Business News

The difference between a value and a principle

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

It’s been a while since we talked about values. And I’ve been doing a few projects lately helping organisations look at what they are.

What is a brand?

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:35:21 +0000

I am a Brand.

SME brands I like – Sun Bookshop

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

When I lived in the US, my favourite bookstore was the Tattered Cover and it was amongst the things that saddened me to leave most; in fact, I still miss it. So you can imagine how pleased I was to stumble upon the Sun Bookshop in Yarraville not long after I arrived back in Oz.

Brand, leadership and saying no

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0000

The role of leaders within an organisation in building the brand can't be understated. I quite simply have never seen a strong and resilient brand result if it is not driven and supported by the leadership of the organisation.

Brand of the people, by the people

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:33:42 +0000

Great brands are built by people. But not just any people. They have to be the right people. Right for who? Right for your organisation. And that will be a different mix depending on what you care about and what you do (pretty much in that order).

You can only be great at one thing

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 22:56:40 +0000

A new campaign by BMW is a timely reminder that you can only be great at one thing.

The expectations vacuum

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0000

In the absence of expectations being set about what I can or can't do, it is perfectly reasonable that you as the customer or other stakeholder will apply your own expectations to the situation.

SME brands I like – Aquabumps

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 22:17:46 +0000

I'm a sucker for a great photo of anything beach-related (well, actually a sucker for anything beach-related, period). So when I stumbled across Aquabumps (@Aquabumps) I was hooked, and I am far from alone.

Let’s not talk about personal brand

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:17:40 +0000

After one too many tweets appeared in my stream using the terms personal brand and personal branding I’d had about as much as I could take and tweeted the following:

What absolute rubbish! The consumer is NOT in control

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 23:29:00 +0000

This is not the blog I was going to write.

Show me your passion!

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:58:14 +0000

If you are starting a new business, I think the key ingredient to success, more than funding, more than ideas, more than planning and strategy, is passion.

SME brands I like: Pana Chocolate

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +0000

It all started with a treat offered to me by my hairdresser. "You've got to try a piece of this chocolate," she said, almost like she was offering me some illegal substance. And, yes, it was that good.

Everyone is not your customer

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:25:11 +0000

I'm going to make it short and sweet this week. I've recently had a number of conversations with people where my brand advice to them ended with the following statement:

Not so dumb

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Something strange happened last year. Metro Trains, who are not especially known for effective communications, decided (were convinced) to make a video.

It must be love, brand love

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:00:00 +0000

It's coming up to the big daddy Hallmark holiday of the year, Valentine's Day, so it seemed appropriate to share some love.

SME brands I like: Griffin+Row

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 23:50:29 +0000

Last year I did a feature on SME brands that I like and got such great feedback I decided to make it a monthly thing.

It's time to preach evolution not revolution when it comes to brand

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 22:44:13 +0000

In the 2012 Interbrand survey of world's most valuable brands three of the top 10 have been around for more than 100 years each; three for more than 70 years each; and technology rules the day for the remaining 45 years and under, with Apple, Microsoft, Google and Intel rounding out the list.

When a foot is really 11 inches

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 21:38:22 +0000

Subway is famous for their "foot-long sub". It is one of the promises the brand stands on. They have talked about their "foot-long subs" for years. They've run ads about it. They have even trademarked the term, so we could be forgiven for expecting that the subs that carry that name would be – well, a foot long (that's 12 inches or 30.48 cm for the metrically minded amongst us).

Be "super-human" or else: Twitter, lingerie and the quest to engage

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:42:11 +0000

It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. A clever hashtag. A tweet. And then faster than you can say RT it all comes unstuck.

Measure twice and cut once

mhogan@startupsmart.com.au (Michel Hogan) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 21:36:26 +0000

Welcome to 2013.

Playing a bit of email catch-up over the past few days I came across an article from Inc. magazine. While not directly related to the topic of Brand and Promises, it triggered my thinking about today's topic.