The “Brand Activator” blog is written by members of the Stein+Partners team in New York City. The concept suggests that brand activation goes far beyond traditional marketing thinking. At its core, it involves taking a brand to an entirely different level—from building market share to new category creation, from positioning a brand for possible acquisition to restaging or redefining a mature brand. To be sure, brand activation isn’t easy. It requires rigor, creativity, and the ability to deeply understand today’s and tomorrow’s customers’ needs, wants, and behaviors. Be sure to also visit the Brand Marketing area of CMO.com for more insight into branding.
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CMO.comI came across a blog post yesterday about whether your content is really supporting your thought leadership–in other words, is it really activating your brand? It talked about the need to present bold, new ideas, take a stand with a clear point of view, reflect high-quality research, and look to the future. All good advice.
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CMO.comBefore you can state something simply, you must understand it fully. So you have to go through a process of deep analysis–reading, interviewing, and learning everything you can possibly learn about a category, brand, and target. It’s hard, and the answers are not easily apparent. And sometimes it’s not so much what you find as it is what you don’t find.
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CMO.comCliché as it sounds, we live in amazing times. Anything and everything is possible. But with all of this technology and innovation, few things really seem that amazing anymore. Think about it: When was the last time you saw something and said, “Wow!?” I mean, really-blows-your-mind-and-you-just-can’t-fathom-how-they-did-that wow?!
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CMO.comTwo weeks ago I was speaking at an event attended by dozens of very smart and accomplished digital marketers. I don't quite recall what got me to this statement, but when I said, "B2B decision makers prefer to do business with brands rather than businesses," there was a sudden stop in the room. Then many questions.
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CMO.comI’ll cut right to the chase: Activated brands must elevate the essentialness of measurement and analysis within their organizations. Yet many (most) brands simply are not there yet.
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CMO.comIn a truly inspired post of recursive storytelling at Forbes.com, SAP social media audience marketing team member Todd Wilms talks about the power of effective storytelling. In so doing, he tells a powerful story that (unexpectedly) changes the way you view SAP. Talk about brand activation through effective storytelling! This is content marketing via social media at its finest.
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CMO.comAnalysis and Measurement, Reporting, Brand Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Online Media, Branding and CommunicationsJust like face-to-face conversation, where context clues add so much to the true meaning of the discourse, marketers must absorb the full context of what's being said and who's doing the saying in social media listening, too.
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CMO.comAs the era of the AOR ebbs and marketers continue to diversify their agency rosters, we need to be flexible and collaborative as never before. Agencies are a competitive breed by nature, but it’s not just survival of the fittest anymore. It’s survival of the ones that can fit together effectively and seamlessly.
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CMO.comAgencies, Leadership, Brand Marketing, Planning, Branding and Communications, General Management, Strategic PlanningTechnology and marketing have become inextricably interwoven. Successive waves of digital evolution crash on their shores before prior waves can be fully understood and integrated into a viable, measurable mix. Yet CMOs have the accountability sword dangling over their heads. No wonder CMOs are cranky at their agencies. Yet, as I said before, it doesn’t have to be that way.
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CMO.comThe results of a recent study from the CMO Council paint a pretty ugly portrait of traditional agencies’ inability to step up to the plate to meet clients’ needs. But I believe the agency deficiencies surfaced via the study are equally reflective of marketers’ own deficiencies. I would further suggest that the dissatisfied marketers follow the old adage, “Physician, heal thyself.”
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