What’s in a name? Mercedes was named after the daughter of a business partner. Acclaimed make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury is the face and name of her beauty brand. Cisco is a derivative of the city of San Francisco, where the company originated from. Spotify is a made-up, portmanteau word combining ‘spot’ and ‘identity’. Unsurprisingly perhaps,…
As marketers, we relentlessly focus on putting forward the best public image of the brands we represent. We attempt to attract consumers by pitching the virtues of an ideal, must-have solution that taps in to vulnerabilities. We pitch products as the be-all, end-all answer to our needs… the ideal tech gadget, the ideal job, the…
There’s a tried and tested brand formula I use when I start any new job. I ask the people who are part of my onboarding to describe what the company does in under a minute. I do this because; a) it’s a fun exercise, and b) it helps me gauge the vernacular employees use to…
On a recent LinkedIn thread, my very talented ex-colleague (and friend) Andjela Kusmuk brought up the topic of interpersonal communication in the workplace. In the context of giving feedback to others, she talked about the imposition often placed on women, describing her experience of being labelled “irritable”, “difficult” or even “aggressive” when being direct, refusing…
In the 80’s, two of my most favourite TV shows were Japanese. Saiyūki or ‘Monkey Magic‘ as it was more commonly known in Australia, was a fantastical series produced by Nippon TV, based on a 16th century Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West‘. It melded eastern mysticism, with absurd storylines and comical martial arts scenes,…
If there can be such a thing as a silver-lining to this pandemic, it’s the soul searching we’ve had to face up to as consumers. The complete change of lifestyle born out of lockdown restrictions has not only forced us to question our own mortality, but evaluate every part of our ‘before times’ behaviours. It…
Mother’s Day is a difficult time of the year for me—as it is for many others. For all the years I’ve spent living in the UK, I’ve had a regular reminder of my loss that hits me two-fold; once on the first Sunday in May, when the vast majority of the world acknowledges the role…
On the eve of the 2020 U.S presidential election, it’s nigh impossible to predict who will come out victorious when the world begins to stir come Wednesday morning. The incumbent – an infantile narcissist of a man who’s built a rabid following off the back of polarizing rhetoric, is pitted against an experienced, yet somewhat…
I’ve spoken a lot about personal branding in my posts. But one of the areas I haven’t really explored is the connection between the brand you build and how this lends itself to being a role model for others. There’s been plenty of talk this week regarding Serena Williams’s post-pregnancy comeback. And so there should…
Arranged by a headhunter, I was having my first ‘getting to know you’ session with the CEO of a tech start-up. He was looking to appoint a marketing leader, and all the omens signaled them as the next big thing in the world of pre-IPO startups. To say I was interested would be an understatement….