Category: Strategy
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The World’s Best-Managed Companies Have the Same CEO: Their Customers
Customer-centric leadership is a hallmark of the world’s best-managed companies, leading to sustained success.
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WeWork & Starbucks Agree: Father Knows Best
How founder-driven decisions at WeWork and Starbucks conflict with customer-centric brand values, potentially alienating their audience.
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Find Your Constant and Pivot with Purpose
Startups succeed by anchoring each shift in a clear purpose that guides every move they make.
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Google It, Xerox It, FedEx It, Post-It: How Story Can Help Prevent Brand “Genericide”
Emotional storytelling makes well-known names meaningful — and unforgettable.
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Consumers Have the Best Bull$#!* Meters: Authenticity and Story in Brand Names
WW’s rebrand shows that a name can empower when it is rooted in a story that is honest, emotional, and true to the brand’s purpose.
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Falling in with the “Bad” Crowd
When brands fail to define their story, the wrong customers take control — reshaping their image in ways that can be hard to undo.
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Soup’s Down! How Tired Brands Can Refresh Through Story
Brands last when they evolve their “why” for a changing world.
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Why Reed Hastings Didn’t Build a Faster Horse
The best innovators don’t ask for answers — they observe, empathize, and build what customers didn’t know they needed.
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Coachella and the Art of Crafting a Timeless Story
Twenty-five thousand people gathered to watch Pearl Jam play at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California on November 5, 1993. The show originated in protest: Pearl Jam refused to play in Los Angeles due to a dispute with Ticketmaster over excessive service fees. The concert itself went off without a hitch, and Pearl Jam succeeded…
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Why Xerox Died
Xerox didn’t fail because of technology. It failed because it lost its story, while companies like IBM thrived by staying true to theirs.
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That New HQ Isn’t For You
Gilded Corporate Palaces Are the Ultimate Rejection of Customer Focus One of the nation’s most prominent tech companies is in the market for a second headquarters. They’re based on the West Coast, start with the letter “A,” and have a brand that simultaneously delights their customers and frightens their rivals: Apple. They are undergoing a…
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Put Your Customer in the Driver’s Seat
How Ford used selective customer strategy to shape its brand and why your company should too
