By Toby Stansell
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01/10/2010
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Posted in Branding
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Personalization and customization are certainly two hot themes these days. The race to provide unlimited flexibility and configurability that result in highly personalized experiences and interfaces proceeds at full song within almost every consumer and commercial product category. Somehow, however, this pervasive and passionate focus upon individual consumer wants and needs has largely bypassed the commercial uniform market.
When it comes to uniforms, one size or style definitely does not fit all. The need for a made-to-fit/made-to-order program exists on three levels. They are…
At the industry level, we discover that different types of businesses exhibit unique functional requirements, operate in varying climates and environments, and employ unique roles and positions. Grocery stores and supermarkets…
By Toby Stansell
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11/17/2009
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Posted in Branding
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As with most of these writings, my take on this topic is nothing more than a shameless attempt on my part to take an idea first put forth by one of my contemporaries and put some context around it in hopes of broadening and deepening its application in a business setting. My hope is that the appropriate application and execution of these principles helps increase your competitive advantage, growth, and profitability.
I can still remember exactly where I was when someone first introduced me to the principle of The Crooked Wire. I was in New York City visiting a firm with whom we had formed a sales and distribution alliance to address a particular segment of the corporate apparel market.…
By Toby Stansell
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10/29/2009
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Posted in Branding
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I have been guilty at times of letting large discount retailers and the prolific availability of private label merchandise convince me that the brand name itself is of less importance to the consumer today. And with the explosion of outsourcing and license arrangements making it almost impossible to know who actually designs and produces the final article for the company whose label it carries, I am always a little leery of adopting brand favorites and brand patterns in my buying habits.
I recently read an article, however, that is not only making me rethink my position, but has actually enlightened me as to how we can use the current situation to actually strengthen our brand position with our consumers.…
By Toby Stansell
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10/12/2009
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Posted in Branding
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I don’t know exactly who it was in recent weeks from whom I heard the words, “stunning clarity”… nor do I know exactly who deserves credit for originally coining this phrase, but it has definitely struck a chord with me. In the book, Five Temptations of a CEO, Patrick M. Lencioni puts forth the supposition that one temptation faced by all executive leaders is to delay time-sensitive, critical decisions because we are not certain that we have all the facts or that the facts that we do have may really not be facts at all. We have over-invested in the cliché of, “All the known facts are not all the facts.”…
By Bryan Rees
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07/20/2009
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Posted in Branding
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Matchstic is a very creative agency based in Atlanta, GA just a few hours from our office and someone I’ve followed for a few years now. The title of this post by them today caught my eye for obvious reasons. John refers to a Wired magazine article discussing the race of Google and Facebook for online domination and that they use an image of workers building a wall wearing the respective brands’ colors. We obviously think this is a great analogy, but John already said what needs to be said, so check it out.