When Brands Can Guide Strategy and Execution

Having just read the book, HBR’s 10 Must-Reads on Strategy, that I ordered from Amazon India, I am once again reminded of how central brands are to strategy. Not merely product brand strategy, but to corporate strategy. It’s something I have been thinking about for the past couple of decades that I have been unemployed,… Continue reading When Brands Can Guide Strategy and Execution

How Market Leaders Can Sustain Growth Against New Headwinds

We have all seen many businesses scale up and grow in their early years and become market leaders. That is to say they acquire the largest market share in the industry. That continues for a few years, or perhaps even decades, until they hit some kind of roadblock. The roadblock could be of many kinds,… Continue reading How Market Leaders Can Sustain Growth Against New Headwinds

Rebrand, Refresh, Rethink – the What and Why of Change

These days, there is a lot of discussion on rebranding, brand refresh and brand rethink in the advertising and brand communications industry. Not sure that is a good sign, because ideally brands ought to be consistent in their product offerings as well as in the way they relate to consumers. In fact, an article shared… Continue reading Rebrand, Refresh, Rethink – the What and Why of Change

Let’s Get Digital Brands Growing

Regular readers of my blog probably know well by now that I don’t think the digital medium is suited to brand-building. At least not in its current form. I have written a few pieces on the subject already. And many might be wondering why I would even be remotely interested in writing about digital brands,… Continue reading Let’s Get Digital Brands Growing

How Brands Can Propel Business Strategy Forward

In my last blog post on brands, I had written about brands having the ability to affect and influence companies’ operations at the corporate level, not merely at the marketing level. That is, if brands are used to determine and guide a company’s direction. If used strategically and imaginatively well, brands might even help reinstate… Continue reading How Brands Can Propel Business Strategy Forward

Building, Managing and Measuring Brands

In one of my recent blog posts, I said I would like to read David Aaker and Kevin Lane Keller and I am glad to say that I have just finished reading Aaker’s Building Strong Brands that I ordered from Amazon. A lot of it was familiar territory to a seasoned advertising professional like me,… Continue reading Building, Managing and Measuring Brands

Between Equity and Valuations, What Brands Represent

We all talk of brand equity, especially in the advertising and brand communications industry. The Economic Times in India even has an advertising and marketing supplement called Brand Equity. What exactly do we mean, when we speak of brand equity? The term has come to encompass many aspects of a brand’s growth, from brand awareness… Continue reading Between Equity and Valuations, What Brands Represent

Building a Corporate Brand Requires a Change in Mindset

As someone who has worked in the advertising industry in India for decades, I am always surprised by how few companies think of themselves as brands. Not just in India, but across the world. The few who do, think of it in terms of slapping on a corporate logo at the end of a brand… Continue reading Building a Corporate Brand Requires a Change in Mindset

Brands Need Long-term Vision and Care

In addition to my last blog post in which I had shared five of my presentations on the building blocks of brand development, I thought it might make sense to explore other aspects of brand-building as well. I have been thinking about these subjects for many years, while observing developments in the advertising and marketing… Continue reading Brands Need Long-term Vision and Care

How Jaguar Land Rover Can Build its Corporate Brand

Sometime last year, I had shared my thoughts and ideas on how corporate brands can enable renewal, and in that context, I had shared my thoughts on a corporate branding strategy for Jaguar Land Rover in a blog post. An important part of that branding strategy was to bring together Jaguar and Land Rover as… Continue reading How Jaguar Land Rover Can Build its Corporate Brand