BrandKnew March 2018 by Brand Knew

Branding matters. Because branding matters.

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Dear Friends: The marketing march continues. The world of branding isn’t flinching. And a spring in the step certainly is in the offing for all marketers. We have loaded this issue with a rich array of actionable content. We feature how brands need to build belonging in order to create lasting impact with customers. Ever thought of using Calendars as a viable marketing channel? Well, you can explore more here in the article on the subject. For all those LEGO maniacs, we go beyond nostalgia and unearth the story of the brand’s big comeback. We also share in the issue an understanding of how to build both brand value and brand awareness. Television Advertising has reached tipping point. A deep dive that broadcasters, advertisers and content creators can learn a lot from. Know more in this issue. For all the design inclined, the infographic on how to choose a font for your brand logo will be more than a ready reckoner. If you work with creative people, here is a primer on how to work with them. Gen Z and Baby Boomers pose completely different marketing challenges. Understand the same. Lots of other usable evidence in this issue that you will relish. Till the next, our very best!

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22 Suresh Dinakaran @ISDGlobalDubai

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Managing Editor: Suresh Dinakaran Creative Head/Director Operations: Pravin Ahir Magazine Concept & Design/ New Media Specialist: Mufaddal Joher Country Head, Australia: Norbert D’Souza Country Head, UK: Sagar Patil Regional Director: Krishna Chugh Country Manager, India: Vinit Chugh Digital Marketing Specialist: Nikhil Thekkumkoottathil Brand Development & Engagement Specialist: Hasitha Fernando Creator: Brand Stories: Salindu Sadishan

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CONTENTS

The Best Brands Are The Ones That Build “Belonging” Before Building Brand Awareness, You Need to Assess Brand Value. Here’s How to Do Both. 5 Marketing Strategies From Major Brands: What You Can Learn From Their Mistakes and Successes Calendars as Marketing Channel: Four Best-Practices for Reaching Your Customers How Building A Brand Radically Helps Protect Investors Boomers, Gen X pose different marketing challenges TV Advertising’s Tipping Point How to Choose a Font for Your Brand [Infographic] No One Should Care This Much About A Corporation’s Logo Why the Humble LEGO Brick, Turning 60, Is Still Clicking The Top Dos And Don’ts Of Working With Creative People Introducing the IAB 250-Powered by Dun & Bradstreet. Direct Brands Worth Watching Advertisers say digital ad spend won’t decline, despite continued fraud Book, Line & Sinker

The Best Brands Are The Ones That Build “Belonging” COMPANIES THAT CAN HELP THEIR CUSTOMERS REMAKE THE SOCIAL FABRIC HAVE AN ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITY. By Sebastian Buck

Early one morning last week a group of about 50 people gathered in Santa Monica shortly after sunrise, before any stores or offices were open. Some of this group knew each other, and others met for the first time. Everyone was wearing clothes that clearly indicated this group belonged together. Coffee and conversation started. In previous eras, this gathering could have been convened by a faith group, neighborhood association, or trade union. But this was the Rapha Cycle Club (RCC), a membership organization grown around Rapha’s cycle apparel business. The RCC has all the hallmarks of traditional community groups: rituals, local organizers, chapters and clubhouses around the world, symbols, shared identity, and social activities. There’s also a code of conduct that creates the conditions for respect

and decency between diverse members:

RCC members will uphold good riding etiquette and camaraderie and abide by the Rapha/RCC ride etiquette rules. Members will greet other riders on the road, wait for dropped riders, and help those in need. — Rapha Cycle Club, Code of Conduct

If you choose to, you can ride with RCC members 20 or more times each week in your city and travel the world for RCC summits and retreats. You can attend art shows, film screenings, expert talks, and local tours. This is not the light

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“community” that brands often speak of when referring to their customers or social media following–this is real, in-person commitment and engagement. And this is not a sideshow to Rapha’s business. It’s core to its business strategy–its spaces are clubhouses not stores, and people are members not customers.

• One in four Americans have no trusted confidante; up from 1 in 10 in 1985. • Less than half of American kids live in a traditional family home; a big decline in family households since the 1970s. • There’s been a 40% decline in standard measures of empathy since the 1990s. • There’s been a 24% rise in suicides between 1999 and 2014. • Only about half of Americans trust their neighbors, and even fewer younger and more urban people trust their neighbors.

TRIBAL CONNECTIONS Ironically, technology is playing a role in this disconnection, as we’re replacing deep, emotion-driving in-person relationships with superficial online relationships.

“We have a strong instinct to belong to small groups defined by clear purpose and understanding–tribes.This tribal connection has been largely lost in modern society, but regaining it may be the key to our psychological survival.

Why would a for-profit brand put so much work into building belonging? The simple answer is because of the deep brand loyalty it engenders and the commercial opportunities it creates. The longer answer is: The commercial opportunity exists because we need belonging at a fundamental level . We have a crisis of belonging–and great brands will step into the vacuum created by social isolation.

CONNECTED BUT ALONE A while ago I heard Sherry Turkle, a social studies professor at MIT, talk of us becoming “connected but alone,” or Alone Together. And then David Brooks’s assertion that social isolation may be “the central challenge of our era” really struck me. Really? More than climate change, failing education, broken politics, twinned obesity, and hunger epidemics and all the other things we could consider the central challenge of the era? So I started looking at social isolation more. Here are things I found: • 89% of people used a cell phone during their last social interaction. 82% felt it degraded the conversation. • 40% of Americans identify as lonely; up from 1 in 10 in the 1970s.

“Whatever the technological advances of modern society – and they’re nearly miraculous – the individualized lifestyles those technologies spawn seem to be deeply brutalizing to the human spirit.” – Sebastian Junger, Tribe

But this is not a story all about technology. By some measures, social trust peaked in the late ’60s, and Robert Putnam’s seminal book Bowling Alone traced the decline in civic and social participation in 1995 , long before social media platforms started engineering our attention. Participation in organized religions–traditionally responsible for weaving the social fabric–has consistently declined, especially for younger people. The impact of this social disconnection is severe. From being able to care for our elderly or our young, to tackling giant challenges like climate change, mental health, or physical health, community health is fundamental. Sebastian Junger, the war correspondent, identified diminished social bonds and shared purpose as the driving force of increased incidences of PTSD. In his book, Tribe, Junger recounts the work of Charles Fritz, an observer employed by the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey to assess the morale of British civilians during and after the Blitz in World War II. What he found was not social chaos, but a “community of sufferers” more tightly bonded than before– “mentally healthy conditions.” “Self interest gets subsumed into group interest,” as Junger puts it.

Reweaving the social fabric is of critical importance, to us individually (we’re much happier when part of something good) and collectively.

and people mostly interact with the brand, rather than with each other.

[Photo: Starbucks]

HOW WE GATHER Many nonprofit organizations are stepping into this void– some of which are covered in a report from the Harvard Divinity School’s report called How We Gather. The Dinner Party, for example, connects diverse people around the dinner table to transform our deepest struggles into opportunities for growth. And some for-profit brands are identifying this opportunity. Thinking beyond “customers,” “fans,” or “followers,” the next frontier for great brands is stepping into the cultural need and market opportunity for deeper, real-world person-toperson connection. Rapha’s RCC is one example; others actively building tribe (in different ways) include Crossfit, SoulCycle, Sofar Sounds<,OfferUp, Starbucks, and Summit. Apple has made strides in this direction, revising the concept of its stores into “Town Squares,” complete with communal spaces and a host of classes that enable people to gather in different ways, such as Photo Walks where people learn photography techniques together while exploring their city. Those companies that help us forge meaningful connections will win deep loyalty. And this needs to go beyond premium brands. If belonging can be built around apparel and technology companies, surely it can also be built around learning, parenthood, food, and health. Companies should not just think about building belonging with customers, but also with employees. In the U.S., 70% of workers are disengaged in their work (not involved, enthusiastic, or committed), and globally the number is even higher: 87%. Nando’s, the global restaurant chain, has five values, the last of which reads “and most of all, family.” To realize this value, employees gather for dinner together on Sundays and holidays, often bringing their “other families” to meet each other.

HOW BRANDS CAN BUILD BELONGING Most of the thinking about brand-led community building focuses on what could be described as “fandom”– people loosely aggregated around a brand. The brand is the hero,

An Apple “Town Square.” [Photo: Apple]

What’s needed are initiatives that truly combat social isolation with enhanced belonging.

“If you want to make a society work, then you don’t keep underscoring the places where you’re different – you underscore your shared humanity” —Rachel Yehuda, Mount Sinai Hospital, from Junger’s Tribe

Brené Brown, the acclaimed research professor, focuses on how to combat a “spiritual crisis of disconnection” in her new book, Braving the Wilderness. Her four principles of building belonging are: • Make contact with people you disagree with. • Share collective joy and pain. • Speak up (nicely) when you disagree. • Embrace the paradox (those with a strong sense of belonging often demonstrate a mix of traits, such as the courage to stand alone, while also being engaged in a group). Although there are some examples of highly engaged communities being developed via technology (e.g., Peloton riders), when it comes to belonging, real connection will most likely come from in-person interaction in real life. But having physical space is not enough: Brands should create spaces, experiences, products, and services that deliberately foster the conditions for diverse people coming together in respectful environments for shared experiences. Sebastian Buck co-founded enso and leads strategy / former strategy consultant / started GOOD/Corps / developed strategy for Pepsi Refresh, Gates Foundation, Google, Starbucks, Disney / runs unurth.com / Young Storytellers Foundation board member / ‘good people doing good things that matter’

Before Building Brand Awareness, You Need to Assess Brand Value. Here’s How to Do Both. By Dara Treseder

Imagine you’re planning one of those epic cross-country road trips with your family. The group has picked out the various stops and activities along the way. And you’ve been tasked with charting the course and drafting a budget before the vacation adventures can begin. Now imagine trying to do that without knowing anything about your trip’s point of origin. You could be starting out from anywhere—Seattle, Boston, Anchorage... You have no idea. But you’ve still got a job to do, or you’ll let your family down. If you’re thinking that feat seems impossible, you’re probably right. There’s little to no chance your trip will be a success if you don’t first have all the relevant information at your disposal. That’s why you should now be asking yourself: Why would I launch a brand awareness campaign without first having a full assessment of my starting point—my brand’s position in the market? It’s easy to have a vision, but it’s impossible to make that vision a reality unless you know your starting point.

Dropping Your Pin on the Map of Brand Value How your brand is perceived has a huge impact on its success. Strong brands instill confidence in investors, consumers,

media outlets, employees, and even free-agent talent. All that confidence translates into steady growth and rising profits. On the other hand, brands perceived as weak, vulnerable, or broken will face problems. Everything will be harder: securing strong partnerships, retaining customers, and fixing mistakes. Brand matters, independent of how much money is put into outreach and marketing campaigns. Fully 80% of marketers say consumers’ foundational awareness of their brand is one of its most important differentiators, but 76% say they have no idea what percentage of their market is clued into their brand. That is precisely why it’s critical for marketers to assess their brand’s value in the marketplace before formulating or launching a (costly) brand-awareness campaign. Understanding where your brand value lies is the only way to accurately formulate a marketing campaign that will reach your audience and drive demand for your brand. In other words, it’s the only way to know exactly what to say about your brand, how to say it, and whom to reach with your message. It also allows you to gain an advantage against competitors by being able to better strategize your partnerships and spending, as well as improve customer satisfaction.

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Three Steps Toward Brand Success To pin down your brand’s starting point and accurately chart your path toward more successful customer engagement, you must do three things.

1. Identify your brand’s foundation The first step toward determining a brand’s value is to get a thorough, unbiased evaluation of the brand—your position in the market, how your brand is currently perceived, and so on. The information gathered during this phase is essential to understanding how weak or strong a brand’s foundation truly is. It will also determine how a company should craft messages, increase product demand, and improve customer relations moving forward. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel here. To evaluate the foundation of your brand, go the old-fashioned route by using marketing or business intelligence, focus groups, or surveys—whatever best fits your timeline and resources. But make sure you get more than just quantitative research (e.g., surveys); real, honest qualitative customer feedback is just as important. A focus group is a great way to do gain such feedback. Ensure you’re assembling groups that are truly representative of your customers and prospects. A group that’s too narrowly focused will skew your results. Consider hiring a thirdparty moderator who’s free from bias and can read subtle indicators such as body language and intonation. Don’t stop at customers, either. Find out how your brand is perceived by everyone from investors to competitors, then use that information to shape your future outreach.

2. Keep your messaging consistent A brand’s message must be more than just words on a page or screen. It should be about building connections with consumers by evoking emotions and expressing foundational values. In fact, 64% of consumers report that realizing they share values with a brand is a major contributor to their initial interest in and continued loyalty toward that brand. However, you won’t inspire lifelong loyalty if your “powerfully crafted message” is inconsistently delivered. Indeed, 90% of consumers say they crave (and expect) consistency—across all platforms—when engaging with brands. Wendy’s is a good example of a reliable brand. Consumers have responded positively to the fast-food chain’s witty social media banter, which fits in perfectly with its “challenger with charm” tone. The brand is seen as reliable because it maintains this devil-may-care attitude across all platforms. On the other hand, if your social media voice is whimsical and sardonic, but your TV ads are straightforward and serious, consumers will have a hard time understanding what your brand is about. Create brand guidelines for your marketing department to ensure your message is always focused and consistent:

• Begin with a 5-10-word purpose statement that explains why your organization exists. • Next, a brand manifesto should flesh out your purpose statement, offering a better explanation of who you are, what you do, why you do it, and what impact your brand has made or aims to make. • Finally, a visual identity guide should outline all brand aesthetics rules, from color and typeface specifications to guidelines regarding imagery and logos.

3. Be true to your word Building off of consistency, a large portion—45%, to be exact— of your brand’s image and overall value can be attributed to your words and actions. When a brand consistently keeps its consumers satisfied and engaged, it is rewarded with loyalty. And a major part of customer satisfaction revolves around delivering on the promises your organization makes. On the other hand, when a brand’s messaging doesn’t align with its actions, consumers’ authenticity alarms go off. For instance... • Although Subway markets its restaurants as a “healthy” choice, the chain received a failing grade for “its use of antibiotics in meat and poultry.” • Similarly, though Walmart often talks about how much it values its employees, it has long received criticism for its pay, benefits, and policies. There are many ways to garner positive interest in your brand. But there’s only one sure path to establishing loyalty and convincing consumers to take the action you desire: maintaining the highest level of customer satisfaction. Strengthen your brand by setting enticing (but realistic) expectations and always delivering positive results. When I was at Apple’s FileMaker, for example, we created a series of Plan, Create, Deploy success guides for developing custom apps. They generated a lot of leads and provided very useful step-by-step information; they also cemented FileMaker’s position as the category leader. Most important, we delivered on our promise of improving businesses through education. *** You can’t plan a road trip without knowing your point of origin, and you can’t launch a successful brand awareness campaign without first getting a full assessment of your brand’s value—and ensuring you have sufficient standing to leverage for creating awareness. Take steps to determine where your brand stands in the market today, so you can chart the next legs of your brand journey.

Dara Treseder is the chief marketing officer for GE Ventures. She’s passionate about all things related to marketing and technology.

Marketing Strategies From Major Brands: What You Can Learn From Their Mistakes and Successes YOU DON’T NEED A BIG BUDGET TO LEARN FROM THESE BIG-BUDGET BRANDS. By Jim Joseph

Marketing is a spectator sport. We can all learn from each other by observing what brands do in the marketplace, even if we don’t have big budgets.

speech from Dr. Martin Luther King that talks about service, and in the context of the commercial, it came across as disingenuous.

Specifically, we’re finding more and more brands making a buzz in the court of social media, and there’s something to be learned from every one of them: the good and the, shall we say, not-sogood.

The lesson: Make sure your branding is consistent across the board, from your product or service offering to all of your marketing materials and messaging.

Marketing strategy mishaps

PepsiCo One of the most newsworthy marketing moments of late came from PepsiCo, which made headlines about snacks designed for women. Twitter lit up like a Christmas tree talking about “Lady Doritos,” asking CEO Indra Nooyi to focus on the bigger issues facing women that are making headlines right now. Even Ellen had something to say about it! The lesson: Before any public announcement, prepare a message track that you have vetted with those closest to you to make sure it all makes sense. Then, make sure you understand the greater consciousness happening in the world and consider it in everything you say and do.

Ram We recently enjoyed an entire buffet of Super Bowl commercials, many of them scoring quite well with consumers. But, one commercial in particular failed to resonate the way the company must have hoped. Ram Trucks used a voiceover clip from a

Marketing strategy successes

L.L. Bean L.L. Bean, via Facebook and perhaps other touch-points, announced that it was no longer offering a lifetime guarantee, but rather a one-year return policy along with further consideration for defects that occur after that time. The company basically blamed those who abused the policy for having to eliminate it. Yet, many customers explained that the lifetime guarantee was the only reason to purchase and the only justification for the price points. L.L. Bean kept quiet for a moment, and let other customers come to its defense by explaining the reasonableness of the policy and the need to uphold sustainable business policies. I actually joined in myself on that one! As a result, what could have been bad buzz quickly became a nonnews item. The lesson: Let your loyalists speak on your behalf in good times and in bad. Others can be far more influential for you than you can be for yourself.

CVS Retailer CVS announced that it will no longer retouch photography in

the marketing of its beauty products and it will stamp or label any other brands who continue to retouch or alter imagery, in an effort to promote positive self-esteem and healthy beauty standards. While viewed in conjunction with its decision to discontinue tobacco products a few years back, this move was heralded as yet another triumph. The lesson: create a powerful platform that people can rally behind and that is at the core of what you do, and stick to it by repeating it with consistent and innovative initiatives over and over again.

Gerber After 140,000 applications to be the new Gerber spokesbaby, the brand picked its first baby with Down Syndrome after 90 years, which met with an immediate standing ovation on social media. The brand announced Lucas on The Today Show. According to Gerber CEO Bill Partyka in a press release, it was Lucas’s “winning smile and joyful expression” that won him the role and by the looks of the pic everyone could see why. In one moment, Gerber proved its longlasting mantra of inclusion that says “every baby is a Gerber baby.” The lesson: Make sure your marketing materials reflect your brand -- and prevailing attitudes that are relevant to your brand. Marketing is certainly a spectator sport, for big brands and small. Pay attention to what’s out there in the marketplace, and you’ll learn things that you can positively apply to your marketing plan, too.

Calendars as Marketing Channel: Four Best-Practices for Reaching Your Customers By Sameen Karim

In our age of information overload, engaging your audience is more challenging than ever. It often seems that novel digital experiences, such as interactive video and virtual reality, are the solutions to cutting through the noise. But even though they are immersive and exciting, those approaches don’t always fit into customers’ lifestyles. Instead of diverting customers’ attention elsewhere, brands can create more effective experiences by meeting customers where they’re already spending time.

A New Era of Brand-Customer Relationships Today’s consumers check their phones a whopping 150 times per day and spend slightly under one minute per session, according to a Google study. We use many of those sessions for checking the time or sending quick texts, but during others we take action on whatever we want or need right now. Those “I want to know,” “I want to go,” and “I want to do” moments are loaded with intent and immediacy. They are the moments when consumers expect brands to be timely, relevant, and useful. Today, successful brands are taking advantage of this behavior with personalized marketing approaches that are tailored to consumers’ daily habits. Case in point: calendars.

Why Calendars? Calendars may not be the first thing that comes to mind when considering marketing channels, but they’re one of the most

ubiquitous digital platforms used today. They are installed on every mobile device, over 2.6 billion worldwide, and their reach rivals that of email, coming in at a close second. Calendars inherently tap into consumer intent at an exact moment. As channels most closely tied to the physical world, telling us where we need to be and when, calendars drive meaningful engagement at the right times. In fact, consumers are 86% more likely to take action on something if a related event is in their calendar.

Calendar Marketing: The ‘Last Mile’ That Drives Action That potential of calendars to reach audiences has led several companies to calendar innovations to help brands leverage them as a marketing channel. For example, smart “add to calendar” buttons can be embedded on websites, emails, or social media accounts, allowing consumers to add dynamic events (e.g., promotions) to their own calendar. Among other innovations are the ability to send personalized calendar notifications (beyond the default 15-minute reminder alert), capture emails when consumers add to calendar, and access calendar analytics. Unsubscribe rates are less than 1%, and so brands can build strong relationships through ongoing communications. Whether it’s driving attendance to a webinar, traffic to a tradeshow booth, or logins to an application, marketers in various industries can leverage calendar capabilities to drive repeat engagement at specific times.

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Best-Practices to Keep Customers Happy and Engaged As you might’ve guessed, calendars aren’t your typical marketing channel. Unlike traditional media, where people are accustomed to ads, the calendar is a much more personal medium. Irrelevant or generic content should be avoided to keep the customer experience as helpful as possible. When used properly, calendars allow marketers to be present during crucial steps in the customer journey and boost overall conversions. Here are four campaigns:

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for them. Customer experience remains one of the biggest differentiators in today’s market, so taking the time to get personal is worth your while.

3. Keep your messaging succinct and informative As with email, your customers should know what they will get when they open your message and shouldn’t be surprised when they do. Make your point quickly and leave out fluff. Keeping your message succinct and informative will prove to customers that you understand what they need and that you respect their time.

1. Provide a seamless opt-in experience

4. Measure, rinse, repeat

Carefully select the channels you’ll use to share your “add to calendar” buttons. Different industries and job roles respond better to different channels. A personalized email may resonate with VPs at some of your target accounts, whereas a LinkedIn post might trigger more positive responses with managers at other accounts.

Take note of opens, link clicks, social shares, and other engagement inside the calendar so you can optimize your campaigns. Several calendar marketing tools can help with that piece of the job. You can then use that data to enhance lead records in your CRM (Salesforce, Marketo, HubSpot, etc.).

Also, whether your customers are using Google Calendar, Outlook, or iOS, make it easy for them to add your promotions to their calendar. Make sure your buttons work for the most common calendar types.

Calendar activity is a strong indication of intent to take certain actions, and your sales team will be happy to take advantage of that information.

2. Get personal Group your customers by their behavior, interests, location, or other relevant profile data to effectively target your promotions. This is especially important because calendar marketing involves push notifications. Push notifications pop up above everything else and will annoy customers if they don’t provide value. So the more personalized you can get, the more likely people will see your message and truly believe your message—and product—is

*** Leading brands, such as IBM, Forrester, and Microsoft, have tapped into calendars to transform their customer journeys. Check out this guide to learn how thousands of companies are integrating calendars into their marketing strategies. Sameen Karim is the CEO and a co-founder of Eventable, which enables today’s most innovative brands and marketers to communicate with their customers through native calendar platforms.

How Building A Brand Radically Helps Protect Investors By Patrick Hanlon

Many startup entrepreneurs are passionate about building their product but less eager for the undesirable parts of sales, marketing, or getting distracted by that ephemeral shiny object called “brand.” Some founders believe that disruptive technology alone (for example) will fill the spaces in people’s hearts and minds to help launch massive scale. And they fail. What fledgling startups don’t understand is that nobody cares. Their first challenge is to make people care about their creation. In fact, depending on the product and category, at some level during the build, the brand can become tangible than the product itself. Second. Characteristically, too many entrepreneurs (note Silicon Valley) want to keep themselves at arm’s length from anything close to sales, marketing, branding or the soft arts of rhetoric. Finally, once their baby is ready, they put out a call for “warm introductions” so that they can introduce their newborn to the world. This is to sales and marketing what the Hail Mary pass is to football. And it doesn’t always work. The fail for many startups is that they are blind to the fact that, they are building a brand community around their new enterprise from Day 1. That first person you told your idea to who said it was a cool idea? The first member of your brand community. When you and your partner (Member #2) maxed out and convinced someone to quit their job to join you? Brand Community Member #3. And it’s not just to attract co-workers. It’s vendors, landlords, banks and, best of all, your Angels and venture capital partners. There is nothing mystical or sparkly about it—you are just gathering people who believe in the same things you do. So they believe in you, too. Go figure. It is well-documented that a brand is worth many times more than the value of the company itself. While the

Company is measured by the facility, people, equipment, IP and anything else the accountants can list as assets, Brands can be valued at multiples of 2X, 4X, 10X and 100X. Look at brands like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Uber, Tesla (pick your own unicorn). Their current valuations are based not just on current sales, but on the potential to perform at levels of magnitude at some time in the future. That “potential” is their brand. Brands are superfictions that contain a series of factors that attract us to the company’s mission, vision, values and potential to succeed. Some of us become so invested in their success that we are willing to help make it happen ourselves. Venture capital partners help “make it happen,” of course, by providing funding and convincing other VCs to join. The reality is that brands are a complex construction of parts that tell us where they’re from, what they’re about, with brilliant iconic design that helps them stand out in packaging, product and experience. Brands also build their own language, their own rites of passage, as well as clear dynamic leadership and adversaries who they must overcome. And the most valiant enterprises do overcome critics and naysayers—Musk has built his rockets, Bezos overcame problems of product, distribution and fandom to put boxes on everyone’s doorstep. Netflix kills. Apple and Samsung, with origins in a garage and corner store, defied reality and have become the most powerful brands in the world. This narrative is the root code for building social brand communities. Those communities include your coworkers. They include your customers. They include investors. They include fans, influencers, media, bloggers, vendors, your friend’s spouses—your Mom. Project managers, developers, everyone who is attracted to you because something about you resonates and attracts them.

You may not have a viable product starting out. But if you can create a viable brand, that brand can not only help you pivot and readjust, but it becomes more valuable for investors. (Consider as proof that some entrepreneurs buy up valuable brand names—like Shinola, because even without assets, they retain value.) Smart investors understand that building up the community of persons who are attached to the mission… Is. The. Brand. Not the logo, not the website. Not even sales. So, your brand community is just as critical as a successful build. And since 8 out of 10 new efforts fail in practice, building a brand in parallel might be even more important. Because if the enterprise fails, you may not have a viable product, but you can still retain the brand. The legend that outlasts the super-App. The Brand helps protect investors by building something of value that the failed chimera never became. So investors beware. If your startup genius is putting off branding “for later,” and focused on building their brainchild, ask them to reconsider--or invest your own brand-building dollars as insurance. The future is uncertain, but it’s the only thing that lasts.

Patrick Hanlon is CEO and founder of Thinktopia and author of The Social Code: Designing Community In The Digital Age.

Boomers, Gen X pose different marketing challenges MARKETING TO THE GENERATIONS: BOOMERS AND GEN X By Vicki Brakl

Baby Boomers and Gen Xers are a generation and a full universe apart. Boomers are retiring in droves today, while Generation Xers are at the tops of their careers. The Boomers are watching their Millennial children start families, while Gen X is painfully paying for either college tuition or summer camp. And while the two groups are very different, they have so much in common at the same time. They both saw the rise of the internet and rely on mobile phones, they often work side by side, and neither wants to have a Millennial as their supervisor at the office.

Who are the Baby Boomers? Baby Boomers are the wealthiest generation, making up 40% of the consumer population – and half of consumer spending, according AARP. They like their comfortable lifestyle, so they tend to view any purchases they make as an investment—and they research accordingly. In terms of their advertising and media consumption, Boomers were only a little late to the digital party. They’re slower than younger generations to adopt new technology habits, but they get there. According to recentFacebook research, most Boomers begin their customer journeys in-store, but a growing number are embarking online (more than 30%) or on mobile devices (just under 20%). They use the internet and email a lot, but they’re not big app users — yet.

Marketing to Boomers Trust is a key factor when it comes to convincing and converting Boomers. Boomers do their research, and they’re going to make sure they get the best

product at the best price. For marketers, this means: • With all the research they’re doing, search is an important channel. • Give them all the information they need to make an informed decision. That means lots of content, data and useful information. • Boomers trust their peers, friends, and relatives a lot more than they trust you. Reviews, testimonials and recommendations will go far. • Personalization will also be very effective. Boomers appreciate the tailored user experience. • Provide aging Boomers access to easier reading and viewing options, like larger text or increased contrast.

more than their parents did, but—now at the peak of their earning years—they typically havesix times the debt. Many lost their wealth or their jobs during the Great Recession and are still financially fragile as a result, and most are unlikely to be prepared for retirement. The result of these conditions has left a population of cautious spenders who fear debt and demand honesty, integrity and transparency.

Marketing to Gen X Gen X wants authenticity from the brands: they know who they are and what they want, and they expect brands to have the same confidence. In terms of reaching this audience, there are a few tips to remember: • Unlike Boomers, Gen X prefers short, concise copy.

Finally, Boomers are still media traditionalists. They watch TV and read magazines, and their computers are still their favorite way to access the web. Make an effort to use your marketing materials to bridge the gap between their online and offline worlds by building simple, clean, consistent and user-friendly experiences across channels.

• Email is still Gen X’s primary means of messaging, and they check it frequently.

Generation X

• When it comes to social media, Gen X loves Facebook, and they’re big on YouTube, too, accounting for more than1.5 billion YouTube views per day.

Like the Boomers, Gen X prefers marketing material that connects and that originates from a source they know. Gen X also still enjoys traditional media like radio, TV and newspapers— although they are faster to adopt new media. While digital, they are not typically mobile-first and prefer using laptops to access the web. Unlike Boomers, Gen Xers are not wealthy, generally speaking, despite being high earners. They may earn

• They still likes direct mail, too, and it can move the needle. • Their expectation of honesty and transparency isrepaid in loyalty. Offer loyalty programs, and you’ll see the rewards.

While Boomers still outnumber and outspend Generation X, don’t discount the “forgotten generation.” Sandwiched between the wealthy, retiring Boomers and the more diverse, more liberal Millennials, Generation X is currently at its prime. Earn their trust with transparency and honest marketing, and you could win customers for life.

TV Advertising’s Tipping Point

Sales drop last year was worst outside a recession in 20 years The peak of the market was two years ago, Magna Global says

Advertisers Tuning Out TV in Sign of Trouble for Media Companies

By Lucas Shaw

Advertisers may be leaving TV for good. Television-advertising sales in the U.S. fell 7.8 percent to $61.8 billion last year, the steepest drop outside of a recession in at least 20 years, while sales at cable networks slumped for the first time in almost a decade. And there’s no sign of a pickup in 2018, excluding cyclical events like the Olympics and the midterm elections, according to data from Magna Global. The decline in TV viewership is accelerating as online rivals Google and Facebook have increased their investments in video, capturing almost every new advertising dollar entering the marketplace. Television ad sales have fallen even as global advertising grows, leading research firms and analysts to predict that the business may never recover. “In a healthy economy, we’re looking at no growth in advertising from traditional media companies,’’ said Michael Nathanson, an analyst with research firm MoffettNathanson. “That’s a worrying trend.’’ That would be a serious blow to media companies that have built multibillion dollar businesses on sponsor-supported TV networks. Domestic TV advertising revenue declined at the world’s largest media companies in the most recent quarter, striking Walt Disney Co., 21st Century Fox Inc., Comcast Corp.’s flagship NBC network and Viacom Inc.

TV or Not TV? Network owners face a multiyear drop in national advertising as viewers go elsewhere

Source: Magna Global Estimates for 2018-2022

Media companies have relied on TV advertising dollars for more than 60 years, using money from commercials and sponsors to fund variety shows, sitcoms, dramas and news-gathering. Advertising constitutes about 41 percent of sales at CBS Corp., owner of the most-watched TV network in the U.S., and almost 30 percent at Fox.

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23 For most of the past two decades, the TV business has fought off competition from technology giants, weathering the threat better than peers in publishing and the record business. Even as viewership has fallen, media companies have managed to extract higher ad rates. The spot for a 30-second commercial in the Super Bowl, for example, has more than doubled in the past 20 years. Yet TV is finally succumbing to the forces that have weakened its other media brethren. The number of people paying for live TV has declined for several quarters, and advertisers are following the customer online, where social networks and streaming services command more and more of people’s time. Some of those rivals, like Facebook and YouTube, sell ads. Others, including Netflix, do not.

Fewer Eyeballs The effect has been widespread. Viewership of all four broadcast networks slipped by more than 10 percent last year among people age 18 to 49, the demographic most important to advertisers, according to MoffettNathanson. Cable networks, which once stole viewers from broadcast, are also suffering. Live sporting events, which had been immune to the declines afflicting general entertainment programming, are also losing viewers. Ratings for the National Football League, the most-watched programming on TV, have fallen for two years in a row. The decline robs media companies of eyeballs to sell to advertisers still hungry for live audiences. And TV networks with fewer ads to sell are also facing a revolt from some of their biggest advertisers. Pharmaceutical companies, movie studios and automakers have all slowed their spending on TV advertising. Spending by all three groups, among TV’s most important sponsors, dropped by double digits -- even as their businesses slumped by far less. “The peak of the TV ad market was two years ago,’’ said Michael Leszega, manager of market intelligence at Magna Global. No one is predicting the demise of TV advertising, but even media companies concede that sales at traditional networks may never reclaim their old highs. Instead, they must capture a larger share of marketing dollars being spent on the internet.

Local’s Tough Outlook Local advertising is expect to fall even faster than national spending

Source: Magna Global Estimates for 2018-2022

Fox, CBS, Disney and others are all developing new online video services, some of which offer advertising. Hulu, owned by a consortium of media giants, now generates more than $1 billion in advertising each year. Networks are also developing data tools to offer advertisers the best of the web -- superb targeting of individual viewers -- with what they do best, high-end TV. Fox, Turner and Viacom Inc. have teamed up for a consortium called OpenAP, and are working to sign up other media companies. “Facebook and Google are cleaning our clocks because they have targeting,’’ said Peter Rice, head of Fox’s TV networks group. “I don’t think the advertising product is as good,’’ adding that TV will take a bigger slice of ad sales as it implements better targeting. Media companies have tried to use Facebook’s admission of poor audience accounting and the proliferation of inappropriate content on both Facebook and YouTube to persuade advertisers to slow spending online. A few diverted spending to TV from digital in recent years, but no scandal has slowed the growth in advertising sales at Facebook or Alphabet. “TV doesn’t have fraud or viewability problems, but the prices are just so high now,’’ Leszega said. “We’re at a tipping point.’’

How to Choose a Font for Your Brand [Infographic] By Laura Forer

A brand’s font choice is like the plumbing in your home: You don’t think much about it until something goes wrong—and then it’s a disaster.

fonts, like Times New Roman, portray professionalism and pragmatism, whereas handwriting fonts tend to be associated with brands that seek a friendly, approachable image.

The right font says so much about your brand, an infographic produced by branding development consultancy Creative Canary explains.

The graphic also explains the different between a font and a typeface: The typeface is what we often today call “font,” such as Arial, Courier, or Bradley Hand. But the font incorporates the typeface plus the attributes, such as the style (bold, underline, etc.) and sizing.

For example, the font you select for your brand will (or, at least, should) tell customers about your company’s ethos. Serif

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Laura Forer is a freelance writer, email and content strategist, and crossword puzzle enthusiast. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an assistant editor at MarketingProfs, where she manages infographic submissions, among other things.

No One Should Care This Much About A Corporation’s Logo I’M AS GUILTY AS ANYONE. BUT IT’S TIME TO THINK HARDER ABOUT WHAT WE GET MAD ABOUT. By Mark Wilson

After 100 years of the same thing, Lufthansa did something drastic. Horrible. Unthinkable. Did it beat up someone for refusing to leave their seat? Worse. Lufthansa changed its logo. I know. Even typing that gives me shivers. From here on out, the Lufthansa livery–that’s the fancy word for the graphic splash you see on the side of a plane–will feature the same bird medallion logo on its tail that you probably know, but instead of

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29 having a yellow background, it will have a blue background. No! Not blue! Please, not bluuuuueeeeeeeee!!!! As you would expect, people are quite upset, as people always are when logos change. But to me, these reactions have finally gone too far. Societally, we’ve reached peak logo outrage. And we could all use a better pastime. Look, I’m as guilty as anyone. From Netflix to IHOP to Bud‘Merica to Trump Pence, I’ve written many impassioned hot takes about visual branding. Occasionally, logos are so clever we just need to tell their stories. Occasionally, logos are an overtly offensive statement, and they should be changed. Occasionally, logos are just a swing and a miss. But truly crucial logo stories are few and far between. Everything else–the vast, vast, vast majority of quippy logo complaints–are armchair criticism of corporate consequence. Yes, tens of millions of people around the globe wear a Nike swoosh at any moment. But even if that Nike swoosh was redrawn with the drop shadow of a sloth taking a nap in a cloud of farts, it still won’t really matter. Nike is so big and baked into our society, it’s still gonna sell a lot of sloth fart shoes. The knee-jerk criticism might amount to something if the internet had any collective memory. But did Airbnb suddenly fold when it debuted its testes-vagina? What about Uber? Did it wither and die after its techie circuit board remake? Oh, you didn’t even remember that Airbnb and Uber updated their logos? Yeah, neither did I! After all, the single biggest indicator of a logo’s success is its recognizability, Brett Wickens, the designer of HBO’s beloved logo for The Sopranos, told me years ago. “The funny thing about identity is that it really depends on impressions,” he said. “The more different people see it, the more it becomes accepted, recognizable, and familiar–and therefore, arguably successful.” In other words, the logo reproduced the most will also be loved the most. That’s it. The golden arches are great because they’re familiar. End stop. Our collective revulsion over a small change or redesign flies in the face of that truth, and ignores the ultimate context of branding: scale. If you really want to criticize something, it should be these companies’ omnipresent brands–the visual and verbal languages that are forced upon us in an all-day onslaught, from the moment we open our eyes in the morning to when we close them at night. Look beyond logos, and you’ll notice the deeper brand systems at play, subliminally reinforcing their presence. Over the past year, companies like YouTube and Coca-Cola have turned to fonts, while Amazon, Google, and Apple use AI and voice interfaces to literally put their branded persona in your head. These possibilities are scarier than logos any day! Go on tweetstorms about fonts and bots! In the meantime, don’t worry so much about the next new logo. When you’re boarding your next transatlantic flight, Lufthansa’s livery will have nothing to do with your experience. From the design of the seats to the way its staff is trained, its brand goes much deeper than a facade. They’re what a company actually is. They’re the real brand. And they’re what you should be worried about.

Mark Wilson is a senior writer at Fast Company. He started Philanthroper.com, a simple way to give back every day. His work has also appeared at Gizmodo, Kotaku, PopMech, PopSci, Esquire, American Photo and Lucky Peach.

Why the Humble LEGO Brick, Turning 60, Is Still Clicking By Sheila Shayon

In a virtually unparalleled feat in the fickle world of kids’ toy brands, LEGO has maintained its original product to become one of the most recognizable toys in the world as it celebrates its 60th anniversary this week. Since launching in 1958, the LEGO brick has captured the imaginations of children worldwide, empowering discovery and delight “The LEGO brick changed the way that children build and play, and for 60 years has become a childhood play staple in homes around the world for generations, so we are thrilled to celebrate children’s creativity with a one-of-a-kind model designed to commemorate the occasion,” said Amanda Madore, Senior Manager, Brand Relations for LEGO Systems, Inc. “We hope that LEGO bricks continue to entice people to build their imaginations to life for many generations to come.” The LEGO Group began producing a plastic brick in 1949, but it was in 1958, that the LEGO brick known today was perfected so that two LEGO bricks produced 60 years apart still fit together. “LEGO play is powered by imagination and curiosity, and the LEGO brick is at the very heart of it – putting the bricks together and taking them apart over and over, with imagination as your only limit. This helps young minds to stay open, keep exploring and develop skills essential for the 21st century*, such as creativity, collaboration and problem solving,” added Julia Goldin, Chief Marketing Officer, the LEGO Group. The privately-held, family-owned company has HQ in Billund, Denmark, and is committed to a mantra that says: “Only the best is good enough.” LEGO currently employs nearly 20,000 people worldwide. Lego originally produced toys made from wood until a wood shortage in the wake of WWII turned he manufacture to plastic. In 1978 the mini-figurines and small LEGO men and /women were made. A decade later the brand expanded into digital with the programmable Lego Mindstorm. Its next goal is finding a sustainable form of plastic for the bricks by 2030. While many LEGO sets are linked to film releases such as

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Harry Potter and Star Wars, the essence of the original brick has endured intact for six decades. A Big Apple Celebration To celebrate the milestone, the company created a largerthan-life LEGO brick model installation at its store in New York’s Flatiron District. The 1,200-pound, 10-feet-tall version of the iconic “2×4” took Master Builders a total of 350 hours to build and poses the question to passersby, What Will You Build? Goldin summarized the company’s future vision: “All children are imaginative and begin their journey through life with incredible potential, curiosity and creativity. Playful learning experiences are important in helping children maintain this creativity and curiosity throughout life. We want to fire up the imagination of young generations to come too, and continue to inspire children to dream of worlds we’ve not yet imagined.”

Get to know LEGO: • LEGO Group founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen launched the first bricks called Automatic Binding Bricks in 1949 • Original bricks were hollow underneath, so they had limited clutch power • In 1953, the name was changed to LEGO “Mursten” (Danish for LEGO bricks) • Early LEGO bricks were available in five colors: white, red, yellow, blue and green • Six “2×4” LEGO bricks of the same color can be combined in more than 915 million ways • A stack of about 40 billion LEGO bricks would reach the moon • The molds used to produce LEGO elements are accurate to within 4my/0.004mm – less than the width of a single hair. This accuracy enables the clutch power that helps bricks stay together • LEGO bricks are now available in more than 60 different colors • There are more than 3,700 different types of LEGO elements now in production.

The Top Dos And Don’ts Of Working With Creative People OR, HOW NOT TO BE AN ASSHOLE CLIENT. By Bonnie Siegler

Whenever designers get together, we complain about difficult clients. At the same time, we love our clients. And, of course, we need our clients. Any collaboration is only as good as the relationships, which take work. I realized long ago that my difficult clients weren’t assholes or jerks or stupid. They simply didn’t know how to work with creative people, and that disconnect consistently leads to frustrations. So I decided to write a book, Dear Client, to help clients better work with creative people. Here are my top three tips:

TELL ME THE PROBLEM, NOT THE SOLUTION What a design brief should not do is suggest solutions. That’s our job. This is important to remember, because a proposed

direction or solution from a client is often difficult to forget and may serve to limit a creative team’s thinking. You don’t want anyone saying, “Oh, they want that kind of solution.” The other danger is that we’ll judge our ideas against your suggestion and self-edit, which, again, is self-defeating. Your job is simply to communicate your official collection of hopes and dreams.

DON’T SAY THIS, SAY THAT Sometimes it’s not what you say but how you say it that derails a collaboration. Bluntness, specificity, vagueness—all of it can get in the way. So . . . Don’t Say: Make it red. Do Say: I wish it were bolder and stronger. Don’t Say: Make it bigger. Do Say: I wonder what this image would look like if it were more prominent. Don’t Say: Use a handwriting font. Do Say: I like the feeling of handwriting.*

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33 Don’t Say: I hate it. Do Say: Can you explain this to me? Don’t Say: What I’m looking at makes no sense. Do Say: Can you explain why you decided on this direction? Don’t Say: Can you try again and make it different? Do Say: I wish it were . . . [whatever you wish was different]. Don’t Say: I love it [if you don’t actually love it]. Do Say: I think I really like it, but I need some time to gather my thoughts. Don’t Say: Here are the changes we want you to make. Do Say: Great effort, but there are some concerns we’d like addressed. Don’t Say: We need you to do it like this. Do Say: We are hiring you to do what you do, so please tell us how you’d like this to work. Don’t Say: What do you charge for a logo? Do Say: Here is what we are looking for and here’s our ideal timeline. Please come back to us with a proposal. Don’t Say: It’s a little job; there’s no need for a contract. Do Say: Would you like us to supply the contract or would you like to? Don’t Say: We want it to look like this. Do Say: Here are a few examples of work we like and think is relevant. Don’t Say: I’m not a fan of this typeface. Do Say: Can you show us some different type treatments? Don’t Say: We can’t pay you much, but we’ll get you great exposure. Do Say: This is how much we can pay. We hope that works for you. Don’t Say: This isn’t what I pictured, so I don’t think it works. Do Say: Let me live with this for a day or two. Don’t Say: I showed your work to my friends last night at dinner, and they didn’t like it. Do Say: I was talking to some colleagues and they brought up some issues I’d like to discuss with you. Don’t Say: We need this project to accomplish these eight goals. Do Say: This is our most important goal, but there are secondary goals we’d love to achieve as well. Don’t Say: Can you combine this version with that version? Do Say: This is what I like about this version and this is what I like about that one. What can you do with that information? Don’t Say: Have you designed aseptic baby food packaging before?

Do Say: Can you share other jobs you’ve had that are relevant to this project? Don’t Say: We like both of these ideas, so we’ll do an A/B test with them. Do Say: I like both of these ideas, but let’s go with this one. *Real handwriting is amazing and beautiful and can communicate sincerity and (sometimes) urgency. Handwriting fonts tend to do the opposite. They are clearly, ironically pretending to be something “real.” There are a few good handwriting fonts, but the tell is when each letter is exactly the same every time. That is never the case with real handwriting.

WE DON’T CARE WHAT YOUR SPOUSE THINKS The call from the client typically goes something like this: “I showed my husband/wife/partner/son/daughter/second cousin what you did—they know much more about this stuff than I do—and he/she/they thought we should go in another direction.” While we are sure that your life partner and/or progeny are wonderful people with excellent taste—and maybe even do know “more about this stuff” than you do—what you show them is likely their first interaction with the project. They haven’t read the creative brief, heard you discuss the project with us or your colleagues, had any conversations with us, or attended the meeting at which we explained our thinking. So hearing from them is more than a little frustrating. Don’t get me wrong. Their opinion is valid because it’s their opinion. Everyone has new thoughts and perspectives that come at random, even inconvenient times. (Sometimes I wake up with different solutions to projects long complete. This is not a discouragement of new ideas or directions or thoughts.) Moreover, the opinions of those close to you are even more relevant if you, the client, truly believe they have brought up interesting points. So once you discuss your loved one’s thinking with your colleagues and any other relevant stakeholders, you are welcome—even encouraged—to raise any points that survive that gauntlet with your creative professional. We ask only one thing: Don’t tell us it came from your spouse! Own it. Don’t bring up the mister or missus. Instead, explain it to us in light of the original brief and all the conversations we’ve had. Because few things are more frustrating to a creative (or anyone, I would imagine) than the idea that all our hard work—not to mention our collaboration with you, dear client—can be undone by dinner table or pillow talk. It’s maddening, and it can quickly undo the trust we’ve built together. Oh, one other thing: If you tell us that your spouse had a new idea, suggesting that we now follow this new direction, well, we now have a new de facto client. So it’s only fair that we meet with said spouse, and that he or she attend meetings going forward. Won’t that be fun for everyone?

Introducing the IAB 250-Powered by Dun & Bradstreet. Direct Brands Worth Watching By www.iab.com

We are proud to announce the first IAB 250-Powered by Dun & Bradstreet. This first-of-its-kind analysis pinpoints the most important Direct Brands to watch in the US economy. Selected through screening hard economic attributes, derived from Dun & Bradstreetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s data set of more than 290 million business records, and cultural impact provided by a variety of data sources such as site traffic, social media footprint, media mentions and more. The diverse nature of the list is ample evidence of the tidal change occurring in how brands and customers interact. Congratulations to those who made the cut.

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Advertisers say digital ad spend won’t decline, despite continued fraud HALF OF ADVERTISERS SAY AD SPEND WON’T DROP EVEN IF FRAUD ISSUES PERSIST By Ross Benes

When it comes to ad industry talking points, it’s usually wise to not overgeneralize soundbites. Over the past year, a plethora of ad industry events have been headlined by brand CMOs who threaten to quit spending money on platforms and websites that fail to fix their fraud, viewability and brand safety problems. Just this week at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB’s) Annual Leadership Meeting, Unilever CMO Keith Weed sent a veiled warning to Google and Facebook when he said that the CPG giant wouldn’t place ads on platforms that “create division” in society. The amplified demands for transparency can be traced back to the same IAB event from a year ago, when Procter & Gamble chief brand officer Marc Pritchard called out the ad supply chain for being “murky at best, and fraudulent at worst.” But recent history has shown that despite Facebook’s numerous measurement errors and YouTube’s brand safety scandals, few brands have kept their ads off these platforms. The duopoly captured more than 60% of US digital ad spend in 2017, eMarketer estimates. “We’ve seen a ton of talk around advertisers backing away from areas they’ve deemed unsafe for brands, but not many have backed out,” said Jacob Davis, head of audience planning at ad agency iCrossing. “Most advertisers aren’t the massive P&Gs or Unilevers of the world. They rely on some of the [duopoly’s ad products] and would have a hard time making up revenue and leads elsewhere.” Advertisers are skeptical that ad spend will be tamped down by the industry’s most popular perils. According to an October 2017 Warc survey of more than 600 marketing and advertising professionals worldwide, nearly half of

respondents disagreed with the notion that brands would reduce their digital ad spend if brand safety, viewability and fraud aren’t resolved. Only about a third agreed that digital ad spend will decline if these snafus continue.

Although fraud schemes and brand safety issues still proliferate throughout digital media, advertisers are in a tough spot if they want to pause their digital spend. The amount of time that people spend on their digital devices continues to increase. eMarketer estimates digital usage among US adults reached nearly 6 hours per day in 2017. To reach customers, most advertisers simply have to pour money into digital. “Advertisers would likely need to feel pain to their bottom line to make massive changes,” Davis said. “They’d need to have so much fraud or lack of viewability or backlash with association from unfavorable brand-unsafe environments to make a large change in their investment portfolio.”

Book,

Line

Sinker

Subscription Marketing: Strategies for Nurturing Customers in a World of Churn Kindle Edition

Communicate or Die: Getting Results Through Speaking and Listening Kindle Edition

By Anne Janzer

By Thomas D. Zweifel

Subscription Marketing offers creative marketing strategies for sustaining the customer relationships that build long-term success. This book is a practical guide for marketers, start-up executives, customer success management professionals, and executives of establishing businesses adopting or transitioning to a subscription-based model.

Frustrated by endless indecisive meetings, lack of alignment, mistrust, blame games, toxic colleagues, turf wars, and/or weak performance? All of these are a result of bad communication. Communicate or Die is not just a bestseller—it’s your system to be a master communicator, take charge of negotiations or conflicts—in meetings, calls, emails or texts—and rise to the top. Simply by how you speak and listen.

How to Design TED Worthy Presentation Slides: Presentation Design Principles from the Best TED Talks Kindle Edition

Strategy-In-Action: Marrying Planning, People and Performance Kindle Edition

By Akash Karia

Traditional planning no longer guarantees success. Rapid change, uncertainty, new technologies and a flatter world call for a new approach. The award-winning Strategy-In-Action shows how companies ended the long-standing divorce between planners and implementers. One saved $200m from people power, another made 74m Euro from innovation.

How to Design (and Deliver) TED-Worthy Presentation Slides is a short, practical and stepby-step guide to creating sexy slides. It is based on an extensive analysis of some of the best TED speakers, such as Brene Brown, Daniel Pink, Amy Cuddy, Larry Lessig, Seth Godin, Bill Gates and many, many more.

The Membership Economy: Find Your Super Users, Master the Forever Transaction, and Build Recurring Revenue By Robbie Kellman Baxter

By Thomas D. Zweifel,‎Edward J. Borey

Brand Identity Breakthrough: How to Craft Your Company’s Unique Story to Make Your Products Irresistible Kindle Edition

In today’s business world, it takes more than a website to stay competitive. The smartest, most successful companies are using radically new membership models, subscription-based formats, and freemium pricing structures to grow their customer base and explode their market valuation in the most disruptive shift in business since the Industrial Revolution.

By Gregory Diehl

Marketing: A Love Story: How to Matter to Your Customers

Social Media Marketing 2018: Step by Step Instructions For Advertising Your Business on Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin and Various Other Platforms [2nd Edition] Kindle Edition

By Bernadette Jiwa One of the biggest challenges we face as entrepreneurs and innovators is understanding how to make our ideas resonate. We tend to have no shortage of ideas, but we struggle to tell the story of how they are going to be useful in the world and why they will matter to people. Marketing is the way we communicate how our ideas translate to value for people in a marketplace.

In Brand Identity Breakthrough, you and your small business will learn how to develop a strong brand identity by combining your personality and values with the functionality of your products, becoming an irreplaceable brand and company.

By Noah Gray Learn Social Media Marketing by Following Step by Step Instructions and Skyrocket Your Business in 2018

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The Four Step Marketing Blueprint: The Marketing Guide Your Competition Hopes You’ll Never Find Kindle Edition

Authorpreneur: Build the Brand, Business, and Lifestyle You Deserve. It’s Time to Write Your Book Kindle Edition

By Matt Law,‎FSMC Community

By Jesse Tevelow

This short book outlines the four critical components of every successful marketing strategy. As you read, you’ll suddenly realize there are businesses all around you applying these principles. They’re quietly dominating their industries and are expanding at breakneck speed.

Are you tired of your job? Looking for something more rewarding and profitable? Have you ever thought, or been told, “You should write a book, or start a business!” Well, it’s time to give it a shot.

The Science of Likability: 27 Studies to Master Charisma, Attract Friends, Captivate People, and Take Advantage of Human Psychology Kindle Edition

KNOWN: The Handbook for Building and Unleashing Your Personal Brand in the Digital Age Kindle Edition

By Patrick King

In this path-finding book, author Mark Schaefer provides a step-by-step plan followed by the most successful people in diverse careers like banking, education, real estate, construction, fashion, and more. With amazing case studies, dozens of exercises, and inspiring stories, KNOWN is the first book its kind, providing a path to personal business success in the digital age.

100% scientific and proven ways to make friends quickly, turn enemies into friends, gain trust, and be flat-out likable. In The Science of Likability, you’ll get all that and more. I’ve taken 27 seminal scientific and psychological studies and broken them down so you can use their findings to your advantage.

Building Strong Brands By David A. Aaker In this compelling work, Aaker uses real brandbuilding cases from Saturn, General Electric, Kodak, Healthy Choice, McDonald’s, and others to demonstrate how strong brands have been created and managed. As industries turn increasingly hostile, it is clear that strong brand-building skills are needed to survive and prosper. In David Aaker’s pathbreaking book, Managing Brand Equity, managers discovered the value of a brand as a strategic asset and a company’s primary source of competitive advantage.

By Mark Schaefer

Advertising, Branding & Marketing 101: The quick and easy guide to achieving great marketing outcomes in a small business Kindle Edition By Dixie Maria Carlton This book will help you to understand the basics of business and marketing plans, branding, image, customer service and public relations so that you can grow your business through simple and smart marketing practices. Getting the basics right can make such a difference to the outcomes.

Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future Kindle Edition

Methods of Persuasion: How to Use Psychology to Influence Human Behavior Kindle Edition

By Dorie Clark

By Nick Kolenda

A step-by-step guide to reinventing you Are you where you want to be professionally? In Reinventing You, branding expert Dorie Clark provides a step-by-step guide to help you assess your unique strengths, develop a compelling personal brand, and ensure that others recognize the powerful contribution you can make.

Using principles from cognitive psychology, Nick Kolenda developed a unique way to influence people’s thoughts. He developed a “mind reading” stage show depicting that phenomenon, and his demonstrations have been seen by over a million people across the globe. Methods of Persuasion reveals that secret for the first time. You’ll learn how to use those principles to influence people’s thoughts in your own life.