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This is the place where smart people and breakthrough ideas converge. It’s not about showing off our work. It’s about what’s going on around all of us and collectively sharing that knowledge to help drive your success.

Entries in books (2)

Monday
Aug162010

What are ‘they’ saying about your brand?

“A brand is not what you say it is. It’s what they say it is.”
The Brand Gap, by Marty Neumeier

 


I recently read The Brand Gap, along with Neumeier’s follow up, ZAG, and I particularly like this quote because it forces communications practitioners to put themselves in the shoes of their target audience. What’s being said about a brand, and why?

 

Knowing the answers to those questions are especially crucial in today’s social media environment, where bad news can travel the globe in seconds. But good news can have the opposite effect – it can build a following for a brand that Neumeier refers to in ZAG as a Unique Buying Tribe (or UBT).

Customers, he says, would rather buy than be sold. And when they buy, they do so in a tribal fashion. (Want proof? Consider the legions who couldn’t wait for Apple’s iPad and iPhone 4 to launch this year.) Within a UBT, he says, “news spreads quickly, which gives brands extra traction.” Social media has only exacerbated this situation.

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Monday
Nov232009

Eternity Can Wait

Science and statistics tell us that in the course of humankind, we’ve added 10,000 extra days to our average life expectancy (since 1900 to be exact). Compared to 100 years ago, that’s almost a second lifetime.

Most of us manage our efforts and plan our lives as best we can to finally cross the goal line to retirement. And then, we will engage in a whole new life that will likely span thousands and thousands of days, but with no societal history, family tradition or road map to guide us through them …

Fortunately, Dr. Tom Nolan has given this subject a great deal of consideration, and has written a new book called Eternity Can Wait to help us all out. The former Milwaukee investment advisor, author, and high profile media personality continues working even during his own retirement.

Succinct, straightforward and engaging, Eternity Can Wait calls out the issues, the concerns and the questions we need to address in order to evaluate how to approach this future. Check out the Web site and you can download sample chapters, employ an interactive date calculator to see how many days you have coming, or even pose a question directly to the author.

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