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Tag: Strategy

Thoughts on Creating a Strategic Narrative: Interview with Strategist Sara Gaviser Leslie

Posted on by Chris Ames

At Emotive Brand, we’re blessed with an incredibly diverse pool of talented individuals. Our team comes from the management consulting world, branding agencies, technology industry, advertising and everything in between. Each of these viewpoints brings something new to the table. In this post, Sara Gaviser Leslie discusses how her background as an analyst makes her a better writer and the importance of creating a strategic narrative  for brands.

You’re a bestselling author, executive communications consultant, strategist, analyst, and storyteller all wrapped up in one. Can you walk us through that journey?

I started at a small consulting firm, where I’d go to companies and help them develop their business. It was right of college, and though I didn’t exactly love the work, I loved going to companies. Being able to observe different environments and see why people do what they do was fascinating.

I did that for a couple years before working with a venture fund in Tel Aviv. It was a busy time in the country when the technology center was exploding, and tons of businesses were based in little apartments and garages. Again, I loved discovering what people we’re doing and the energy of those early stages.

I got involved in finance and public equities in San Francisco. In managing portfolios for institutions, you start to become very good at selling the story of the company. You learn the difference between what makes a good company vs. a good stock. You get to go behind the curtain and see how they work.

Seeing so many different environments in a short amount of time, I just started asking tons of questions — Why are some successful? What makes a great management team? How do they make money? What contributes to their successes?

How does being an analyst help you be a better writer and strategist?

It was at Stanford that I started to connect these different fields in my head. It all comes down to how to structure a great story. I remember seeing a colleague who was supposed to give a 30-minute presentation and she had this 280-slide deck she wanted to run through. As an analyst, so much of your job is trying to figure out what’s happening in this big market and then distill that down in a way that resonates with an audience. It needs to be clear and memorable. Storytelling is the same thing.

For me, it boils down to three things:

  1. Who is your audience?
  2. What do they believe?
  3. What do you want them to believe?

Once you have that, you can start to create a strategic narrative.

What do you think the corporate strategic narrative today needs to address?

The big thing we always need to address is: Why should we care? It sounds simple but it’s easy to forget. You get so focused on your own company and messaging that you forget to create that emotional connection with the audience. People won’t buy if they’re not listening, and they won’t listen if they don’t care.

What are the most common problems businesses have in telling their story?

When beginning to develop a strategic narrative, I’d say the biggest problem is trying to appeal to everyone as opposed to saying, “This is a specific market we’re going after.” Don’t try to do everything, try to build out a small market. That type of thinking poses a risk that companies don’t want to take. There’s so much sameness out there: people have their brand and they think they are living the brand and that’s enough.

I believe in questioning assumptions. For instance, when State Street Global Advisors commissioned the “Fearless Girl” statue in front of the “Charging Bull” statue on Wall Street. That’s an amazing example of showing who you are that takes a risk.

Is there such a thing as story overload? Do even practical, utilitarian products need to tell a story?

We don’t have to know the full story behind everything, you only need to see the top of the iceberg. When you see a billboard for a product, you’re not seeing the internal messaging exercise, the brainstorming, the revisions, the creative tension — you just see the top. Every brand doesn’t need to have an exhaustive narrative, just some flavor or manifestation of their story to cut through the noise. Every company needs to have something they agree on, some reason for being. Your core values are your story.

Given your varied past, what’s your future look like?

I’m constantly reinventing myself — that’s what makes life interesting to me. I have a background in speechwriting. Once I needed to write a 20-minute eulogy for a partner to deliver about his late colleague. The process was fascinating and I enjoyed getting to know this person, what they cared about, the stories they told. In a way, It’s tied to everything else I’ve done as an analyst and storyteller. I love the process of capturing someone’s personality and sharing that in a meaningful way.

To learn more about developing a corporate strategic narrative, visit our client case studies.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy and design agency.

Checking In: One Month of Strategic Writing at Emotive Brand

Posted on by Chris Ames

Chris Ames has now officially been with Emotive Brand for one month – who knew he’d make it this long?– and as a new writer in the branding world, we wanted to see what he’s learned thus far. In this post, Chris talks about the importance of strategic writing and shares some advice that he’d give to other young creatives looking to break through in marketing and branding.

What has been your biggest surprise so far?

The sheer amount of strategy, planning, and forethought that takes place before even a single external word is written has been impressive and humbling. As a writer, I tend to create a giant block of content and slowly chip away until it’s refined, but it’s fascinating to see the inverse process: creating target audiences, customer journeys, language guidelines, mood boards, manifestos, rallying cries, narratives…and then beginning to write.

Until I worked here, I never realized the importance and power of internal documents for brands. Most of the work I’ve created so far is inward-facing. And though the initial audience might be small, it has the potential to act as a microphone for how brands not only articulate themselves in the marketplace but how employees communicate with each other on a personal level.

Any challenges?

I think an early decision writers must make with clients is choosing what your biggest strength is going to be: voice or versatility. When you hire me, is it because you want your copy to sound like me, or because I can sound like whatever you need? Especially when you’re working with tech companies or startups that have a jargon-heavy lexicon, it can be a game of linguistic tug-of-war. In a perfect world, you can meet the tone of the client and still retain that undercurrent of charm. Knowing when to mute your own voice is a good life skill in general, and I’m sure I still have a long way to go.

How does this writing differ from your previous job at a creative studio?

At my previous job, it was a volume game: how much content can I possibly create for you in the shortest amount of time? I worked very much in a silo, and the only real editor was the deadline. Here, everything is much more deliberate, collaborative, and there is an economy of words. Instead of chasing word counts, it’s more like: can you create one perfect, muscular sentence that’s strong enough to carry an entire campaign? Which, at first, seems easier. But it’s totally that Mark Twain– “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead”– kind of thing. Simple is hard. Short takes a long time.

What advice would you give to young creatives entering the field of branding and marketing?

Reading books, especially written by people from a different background or perspective than your own, makes you a more empathetic person, and empathy is probably the strongest tool to wield in the workplace. Yes, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another will make you a better brander, but it will also just make you a better human being.

I’d also add, don’t waste your time in toxic work environments. There are tons of businesses looking for young creatives to drive into the ground because they don’t know any better. You might think that because you don’t have a ton of experience, you need to put yourself through hell as a rite of passage. The truth is your fresh eyes are actually a huge advantage. The whole reason brands hire outside agencies in the first place is because they’re seeking an outside perspective. Find an agency that’s excited about your new ideas and willing to embrace a fresh perspective, instead of looking to punish you for not having 10 years of experience under your belt.

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy and design agency.

Positioning Strategy for High-Growth Tech Companies

Posted on by Tracy Lloyd

High-Tech Companies Have Banished the Word Brand Strategy

I’m not sure when it happened. I only know it has. Brand strategy is no longer something the tech world is asking for. Well, let me be clear, they are still asking for it, they just aren’t using the term brand strategy. Positioning strategy is the new brand strategy, at least for high-growth companies where time is of the essence.

I’ve felt the shift first hand. As a co-founder of an agency, I’m the person who takes the incoming calls from prospects looking for an agency. It used to be that I would patiently listen for the words “brand strategy” to qualify a prospect. But over the past three years, I’ve heard that term less and less. Instead, prospects are using other terms to describe their most pressing business problems. It just took me a while to really understand what was happening and why.

The Factors I See at Play in a Desire for Positioning Strategy

1. Agile has become a way of doing business. Marketers need things fast. They want quick wins as they look to test new ideas in the market, prove that they work, and implement them quickly and successfully.

2. Competition in technology has never been as fierce as it is now. The rate of disruption and innovation that is happening is amazing. But with that comes the difficulty of keeping pace. It comes down to differentiating, getting to market first, and, if you make it, staying ahead.

3. Data drives everything. If you can’t prove a project has a strong ROI, it won’t happen. Iterating and testing strategy and ideas has never been more important. There is no harder role than being a CMO right now. And any CMO or marketer in today’s world needs to prove a strong ROI in the work they are doing, especially when outsourcing to an agency.

4. Valuation is critical to any high-growth company. Being in the wrong category can derail even the best tech company from achieving their vision of a successful exit. This is top priority for almost any high-growth business, whether it’s a startup or a publicly-traded technology company.

5. Positioning has never been so top of mind for leadership teams. It is where the rubber hits the road. Every successful brand needs to be strongly positioned in the market to thrive.

6. Strategy is no longer enough to shift a business or brand. Marketers are looking for strategy AND the assets needed to implement in market ASAP. They just don’t have the team or the time to figure it out internally. They need both strategy and activation.

These are the factors that have shifted the landscape of what leadership teams and marketers are looking for to help their business thrive, to help their brand be more meaningful, to hire and retain top talent, and to realize their purpose and vision.

What are high-growth businesses looking for today?

High-growth businesses are looking for ways to make the biggest impact in the shortest amount of time. It’s about strategies  to help scale their business. Quick wins that can prove ROI for larger investment. And strategies gain better valuations. They are looking for the magic bullet.

I believe that in B2B and high-tech, brand strategy has now become the following things:

  • Defining the right category – developing a new one or moving to a different one
  • Positioning Strategy to ensure you are perceived in the right space, associated with the right competitors, envisioned by your target audience in the right ways
  • Creating a narrative to align your corporate strategy, vision, and why you matter to all of your stakeholders, internal and external
  • Messaging that resonates, that blends the rational and emotional in ways that differentiate and support both marketing and sales teams as they drive revenue and build brand
  • Websites that deliver the value proposition, convert leads, articulate the story, differentiate, and help any prospective buyer or employee see why you matter

Positioning Strategy

So, while marketers are not asking for brand strategy in the way they used to, they are still asking for it. In many ways its easier because they are asking for it in ways that address their most pressing business issues. Demanding it in sprints, delivered in ways that are actionable. They need strategy and the tools to launch that strategy in market, but it is still brand strategy.

It doesn’t matter what terminology is being used it. Whether it’s brand strategy or a small component of it, being a good partner is being able to adjust to the needs of prospects – meeting them where they are at, delivering what will impact their business. When they win, so do we.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco strategy firm.

Naming a New Brand Category is Harder Than it Looks

Posted on by Paige Lansing Valle

Failed category labels are laughable. Before there were snowboards, there was snurfers. PDA phones preempted smartphones. Charga-plates rolled out before credit cards took their place. It seems obvious now why each current category name is so much stronger than its predecessor. But missing the mark with category naming is a mistake that’s easy to make.

In our last post about how to define a new category, we left off with what is most commonly considered the fun part of strategy: naming. If you’ve gotten this far, you’ve identified that your existing category isn’t serving your brand’s needs. You’re ready to make a shift and have accepted the risk of creating a new category. And, you’ve appropriated the time and budget necessary to do so.

What’s in a name?

Category names make it easy for people to familiarize themselves with products and brands. They help people make choices and create loyalty. They set expectations about why brands belong. When a category name resonates, it paves the way for brands to develop meaningful connections with people.

When developing a new category, it’s tempting to come up with a catchy, quirky, or unique category name. Everyone wants to differentiate and make a mark. It can seem, understandably, that developing a category name that grabs attention will help your brand stand out too. But that’s not the case. Names that aren’t recognizable create confusion and uncertainty for customers. When the category name isn’t immediately clear, the brands and products it represents become muddied in those waters.

As we described in a previous post, people need context to grab onto something new. The framework your category creates sets the stage for your innovative product to become the category leader. But that also depends on the name being something that people understand without explanation. What the heck is a snurfer? No one knew. But snowboard is easy. Anyone who surfs or skates immediately gets it. And, it was no coincidence that when Burton coined “snowboard” they were going after surfers and skaters as a target audience.

Simplicity is Key

When it’s time to create your new category name, choose one that’s simple and recognizable. There are a few ways to go about it:

  • Two Known Words: Credit Card, Data Center, Sports Drink
  • Compound Name: Automobile, Bicycle, Laptop
  • Derive a New Word from an Existing Word: Browser, E-commerce

The timing of a category launch should influence which direction the name should go. If your product is truly innovative — with nothing on the market that compares — the category name should be a riff off an existing product. In this case, using two known words or joining them into one would be ideal. But if your brand is joining a group of products that are currently on the market, the category should confirm and validate behavior (people were already browsing the internet so coining ‘browser’ made sense).

When there isn’t a dominant category name, different labels make it difficult for any brand to gain traction. Most people stay within a comfort zone and too many options lead people to ignore the category all together. A name represents the ‘rules of membership’ — the specific characteristics that the products within the category must have in order to belong to the category. Once a name achieves dominance, people know what to expect and the brands within its umbrella follow suit. In our next post on defining a category, we’ll share tips on how to get buy-in on your new category name with important users, innovators, and industry commentators to help ensure a successful roll-out.

This is the 3rd in a series. Check out When to Create a New Brand Category, How to Create a New Brand Category, and what goes into Launching a New Brand Category.

Download our White Paper on Brand Category Creation.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy firm.

Feel the “Good Burn” of a Strategy that Surprises

Posted on by Carol Emert

Get out of Your Comfort Zone

How do you feel about the brand strategies your agency is producing?

Good?

Comfortable?

If that’s the case, those strategies may not be doing as much for you as they can. Staying in your comfort zone strategically is about as impactful as staying in your comfort zone at the gym. If excellence is your aim, you’ll only get there by feeling the burn.

Of course, a bad strategy will make you uncomfortable too. So how do you know when a strategy is pushing your brand uncomfortably toward excellence?

Here Are Three Components of a Feel-The-Burn Strategy:

1. Information that Surprises

Every company has its own well-socialized story about who it is and what it’s about. Your branding agency needs to respect your story, but also needs to look outside — to broader trends in culture, technology and business; to your competitors; to your customers. It may go looking places you never expected.

At Emotive Brand, we recently discovered that a client’s key rival had withdrawn from an important segment of its market – essentially removing the client’s last direct competitor. As a result, we were able to push the bounds of its positioning and define our client as truly unique – something the client had neither known nor expected.

That’s what you call a good burn – and it comes from the agency being in the marketplace, pushing beyond the obvious and digging for the nuggets that truly differentiate.

2. Insights That Uncover New Opportunities

Information is great, but insights can be even more effective at differentiating your brand.

It’s your agency’s job to understand not just your customers’ obvious needs, but also the unmet needs they haven’t yet articulated.

A well-honed insight-finding instinct can both identify emerging opportunities and position you in a unique way to take advantage of them.

Such insights will inevitably be a surprise, and that may send you out of your comfort zone. Emerging opportunities naturally feel riskier than the tried-and-true. But they also provide an opportunity for greater reward. And that makes them a good burn.

3. Storytelling That Propels You Into Orbit

The factual story that your agency unearths is one thing; how it’s told is another chance for you to either push the bounds or settle for the merely comfortable.

Brand storytelling goes beyond the facts. It should convey the very energy and vitality of your organization. You should be able to feel the truth of it in your heart and your gut. It should make everyone around you feel proud and inspired. Your most valued employees should read it and start auto-deleting headhunter In-mails without a second thought.

And, yes, sometimes it’s uncomfortable to feel your feet lift off the ground and move toward a higher plane. A more predictable word choice, a more pedestrian idea might be easier. But just like at the gym, there will be a rich payoff for feeling the good burn of a truly elevating brand story.

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy and design firm.

Liberate Your Leader

Posted on by Tracy Lloyd

In the movies, we always cheer for the regular Jane or Joe who looks Big Bad Leader in the eye and tells it like it is, rather than how Big Bad Leader likes it. Then, of course, Jane or Joe is exiled to the ends of the earth as punishment .

This is known as “killing the messenger.”

History says that angry rulers sometimes killed messengers who brought bad news because they could not separate the news from the person who brought it. Obviously these rulers were bonkers, but the concept of “killing the messenger” never went away.

The phrase lives on today in organizations with hierarchical structures. Often people hesitate to tell their boss certain things because they believe the boss will hold them responsible. That’s why you see this story line in books and onscreen – it’s common enough to be believable.

Don’t believe in it. Instead, seize the opportunity.

In real life, the ‘Big Bad Leader’ is hardly ever as angry, dumb, and mean as in the movies. People have to be fairly smart and aware to rise high in corporate structures. Or they have to win at least some friends in high places. Nut-jobs who kill the messenger do not fit this description.

That being said, it’s true that powerful people in corporations can have their blind spots. We all do. These arise based on how we think and what we know. We can be smart as a whip and yet still unable to see the whole picture. The more successful a person is in business – meaning the more times they’ve been right – the more likely it is they can forget their own limitations. Certain topics become difficult to raise. Certain ideas get ruled out. No one wants to take a hit for speaking out.

After a while, subordinates take the leader’s blind spots for granted, and they become institutional. Now the whole team, or organization, has the same limitations.

If you see this happening, what can you do?

You can bring in someone who, by definition, has a different perspective. Someone the leader knows is not captive to the organization or its internal dynamics. Leaders especially like talking to people who talk to other leaders, and can provide inside information about their thinking.

At Emotive Brand we often take this role. Our clients usher us into the boardroom for a conversation with their ‘Big Leader’, after warning us about all the taboos and fixed ideas we are going to run into. The conversation begins. Soon the taboo topics come up – but in a new context that changes everything. The fixed ideas take on new flexibility. Paths that were supposedly blocked become avenues to explore.

There is a palpable moment where this shift takes hold, and it is one of the coolest things in corporate life. Everyone at the table is liberated into a bigger, more interesting space with refreshed creativity and possibility.

There are some secrets to pulling this off, but the main thing is experience. We have been in a lot of C-suites and  worked with a lot of different personalities. We know how to illuminate a leader’s blind spots without challenging his/her authority or intelligence, and how to win the confidence of a proven winner even as we challenge him/her to play a new game.

Maybe leaders still kill the messenger now and then, but they don’t kill their liberators.

Emotive Brand is a strategy firm.

How Culture Brings Strategy to Life

Posted on by Saja Chodosh

Culture and Strategy

Business, culture and strategy can work harder for companies but how?  For many businesses, company culture and strategy exist in two different worlds. They take on separate conversations and are designated as separate leadership and separate budgets. And although many executives today realize that both culture and strategy drive their business, they fail to link the relationship between the two. But not grasping how strategy and culture can work together means both become less impactful.

More Connected Than You Think

There are many misconceptions about what company culture really means and, as a result, what its true value is to a business. Some dismiss culture as an ‘HR-only issue’ or address it as the ‘fluff’ of what a business really is. What they don’t realize is that company culture is one of the most integral drivers of long-term success, sustained growth, and competitive advantage.

Because company culture is often undervalued, when we see companies struggling, HR departments are often the first to have their budgets cut. And even when smart companies allocate funds towards building a stronger strategy, many dismiss culture as part of this conversation – leaving HR leaders out of the conversation.

This is a mistake. Without focusing in on employees and building a cohesive, strong culture, even the strongest strategy can’t really come to life. In the end, your people are the ones who bring a strategy alive. And so no brand strategy is really strategic without making company culture part of the discussion.

Culture Can Bring a Strategy to Life

In order to get your brand strategy out of a presentation deck and living in your business, you need motivated, inspired, aligned, and vision-driven people. People who are strategically in-pace, clear about the brand, and directed towards a shared vision.

In the end, culture can make or break a strategy – giving it an environment to thrive in or die in. Here’s how a focus on culture can help bring a strategy to life.

Greater Focus and Alignment Around the Vision

Although the first step of a successful strategy is getting leaders aligned around a shared purpose, it doesn’t end there. Everyone within the business – from the higher-ups to the new hires — has to be driven towards the same vision. It starts with the leadership but needs to trickle down. Without everyone on board, business goals and objectives will float further and further out of reach.

When businesses get smart about sharing their strategy, giving new voices a place at the table, and finding exciting, innovative ways of getting their employees on board, the strategy thrives. It’s important that employees feel clear about what the strategy means for their business and their own personal work. What changes? What is there to get excited about? What is everyone driving towards? How does a new strategy change the culture? What are the specific behavior changes within the workplace that reflect this new strategy? These are all questions that require transparency and that need to be addressed.

When the whole company is united around a shared vision and clear about how to get closer and closer to that vision, the business becomes more focused, more efficient, more inspired, more productive, and in the end, more impactful. With culture and strategy – together — driving it forward.

More Consistency and More Collaboration

When culture becomes a part of the strategic conversation, recruiting and retaining employees who are going to have the most impact on your business becomes easier. And finding the right fit and keeping people motivated, happy, and inspired becomes more of a reality.

When you’re clear about the kind of people who are going to drive your business into the future, and help shape the culture you want to build, collaboration flourishes, innovation thrives, and creativity rockets. Employees feel empowered because they are clear and excited about living the brand every day. The strategy comes to life through employees who come together and instill the emotional impact in target audiences, bring the brand promise alive, and keep business moving forward every day.

Culture and Strategy Working Together

Brand strategy has a very direct connection to the issue of culture change. When culture becomes a part of the strategic conversation, and employees gain clarity around why the brand matters and why their business is different, they behave in ways that are aligned strategically with the values, vision, and aspirations of the company. Coming together with a shared focus is what puts that strategy into play, and allows businesses to outperform the competition and position themselves for success. 

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy and design agency.

Does Brand Strategy Translate Into Advertising?

Posted on by Paige Lansing Valle

Brand Strategy is the Foundation for Advertising

One of the misconceptions about brand strategy and advertising is that they are disconnected. As a result, many brands create ads that are off-strategy because they don’t use their brand strategy as a guide. But brand strategy is the foundation for advertising.

At Emotive Brand, the most rewarding part of developing a brand strategy with clients is when we see the strategy come to life. A B2B brand strategy inspires powerful website messaging. An employer brand turns into a rock solid manifesto. A B2C brand strategy translates into a compelling advertisement campaign.

In the end, strategy gives businesses the infrastructure it needs to be successful with internal and external marketing. But successfully turning a strategy into an outward facing campaign isn’t easy. It takes gumption, and not all organizations are agile enough to quickly translate and execute their new brand strategy. In order to succeed, you have to be savvy, confident, and agile as a brand. And, you have to committed to your strategy.

Magoosh: A Case Study

When Magoosh, a longtime client, approached us about helping produce a HULU commercial, we didn’t hesitate. Magoosh is a model client. They not only developed a powerful brand strategy, but have stuck to it with great success. As a result, their business has had tremendous growth this year, solidifying their already strong reputation and foothold with the competition.

The goals of the commercial were straightforward: drive brand awareness forward and test HULU as an advertising platform. However, developing concept and creative for a commercial is not usually a quick process. Filming and editing can be laborious, and Magoosh had a very quick turnaround deadline. They wanted to roll-out the commercial in time to capture their peak sales season: about a month away. The real and apparent challenge was time.

That’s where the importance of a solid brand strategy became paramount. Because Magoosh had a very clear idea of its target audience, its key messages, its look and feel, voice, and story, the impossible deadline wasn’t nearly as daunting as it might normally be. In fact, having these strategic elements in place already was key to their future success.

Staying True to the Brand

 Advertisements that have the foundation of a strong strategy help the brand ring true at every touchpoint. To stay true to the brand and develop a story that felt authentic, we didn’t have to look far for talent. Magoosh had a team of spirited, confident, positive (and good looking) people on deck who were more than willing to help.

These people truly believed in the brand, and as a result, pulling together a cast of employees and real Magoosh students who could speak to the product was easy. Online test prep really does change the lives of the people who use it. For some this means making dream schools realities. For others it means exceeding score expectations or overcoming personal challenges. Because of the nature of the brand, positive testimonials were abundant. And featuring people who believe in the brand helped make the commercial that much more compelling. Their energy and passion was tangible.

The Best Advertising Connects People to People

It’s no question that human brands are winning. In an age of increasing digitization and consumers who see hundreds of ads a day, brands have to truly connect with the people who matter to their business. People will always seek brands that help them succeed. Brands that help to enrich or improve lives have the strongest and most powerful stories to tell. For Magoosh, creating a compelling ad meant connecting ‘Magooshers’ (as we nicknamed their staff and customers) to the people they help. The ad’s story used ‘Magooshers’ to speak directly to the needs of customers – flexibility, convenience, and results – in an emotive way, bringing the heart of their brand to life.

Consistency is King

Even amidst the common challenge of time, translating a brand strategy into advertising should be seamless if all the pieces (voice, look and feel, messaging) are in place. And developing an ad that connects people to people is made easier when the product really does impact people’s lives in a powerful way. The trick is to tell an authentic and compelling story that rings true across all points of engagement. Advertising is never a one-off. So develop an advertising campaign that pushes the strategy across multiple touch points. The message will become stronger. Awareness will heighten and your modes of measuring traction will increase. With a solid brand strategy in place, your advertising campaign is ready to roll.

Emotive Brand is a San Francisco brand strategy agency.

 

An Industry Leader’s Perspective On Meaningful Businesses Strategies

Posted on by Tracy Lloyd

Meaningful Businesses

John Mackey is a capitalist. He founded Whole Foods and turned it into a massive operation, with over 350 stores. Along the way, he came to realize something about business: its purpose goes beyond profits. This idea is about building meaningful businesses.

As the founder of Conscious Capitalism Inc., and the author of Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business, 
John Mackey is a fierce proponent of a new and more meaningful way of doing business. Conscious Capitalism is “an idea, a movement, an approach to conducting business, and an organization dedicated to advancing all of these. Conscious Capitalism exists to elevate humanity. Conscious Capitalism comes to life as it is applied to businesses, non-profits, and organizations that practice Conscious Capitalism.”

Continue reading “An Industry Leader’s Perspective On Meaningful Businesses Strategies”

Is Your Company Primed for Sustained Growth?

Posted on by Taylor Standlee

Growth is always good. But sustained growth is always better.

It’s not just a matter of a stronger will or more ambition. Sustained growth companies are more agile, more resilient, and more innovative. Our work with a group of mid-market clients, along with a growing body of academic research, indicates the companies who enjoy sustained growth have embraced their purpose, and have built a culture and a set of practices that “live it”.

Purpose sharpens vision, inspires teams, and empowers people. Purpose helps every person find fresh ways to think differently, to see how market dynamics can be used to their advantage. Data show that people, teams, and whole companies working with purpose outperform in the present even as they build for the future.

Purpose is incredibly powerful when it is integrated into strategy and inculcated into culture. It enables companies to overcome three essential challenges to growth in turbulent times.

Optimizing for Now and Next

Purpose helps companies refine the present,move past old ideas, take action, and reshape the markets of tomorrow.

Getting the Best Talent and the Best from Talent

A strong and visible purpose helps find and retain new top talent while inspiring existing team members to out-think, out-do, and outperform the competition.

Building a Mid-Market Brand that Attracts and Retains Customers

Purpose helps companies own more relevance and achieve greater resonance in the minds of their target markets. It links rational attributes and benefits to the brand’s positive impact on people, society, and the world.

We’ve captured our learnings and observations in a white paper entitled Purpose: The Pathway to Sustained Growth. We hope you’ll discover more about why purpose matters and how you can leverage your authentic purpose to grow your business.

Download White Paper

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy firm helping the mid-market CEO’s and their business thrive.