We are entering the busiest fall season I can remember.  I will be on the road the entire month of October with projects taking me to Wisconsin, California, Maine, Georgia and New York!  What a great series of significant projects, that all have high impact to stretch the client beyond their norm.

I’m excited to roll out the red carpet on these new presentations:

• Sticky Identity:  A simplified approach to branding as a process

• Elite Behaviors: Reaching High Sales Performance:  Focuses on  the results of an 18 month project, interviewing top producers from three different industries.

• Transformation: The Journey From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be:  Teaches the steps of successful organizational transformation.

These presentations are delivered in a multimedia style that encourages participation, resulting in dynamic learning experiences.

I have had the honor of working on branding issues for three of my clients; bringing to the forefront the critical strategic nature of their organization’s identity.

Most organizations approach the branding issue from two distinctly different perspectives, and both are unfortunately, disastrous to the company’s true identity.

The first is the “FORTRESS” approach – This mentality is one of inflexibility and is rooted in heritage.  It has worked for us so far, so why mess with it. It affects a ton of companies and surprisingly doesn’t have anything to do with how old an organization is; instead it deals with a lack of focus. Branding simply doesn’t register as important.

The second is the “PINBALL” approach - These organizations are constantly changing their colors, logo and every other visual, and marketing aspect of their identity in an effort to find the cutting edge.  This causes a brand to become “muddy”, lack clarity, and confuse the heck out of the market.

So what is the right approach?  Think about approaching your brand from slightly different directions.  Since the brand is your identity, spend some strategic time with various leaders on the following:

• Do your stories and promises to your client align with your actions?  Authentic brands recognize the critical nature of “walking the talk” all the way from the top executives to the front line troops.
• Where does your brand connect to your market? Think of your brand as an invitation to your product and service.  Do your customers feel invited to connect to what you do or sell?
• What makes your brand “sticky”?  Sticky is a favorite buzz word in branding.  It has a simple explanation in our branding process (there’s a surprise): A customer will give any product or service a “first” chance, but what makes them come back a second time?  What stuck to their experience?  Stickiness is all about return business.  Disney is an expert at this as over 70% of their theme part guests are return visitors.

Think about your favorite brands of food, clothing, and entertainment, and apply the above.  You will be surprised how fast the answers roll off your tongue.

Spend some focused time on your brand and watch the impact!

The movie industry has made a huge comeback, reaching a new record of $4 billion in ticket sales.  The recovery is impressive when compared to the downward movie-going patterns of 2005 and 2006.  As a frequent movie-going person I am glad to see the success of the industry.  It leads to higher risk taking; a much needed aspect since sequels and old TV remakes have dominated the market.

For those of you unfamiliar with www.ted.com , bookmark it NOW.  It is your best source for cutting edge thinking in every field from technology to the arts.

Starbucks is at it again. Ken Lombard, leading the Starbucks Entertainment division, is looking for new and emerging musical artists to sign on to the private record label.  Why would a young musician sign with Starbucks?  How about 13,000 potential sales outlets, and 44 million customers a week, with most of them visiting a store 18 times a month!  Great leverage and added value to a very loyal market.

Now, mix Starbucks and iTunes and you get a promotion that will give away 50 million songs.  Between October 2 and November 11 the promotion will launch the ability to download iTunes entertainment over the Starbucks WiFi.

You know, some people are always thinking!