Starbucks train their staff on pronoucing drinks to each other behind the counter when you place an order.

Up play differentiation

Rituals also play an integral role on brand or product differentiation. It can vary according to their variety of products offered. Case in point, Rolls Royce (RR) revived its 20th century rear hinge, coach style doors for their latest Phantom models. Of course, it is a much more advanced version than the past model with on-the-go, self-locking mechanism to prevent ‘suicide door opening’ situations. Coupled with a compelling product story (Phantom’s doors open this way because …) which compliments this vehicle model specific ritual makes the Phantom even more differentiated from other car brands. Phantoms are now known not only for its high quality and price but also for how its door are opened.   

Rituals are not random and should have a specific purpose. Certain rituals can be back sliding agents to brands. Think about the last time you had a confusing experience with a brand. They are evidence of poor ritual planning or none at all. Hence, one of the merits of doing market research or observation studies is to uncover and scrutinise rituals to deliver impactful brand experience.

What are your brand rituals? Do they further add value to the brand? Time to speak to your brand consultant?

Please leave your comments, if any.

Brand Usability

Websites and products are frequently assessed for their usability. Usability essentially measures if the product fulfills its intended purpose. Usability testing measures how your customers perceive different aspects of your product from packaging, user manual and the product itself. It can be summed up as a measurement of user experience for your products.

Why usability? Products need to be able to perform and fulfill its intended purpose. Usability testing enables your to measure if that purpose was achieved or not. Imagine Apple iPhone which looks visually great but making a phone call is painfully challenging. We know that is not the case. In fact, most would agree that iPhone not only looks great but also a highly usable communication device.

What about usability for brands? Is your brand usable to your customers? How can we measure that? They can be seen through these lenses; Recall, Visibility and Accessibility.

Recall
Brands that forms top of mind recall stands out and win. It’s a fact that they occupy a territory with their target audience. Hurray if you are one of these brands like Coke, Starbucks or McDonald’s. Most brands or underachieving ones need to work a lot harder to attain this status. However, that does not stop your brands (underdog ones too) from achieving top of mind recall. A highly usable brand is one that is easy to recall, stands for something (aligns with your customer's needs) and memorable.

Visibility
Is your brand easy to locate or navigate to? Does your brand have the right visibility, in the right channels where potential tribes congregate and engage? Not only brands need to think about having the right visibility, it must also think about how easy is it to locate your brand in the shortest and most convenient manner. Be creative about using social networking and viral tools to your advantage. Being heard is challenging but not being heard is far worst.

Accessibility
Are there ready channels which your brands can be conversational? Do you have a brand story which your customers are able to share and talk about? Can your brand be summed up in 10 seconds on what it stands for? Are your product benefits clear? If not, time to revisit this aspect of usability which makes your brand accessible or conversational.

Please leave your comments, if any.

Brand Differentiation - A banana story

This is a story of a banana I bought in Gold Coast Australia while I am holidaying there. Its a fruit that we commonly find in fruit stores and supermarket. Ordinary and nothing remarkable. Wait, there is more about this common fruit.

Upon closer examination, you will notice the tip of it is colored in red. It is actually red wax. All the ends of it in this bunch have been given the same red color treatment. Simply, this fruit producer has applied a sort of brand differentiation technique. To think that other fruit producers mostly brand their produce using tiny stickers or wrappers around their products, this brand of banana has taken another route to try something different and yes, remarkable.

This is a purple cow initiative in a market where products need to be presented in their natural state (fruits are foremost scrutinised for their freshness and looks) but yet seek to achieve differentiation. A challenging balance. Has your brand achieved differentation? If in doubt, probably its best to conduct some market research with a touch of branding creativity. Time to go bananas over brand differentiation.

Please leave your comments, if any.

Merits of Brand Flexibility

How flexible is your brand? Is your brand able to meet changing consumer needs? Is your brand still relevant to your customers today? Is your brand shrinking or growing? These are probably burning questions brand managers and owners face. The best way to measure brand flexibility is survival-ability.

Brand flexibility is not about changing brand proposition because of changing trends or tastes etc. A brand needs a grounded promise. Brand flexibility is not changing that core proposition. Will Starbucks ever set up a dedicated juice bar counter during hot summer months? Quite possibly but selling dark roasted coffee is what Starbucks as a brand stands for but they are flexible enough to incorporate non coffee (fruity blends) and seasonal treats in their product mix. Toffee nut latte during Christmas period is my absolute favourite!

Brand flexibility is about staying relevant in order to survive tough compeition.

A defeated tune
Sembawang Music Centre is bringing down its shutters after years in the retail mall scene. Sembawang sells music just like That CD Shop and Gramophone but the latter two survive despite declining CD sales. These survivors have their own ways of selling music. Gramophone takes on a mega store approach that sells CD, DVDs, Blu-Rays, earphones, speakers and even PC accessories. Gramophone recognizes consumer needs for a one-stop supermarket shopping experience. Whereas, That CD Shop fuses sexy (strictly all female sales team) with their own private label music called High Society. That CD Shop builds their own discerning music followers (High Society Tribe, complete with a dedicated website), who appreciate their handpicked compilation, complete with in-store eye candy. Unfortunately, Sembawang failed the flexibility test to evolve. 'Neighborhood-style' music stores simply cannot cut it in retail malls anymore.

Inflexible brands expect customers to listen and follow. What if customers don’t? Tribes get disbanded to join others because there is always another one round the corner that feels and looks better. Profit goes where your tribes go. SMEs in Singapore are more vulnerable. On the bright side, SMEs do have lighter feet to make relatively fast turnaround or brand revamps. Big brands are huge oil tankers, takes longer time to change directions. Being small might not be all that bad.

Is your brand tuned for flexibility to relate and adapt? Building flexible brands start with integrative thinking with your customers. Be relevant; be flexible in your branding.

Please leave your comments, if any.      

Apply Design Thinking to Branding

Design thinking and branding are two different yet related concepts. Both are ways to solve consumers’ needs and wants. Their synthesis could result in an impactful way of how we look at branding and achieve brand differentiation. Branding is a way to tell customers about products and services; what brands stand for and why do they matter to customers. It is ultimately about creating and managing perceived value.

Design thinking (IDEO) is an approach that involves exploring diversion thinking (think multiple ‘what ifs’), prototyping and storytelling before arriving at the solution. There are actually much more than this and I only extract the essentials for this post. Design thinking is a highly collaborative and possibilities-first way of solving problems. It is about bringing ideas and experiences to life through story telling. This approach is on the way to enhance business processes, health care and even social problems. I am a fan of design thinking and branding. So why not combine the two. I believe this synthesis will elevate innovative thinking in brands. Try Change by Design by Tim Brown on design thinking approach to find out more.


Here is my attempt to combine the two. 


One the star qualities of design thinking, is the visualisation of ideas or prototyping to bring out the essence of solutions proposed. For example, if IDEO needs to design a new surgical tool (Pic B), this is how a quick prototype (Pic A) can be assembled to get a feel about the shape and form factor. Primitive yet it tells a powerful story. Hold it and you know what this idea is about. Further discussions formed around this prototype are a lot more impactful.

Pic A: Prototyping the tool

 Pic B: Final product

Lets apply design thinking to branding. For example, a mock up corner of a new Food Republic theme, complete with empty stores but with applying authentic thematic design elements. All these to test out the new brand experience. The idea is to simulate and test the brand experience through immersion and participatory thinking. Clients can also take part in this exercise and go through their ‘consumer’s experience’ together with designers and brand strategists. Ideas are added and/or refined along the way in this prototyping environment. The end result is a brand experience that is closer to reality and what the customers will go through.

Design thinking has essentially allowed branding to be lot more experiential driven, exploring innovative solutions that could not be thought about on paper or on computer screens. Critically, experiences are assessed, discussed and gauged at the pre-launch brand design stage. 

Market research has taken a stab at such new product development (NPD) work through conducting surveys and focus groups. The missing ingredient I discovered has always been the lack of brand/idea immersion or letting the ideas play a role in consumer lives. Hence, the insights gathered tend to lack depth. A brilliant idea may lack the legroom to fully reach its full potential and risk getting buried rather quickly before it can see any light.

Additionally, diversion mindset (‘what ifs’ come first) from design thinking is also another powerful tool to elevate brand differentiation in the current fiercely competitive landscape. We want our brands to be Purple Cows. 

“A Purple Cow, though, that would really stand out. The essence of the Purple Cow -- the reason it would shine among a crowd of perfectly competent, even undeniably excellent cows -- is that it would be remarkable . Something remarkable is worth talking about, worth paying attention to.” –Seth Godin  

Purple Cows are remarkable and worth talking about. Design thinking can help you achieve that.

Please leave your comments, if any. 

Re-Branding Traditional Chinese Medication (TCM)

One of the first things that came to my mind when I recalled a recent TCM store visit is that it is filled with Asian tradition. The smell of herbs, dried goods and bird's nest etc. A store experience which somewhat brought back the memories of herbal remedies; prescribed and brought back for preparation. It seems to have little connection or relevance with me today. I am quite sure some of you may agree with me. However, there is a successful outlier that stood out from the rest which made a renewed connection.

One of the home grown Singaporean TCM brand had undertaken a rebranding journey. Productizing their tonics and herbal remedies yet retaining their traditional TCM values. Its red and white logo that can be found all over Singapore with even their own specialist clinic at Paragon Medical Centre. It has already expanded to different parts of Asia today. I will not be surprised to see this brand at international airports all over the world in the next few years.


This is indeed a fine example of successfully branding a truly Asian, traditional product and service. The challenge for the brand is to continously evolve and remain relevant to the needs of their customers. For example, they have reduced sugar bird's nest for the health conscious.

I firmly believe there is hope for Asian brands to shine with the potent combination of market research and sound brand strategies. I sure hope to see more in the list with Singapore Airlines, Banyan Tree and Breadtalk.

Please leave your comments, if any.

Power of observation

Observation can be an extremely useful skill. Seeing is different from observing; they are distinct. Observation goes beyond just merely using our eyes to make sense of things, people or the environment. Observatory eyes question and probe consumer actions. Hence, people may see same things but draw different conclusions depending on which technique you use. 

Good news is we can all be trained to become keen observers. Keen observers usually have the upper hand of situations. Imagine yourself deciphering more of any given situation instead of simply glazing through them. You would have thought about questions and answers ahead of others. The mind is already in forward thinking mode with an advantage.

In market research, its everyday musing to know what is going on in the market place and most importantly, how consumers behave and why. It’s an intriguing, interesting world out there that constantly changes. For some, it is a livelihood. Anthropologists have been observing people’s behaviour for years. Making notes and hypothesis on human behaviour, they are the observation experts. This profession has even spun off ethnography research which is applied in market research where focused observation entails a large part of it.

How about if we apply this to marketing?

Ivory Tower Marketers

Ivory Tower marketers plan, strategize and hold meetings. They spend a lot of their time in office doing this very often. Too often in fact. I call this Ivory Tower marketing; up there and losing touch with their customers. Dedication of their time knowing and understanding consumers by walking the ground is absolutely crucial. If one loses touch with consumer needs, no amount of marketing budget will work. If so they decide to engage a market research firm to survey it, splendid. However, we know such requests seem frivolous for today's lean marketing budgets. The most effective choice will be to just simply apply observation techniques on their customers.

Let’s do a simple seeing vs observation experiment taken from IDEO social innovation toolkit. I highly recommend this to aspiring social innovators doing R&D. Social innovation is talk of the town today. Hope it stays this way with initiatives like SIP. 

What are your observations of this person dressed in yellow and pink?

Seeing: This lady dressed in yellow top and pink pants is hanging her clothes at her back alley. A person is walking towards her.  
 
Observing: This person (gender unsure, could be a guy with long hair?) is holding up a pole in the air, very close to some clothes on hangers. This person is dressed in yellow vest and pink pants, standing in an alley and someone is approaching her. 

Some of you might be quick to point out that she is just hanging her clothes. Her upright pole is a tool to help her achieve that. Try looking at the picture again. Can we really make that conclusion? Our associative minds will be quick to note this down; Upright pole + clothes at back alley = clothes hanging. 

For all we know, she could be using this pole to poke something, signal to someone and a hundred different other possibilities. We can’t simply conclude she is hanging clothes. Did we observe the end of the pole? Again, observatory eyes are ready with questions and probes without quick conclusions.

My point is that observation takes more effort but its worth it. We need to question ourselves and the subject to make better sense of situations. Best way is to expand the frame of this picture or simply ask this person. 

Try turning your vision around by observing instead of just seeing. Your world around you may be alot more interesting that you think and that is where opportunities are. For example, I observed alot of Singapore MRT commuters do not like the in-betwen carriage space, here is my account.

Please leave your comments, if any.

You can't shut me up; Conversation 2.0

Face it, we live more densely together today compared to 20 years ago yet we are having less face to face time with your neighbors. A study from Hebrew University states that the volume of electronic communications is inversely proportionate to geographic distance. In short, we have more Facebook interactions, tweets, emails to individuals that are pretty close in proximity. In fact, we all know it is far easier to connect with one another today than ever. I call this Conversation 2.0 where we talk electronically but still close by physically to start tribe movements.

Today, brand tribes are powered by Conversation 2.0. Brand huggers who will help us spread the word about our products and services digitally through their real world experiences. The challenge for brand owners is how to manage it? There are blogs, forums, tweets, instant messaging etc to sieve through.

Readers make their own conclusions and can choose to participate in this Conversation 2.0. What they compliment or bad mouth is also pretty much left entirely up to them. Consumers are empowered with Conversation 2.0 to collaborate, lift or sink brands. The crux is consumers trust fellow consumers or tribe members more than brands’ themselves. Brands who think they can stop them still live in Conversation 1.0; top down, one way street. Consume and goodbye(keep quiet if its bad). FACT: Brands can’t stop consumers from talking positively or negatively. Attempt to stop negative PR could possibly lead to tribes that form against the brand. Brand tribes work both ways like 2 sides of a coin.

There is hope for brands who want to be in the upper hand.

Brand owners can actually monitor Conversation 2.0 using available tools. Here is one that sieves through Conversation 2.0 and make some sense out of it. The key is to realize its power and use it to position brands. Consumers today demand no nonsense products which they either shun or shout about. The in-between is getting thinner everyday. Inward looking brands are probably with the best potential to succeed and lead tribes successfully. Bottom line, recognize the power of Conversation 2.0 and love your tribes, they may be the ones who pull you out of the reds rather than your board members in the near future.

Please leave your comments, if any.

Sensory Branding

Sensory branding has not really taken off in Asia yet. I believe there are huge potential for Asian marketers who can tap into their customer's senses to brand themselves more effectively. Break out from the clutter to be remarkable.

Some the brands which use this technique to brand themselves, intentionally or not, are around us. Think about the distinctive smell of KFC's famous fried chicken or over the counter Famous Amos cookies. Each of these brands have tapped into our sense of smell as part of their branding. Some might argue this is less important compared to how it taste. Own a winning recipe, own a winning taste. I agree but I believe some passer-bys are 'caught by the scent' and walk right into buying something. These brands have succeeded in owning a state of our mind through our sense of smell before actual purchase. Time to rethink where to point the oven's exhaust fan? Away from the crowd or into the crowd?

The point is, sensory branding if explored and used effectively, can be a powerful tool for brands who are thinking hard of reaching out. Today, consumers are buying into experiences and winning brands should be potentially tapping into as many of their customer senses as possible. Integrate that as part of their brand strategy.

Cinematic experiences too. A jacket that allows you to 'feel the movie'.

Can a photography studio explore other ways of branding their photo taking skills beyond using sense of sight? One that does, usually becomes remarkable and in turn successful.

Please leave you comments, if any.

The 2 wheeler challenge

Segway® is a rather remarkable product. A mobility device that seeks to redefine the way we do short distance commuting like walking. Some argued Segway® can replace in-city driving. Inventor Dean Kamen  aims to redefine the way we get around to cut down congestion and carbon footprint. Segway® is also pretty intuitive and usable. In all, it has the hallmarks of a successful product.

Question is why no mass adoption yet? Sentosa had some to allow tourist to move around but more as a tourist thingy. Vivio City had even demonstrated this inside their mall. Paul Blart made it fun in Mall Cop.

I believe there are two challenges which Segway® has to overcome. 

Fundamental consumer behaviours take a long time to interrupt. Humans are hardwired to walk though significantly reduced due to modern conveniences. Walking is harder to interrupt because of how fundamental and subconscious it is to us. Compared to gaming like Tap Tap Revenge, the challenge for the game developer to interrupt you to play it is a lot easier. Reason being gaming does not potentially interrupt any major behaviour of ours. 

Lack of category association. New products in new categories get consumer confuse. What is it? Where and how shall I use this? Will I look stupid on it? The first cars were called horseless carriages for this reason. A hybrid Honda is still a car, it is easy for us to buy into the idea of a modified, green car. Hybrids are still in our car category which we can make association quickly. 

However, that is not the case for Segway® where associations are missing. Segway® needs to help consumers out. Probably, they should try ‘standing electric bike’ (at least I gave it shot). Probably easier than the official; 'self-balancing, zero emissions personal transportation vehicle: the Segway® Personal Transporter (PT)'. A standing electric bike is easier for me to spread the Segway® idea. Take a cue from followformation which is for twitter newbies to get them started on the concept of online following; an intermediary step might be needed here.

Sure hope to use one of these in the near future. I still hear how cycling is bad for men's health.     
 

Please leave your comments, if any.

Why should brands look inward first?

Inward in this context does not mean self brandishing. Rather, inward here means ability to self reflect and build strong foundations for the brand.

Brands are measured in areas of awareness, resonance, impact and sales (profitability). These factors often form the benchmarks of brand research today. Indeed, they are important for the measurement of brand success in the marketplace. However something is missing here which overlooks four major success qualities for brands to go a lot further.

      

Leadership – Great leaders lead great teams. Great teams = great brands.

Tenacity – A purpose-driven belief than can weather hard knocks. Passion fuels their purpose.

Integrity – Ability to do the right thing when tested.

Giving – Social responsibility. Giving always start with an open hand not a close fist. Which one will your customers rather hold?

I argue a brand’s ability to achieve greatness will depend on these inward qualities. The leader of an inward looking brand appreciates longevity and tenacity. Can the team rally behind the leader when stormy weather closes in? Bad product reviews, drop in consumer confidence, declining profits etc. Storms WILL eventually come so do not wait to react before it hits. Enron is an example of a skewed outward looking brand for its stakeholders, employees and customers but we know a weak wall breaks down over time. Short-termism is extremely tempting compared to a marathon which is long and arduous. The high road is always the tougher one but pays to prepare.

Avoiding the pitfalls of hurried and myopic decisions to have short term gains, inward looking brands are with better foresight. Inward looking brands may be giving up some immediate opportunities instead of having it all now but they spend time to work on what truly matters which are the insides; the team behind the brand. 

An inward looking brand always prevails with slow twitch muscles for the long runs. How are those legs for your brands today? Maybe its time to reflect and change.

Please leave your comments, if any.

The coolest tribe around

YAMI Yoghurt is arguably one of the most successful, soft serve, take away yoghurt brand in Singapore. It  delivers not only consistent products but also continous innovation in its range of localised flavours.

More importantly, YAMI marketers had started their own tribe or ardent fans which rank in the thousands today. Yes, they are possibly the 'coolest' tribe around in Singapore; The YAMI tribe. Here are more examples of their marketing strategies using some of the concepts I mentioned earlier like Brand Platform and Consumer Stardom. Drawn from their very own tribe influences to promote the brand!

Brand Platform: YAMI FaceBook Page, YAMI Twitter and even a recently launched YAMI Times for e-coupon cutouts and deals. A multi platform approach that singularly point towards creating buzz and talk for the brand. All these without spending tons of money on ads, ads, ads. Good job. 

Consumer Stardom: You can find these YAMILebrities displayed at their counters featuring their very own tribe members. She looks pretty hot in such a cool tribe. :)

Picture taken from YAMI Yoghurt FaceBook Page


I have got a small request. Can we have YAMI yoghurt that does not look like a regular soft serve ice-cream? Some innovation please? If  YAMI can reinvent their unique way of serving YAMI yoghurt, it will surely be another remarkable product like the cone pizza. Same product but different delivery, worth taking another look. Let YAMI tribe followers have more things to talk about the brand and hopefully spread the word. YAMI's future looks promising in the days to come, scoring in brand engagement.

Please leave your comments, if any.

Pushing the Reset button

John Hope Bryant is an American financial literacy, poverty eradication activist and above all, a leader of giving hope. He is recently here in Singapore for the Social Innovation Forum '09 and has given a short address to City Harvest Church. He has touched on how the current economy is not a ‘crisis’ but a reset instead. I would like to share how this thinking implicates our current value system and its impact on how consumers view brands around us.

Pushing the Reset button
This economic ‘crisis’ has affected the lives of billions in these 2 years. Word has got out that we are on the recovery path. If we are to purely look at numbers, probably too myopic. The fundamental issue is of power and character imbalance that led to where we are now. All it takes are a group of self proclaim ‘leaders’ who made a series of wrong decisions for themselves. A tipping point of wanting too much and lack of justly character to self correct. This is a fundamental problem of social values that need to be reset which we know is a lot harder to tackle than simply numbers. In Singapore, we are not spared from this harsh reality on our value erosion; rising divorce rates, education scams, underage promiscuity and abandonment of elderly parents. A reset of our values should be in order.

Taking John’s way of love leadership may be an answer to address this reset. Could it be first using love to strengthen and correct our fundamental values? I guess there is only one way to know, try it out!

Resetting brand perspective in the marketplace
Brands that take the brunt of these value scrutiny especially financial institutions have to take the first move to communicate their plans for this reset. Threading back investors and consumers in this process is a tricky process. Surely, consumer perception in their belief of trust and empathy will evolve because of this situation. It will thus filter down to the choice of brands we use tomorrow. Are brands willing to step up and communicate their stand in this reset? Those who do so now will reap the rewards in the days to come.

Picture taken from NTUC Income website.

Please leave your comments, if any.

Ordinary to extra-ordinary

In the current marketplace where a lot of products are trying to get our attention, it is easy to notice there aren’t a lot of those that really make us excited. Just today, can you name 5 products or ads that sort of leave a deep impression? Chances are, minimal or nothing. The challenge for successful brands is to either stand out or be reminded of all the time. It’s survival not luxury. One of the reasons you are constantly reminded of Starbucks is because it wants to become your ‘third living space’. Your home, your workplace and you guessed it…Starbucks. They are trying for the state of coffee brand ubiquity. At one point, Suntec shopping mall alone has three. Starbucks? McDonald's? See the connection?

We know the Starbucks way is very, very expensive (McDonald’s too). Unless you have millions, chances are most of us needed to get around it or just keep reading this post.

These days, we just have too many things to mind and too little time to take it all. Research has proven that an average working adult will be exposed to hundreds of ads each day. The brain can’t handle all these ‘noise’ and we automatically start to filter or ignore. This instance, ignorance is bliss for our sanity sake. I do that all the time. From any marketer, it’s their worst nightmare. The only other way is to shine through winning design experiences or be simply extraordinary.

Take a look at this device on the left. Most of us would be unable to guess what this is or what it does at first look. Is it a lamp or even a star trek collectable? The moment you ponder, you stick around (much cheaper and more effective than 5 seconds of TV ad space). It is a bladeless fan that sucks in air and throws it out at very fast speed to cool you. It’s called the Dyson Air Multiplier, retails from US$299.99 onwards. Yes, it is just a fan and works exactly like one. Turn it on, close your eyes, you probably can’t tell the difference from a regular bladed one. However, if you put the Dyson along with the other fans in a store, it will be outstanding. I even want one myself. I should have written this before my 30th birthday. For more information on the Dyson fan, click on this link.


Picture taken from Dyson website.

Lets recall a recent trip to a hair saloon. Remember how they always try to sell us hair products? How about doing so while saloon customers are horizontal, staring upwards, having their hair washed. These customers can only look upwards at the ceiling (unutilized ad space) and that is where they should be placing their hair product ads! Throw in some sales talk from the hair stylist; I am sure hair care product sales will go up. What customers get is instant gratification of the products being advertised to them at the same time. Ordinary service, extraordinary effort to increase sales.

One of your brand consultant goals must always be to allow your brand or products to be nothing short of stunning. Keep your eyes on not only appreciating extraordinary things (hard to ignore) but also keep a lookout for the ordinary (try not to ignore) and make it extraordinary.

The key aim; reinvent the ordinary that upscale product or service experience. Create a brand tribe (Bladeless fan fans) that follows it and start profiting.

Please leave your comments if you have any.

How to give your ideas traction?

You have a great idea about a business, product or service  experience. Whats next? Who is willing to listen? How do I get started on forming my own tribe? Boomz.

Thinking ways to give your idea traction can be either a pit-stop that can stall your great idea or super charge it. Viral collaboration may be your answer. Get your idea out there and watch it grow collaboratively with others who share your passion.

Some of the famous examples like Linux and Wikipedia started from an idea and sparked off massive viral collaborators to fill in the expertise for the idea, all via online. Some of the principles behind its success are these.

1) Openess of idea and purpose. Is it clear and everyone knows what is it about? For Wikipedia, its about sharing knowledge. Whats yours? State your purpose clearly and why you are forming this tribe?
2) Build a platform for your ideas to spread and allow tribe members to talk to each other and not only to the leader or idea initiator.
3) Make your results visible. If your idea is clearly having an impact, tribe members want to know what is going on. If you have a great cake that tastes great, show your customers smiling. Consumer stardom or consumer engagement always work for your brand or idea.
4) Last but not least, brand leadership. Without this, the future is pretty gloomy.

No step, no traction
We are not lack of ideas. In fact, they are everywhere. Everyone can come out with some. But are you an idea initiator and penetrator? Willingliness to take massive action for your idea(s) is always the hardest. The platform is already out there. It cost you nothing to start something. If you never start, its 100% failure. Try  what if before the buts that stops you in your tracks. No step, no traction.

Talk is really really cheap. When will be your next movement or a remarkable cake idea?

Please leave your comments, if any.

Part 2: Leadership Branding for the Franchise Model

I will take a few minutes to talk about renaming this blog. I call it 'Brand Tribes'. It is written for you and if you like what you read please share it (@LimLeong) amongst your own network . If you dislike this, hope you come visit again. Now why Brand Tribes?

A brand is a symbol, a name and logo that represents a product or service. A tribe is a rather 'ancient' word to describe a group of people who got together because an intent or idea they believed in. There is also a tribe leader who leads and manage the tribe or brand owner. Today, brand tribes are groups of consumers or people who follows an idea, cause or brand with a high degree of engagement. These groups are the ones who talks about your brand and in turn, makes them extremely rewarding to have. Both from profit point of view and brand building too. You want to have them. In fact, I believe that is the strongest way to define brand loyalty.

Brand Tribes is a movement to help brands form their own tribes. Brand Tribes intent is to get deeply connected tribe followers (consumers) who follow the brand that provides them with compelling experiences. At the same time, elevating the brand owner to be a successful tribal leader that leads and grow the brand. Read about Tribes by Seth Godin.

Back to the Leadership Branding for the Franchise Model; success factor for replication.

A franchise model works like this. Locate franchisee, build store, manage store and sell. Branding, I hope is not pass on like a manual. Does the franchisee really get it? I believe the brand owner bought into a 'yes' during the pitch. I sure hope its not just about the figures and a big smile.

Oftentimes a franchise model main challenge is controling replication. How does the brand owner ensures that the brand remains true to its brand foundation? How to really control the same standard of brand experience etc. Quoting one of the most successful brands out there that has tackled replication successfully; McDonald's. They applied brand leadership in their replication model (they bought back all their franchise).

The largest fast food chain McDonald's are a little different from country to country today yet having the same quality standards and taste. Realising the importance of cultural needs and their differences, the brand needs to evolve without losing its 'McDonad's brand experience'. Credit to their emphasis on staff training.

More importantly, a large contributing factor goes on to passing down their leadership qualities which ensure the success of the mother brand in different geographic regions. Ensuring proper brand steward training with these right qualities to create the same great level of customer experiences from Norway down to Australia.

Thanks for reading and for more insights on leadership. Read this blog by Enrico Varella who is a tribe leader on this topic. This concludes my 2 part Leadership Branding series.

Please leave your comments.