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The Brand Evolution

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Let's talk about "brand." I would be hard-pressed to find a subject that is as misunderstood as is branding. This confusion is easy to understand since the term "brand" has evolved to mean different things over time. Many marketers cite the first brand as being that used by ranchers to identify their cattle. I argue that - although it wasn't called a brand back then - the seals used by nobility on their correspondence may have been an earlier use of branding. The branding of cattle or use of royal seals gave "brand" a physical presence, which has carried on in the minds of some today who believe that a brand is nothing more than a logo. The next stage in branding evolution came along when corporations began creating their brands. They they owned their corporate reputations. Most of the rest of us had little evidence to disprove them and took it at face value that they were what they said they were. Today, with the onset of digital a...
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Engage. Empower. Energize.

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When I worked at the Province of Nova Scotia, I was part of a team that launched the first survey to measure how engaged provincial employees were. The survey measured staff opinions and perceptions in 10 areas: teamwork, communication, employee involvement, quality of work life, leadership, compensation and recognition, personal growth, diversity, safety and security, and recruitment and retention. (You can find out more about this and subsequent surveys here .) Prior to and during my time at the province, I had often been the go-to person for employee communication programs and had  been an advocate of good employee communication practices. This was because none of my PR colleagues thought employee communication was exciting enough. I didn't agree. I thought if organizations were going to say that employees are their most valuable resource, they should show it and I was excited about the possibilities of this work. The experience with the employee surveys, however, gave m...
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How to build a great slide

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Watching a presentation the other day (and hoping my loss of consciousness didn't show on my face) I was reminded of the need for people to know what makes a great presentation. It all starts with a great slide. Why do we use slides? Basically, because we humans have poor memories and even worse concentration. Slides are to used to engage another sense (vision) in addition to hearing to increase the audience's attention and retention. Although there are a lot of different numbers out there, experts seem to agree that you will remember a very small percentage of what you hear (about 10 per cent), about 20 per cent of what you read and about 80 per cent of what you see. That's why a visually arresting slide makes you and your presentation much more effective. How to create a great slide Unless someone gives you a set amount of slides (a completely inane practice), don't worry about the number of slides in your deck. The number of slides has absolutely ...
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