Jennifer Rice
Andy Lark
Johnnie Moore
John Winsor
Johnnie Moore is a marketing consultant and facilitator based in London. As well as 20 years of marketing experience he's trained in psychotherapy, NLP and Improv. Find out more at his blog.
Andrew Lark's more than 18 years experience of all facets of marketing, branding, sales and communications spans technology, Internet, telecommunications and consumer sectors. There he has led award-winning programs and teams for brands such as Dell, Sony, SBC, IDSoftware, Nortel, Microsoft and Sun. He is a thought leader and innovator on the convergence of brands, communications and social networking technologies. Find out more at his blog.
Jennifer Rice is a strategist and evangelist for relationship-centric brands. She brings 15 years experience in brand strategy, customer insight and marketing communications, and has worked with companies such as Microsoft, Verizon, Alcatel and Corning. Her current passion is exploring how brands are being impacted by blogs and other social technologies. Her company blog is What's Your Brand Mantra?
John Winsor is the author of Beyond the Brand: Why Listening to the Right Customers is Essential to Winning in Business and the Founder/CEO of Radar Communications, a consumer-centric consultancy. You can find out more about him at Beyond the Brand.
A few years ago at at my high-school reunion, I met a guy who I swore I'd never seen before. Clean-cut, nice-looking guy. He must have seen me glancing at his name tag and his face, because he approached me and said, "No, you probably wouldn't recognize me. I used to be one of those long-hair druggy types who never showed up to class. I cleaned up and went to med school. I'm now married with a child on the way."
Wow, how people change. So do ideas.
Branding is an idea.
The traditional view of branding worked just fine back in the 70's and 80's when times were simpler, slower-paced, and we didn't have the proliferation of products and media that we have today.
But the traditional view of branding no longer works in today's context, and there are many who are trumpeting that "branding is dead."
I don't believe that branding is dead... any more than I believe that long-haired druggie from high school is dead. He's still alive and well, albeit in a new, virtually unrecognizable form. He changed to fit the times. He changed for his own happiness and survival. We all do.
And that's what BrandShift is all about. Helping brands to "grow up" and mature in the real world of tempestuous change and customer demands.
What does it mean for a brand to mature? The same thing as when people mature... we become more honest, direct, transparent. We become better listeners and communicators. We stop seeing ourselves as the center of our world and begin to see ourselves as part of an interconnected whole. We move from following rules to making value judgements.
The BrandShift contributors are all passionate about helping brands through this transition. We'll not only discuss the theory of branding, but also the practice. We'll have podcast discussions with CEOs and brand owners on how their brands are evolving in the new economy... growing pains and all. And we'll cover the new social technologies and discuss their impact on brands.
If there's anything specific you'd like for us to address, please tell us. If you have specific questions on the subject, please ask. We want BrandShift to be your resource for all things branding.
A warm welcome to the Corante effect. Great idea for a blog, going directly into my RSS reader.
David Evans
Editor, Online Dating Industry Insider
www.corante.com/dating
Director, Online Dating & Discovery Research Advisory Service
Jennifer,
You impress me, congratulations. Here is an idea, one that I roll around in. What is the role of the brand today. I believe it is a neurological one, one that transitions the consumer from a thinking to a feeling state. I believe the features and benefits are there to neuro-manage the consumers life and they are the point of difference. But, that means branding is a function of enhancing a consumers life, that means branding is looked at through a new lens, one it was always supposed to be looked at through: the consumers and not the company's [I think there is a function called sales for that]. That might be a fun thing to talk to a few CEOs about. Enjoy! And, have fun with your new home.
Permalink to CommentBranding is dead! Death to the Ignorance Premium!!!
Heh. Looks good, Jen. Rock on.
Hugh
Permalink to CommentIn order to be dead, something needs to be alive first, doesn't it, Hugh? Perhaps brands then, like the reformed druggie, are "stoned" from sniffing their own fumes? The mind reels, the doors of perception beckon, the Marks of Love are everywh--Ooops! Time for an intervention!
Go get em guys!
Permalink to CommentHmmm, I'm a huge fan of collaborative blogging, however "all things branding" I can get from reading your individual blogs, surely the purpose here would be specific focus.
I don't believe branding is dead, the word is just to arb. Like the word "love", it lacks clear, usefull definition. Thus a blog dedicated to all things branding runs the risk of being generic...!
Permalink to Comment
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