Alan M. Siegel's Blog, page 128

Taking the leap: energy brands leading the future

Energy companies get a lot of bad stick.

The largest issue facing the energy sector is that they are held accountable for polluting and inconveniently warming mother Earth. Rising seas, the loss of land for the beautiful polar bears. People forget that energy companies enable the ease of modern life. How much better has life been since we could fly the skies? Switch on a light bulb? Hit the road Thelma and Louise style?

As someone who cares deeply about the state of our planet, my own views were pleasantly expanded on a recent visit with an energy client.

Remember Handwriting? A simple way to make a big impression

It’s no surprise that in an increasingly digital age, handwriting is rapidly becoming scarce. We’re not only losing a language skill and form of communication, but an important human experience.

As we’re coming upon the season for love letters, I looked into special gestures you can make should you feel like pushing your keyboard aside and getting out a paper and pen.

Books on branding: Power Branding and what great brands teach us

Much has been written about branding over the last few years, ranging from the conceptual to the fundamental, including the technology-driven approach of Big Data. There are many layers to the often ambiguously defined practice of branding, but there is commonality among all this writing and research – understanding how to communicate better with today’s evolving consumer across many channels of media. In short, knowing what are the best platforms of communicating and what messages should be delivered to the customer.

I had a chance recently to attend a talk given by Steve McKee about his new book Power Branding – Leveraging the Success of the World’s Best Brands, being published this year by Palgrave/Macmillan.

A name change for Dow Chemical? My advice: Be brave

Which organization comes to mind when you read the following mission statement?

“Combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate
  what is essential to human progress.”

Is it maybe a touchy-feely startup? Or a do-good NGO? Or, if you’re cynical, a vanity VC project with a vapor-ware core?

None of the above. It’s The Dow Chemical Company.

The demise of bookshelves and personal brand identity

We all know about the role of brands and brand identities for companies and products. When we refer to brand identity, we mean the visible elements of that brand that together identify and distinguish it in consumers’ minds.

A person is also a brand of sorts, each with his or her unique brand identity. Similar to companies, our personal identities are the visible elements of our selves that distinguish us in people’s minds.

It seems to me that these days it’s getting harder for us to hang on to these visible elements.

Snapshots from Copenhagen

Photo highlights from a winter walk through Copenhagen from associate creative director Mads Jakob Poulsen.

Anne Swan on how to be relevant, authentic and true: A video interview

Recently, our global creative director of consumer brands, Anne Swan, was interviewed by True about how to make brand experiences authentic, clear and compelling.

For an in depth exploration of these subjects, check out Anne’s interview and watch the videos here.

Simplicity in the Small Things: Three Ways Large Airports Can be Inspired by Their Smaller Counterparts

Consumers are after everything bigger—from houses to cars to to our waistlines, but a recent travel experience got me thinking that perhaps bigger isn't always better.

In our 2013 Global Brand Simplicity Index, air travel ranked 20th out of 25 industries in the United States, meaning that from booking, to understanding fees, to encounters with crew personnel, the entire experience is pretty complex. How about the airport itself?

A plea to brands from an overwhelmed customer: Keep it simple to keep me calm

After the New Year, we recover from too much food and drink. We’re told to detox and rehydrate. I’ve always described myself as a maximalist, a proponent of more is more. But this year, my holiday shopping left me with a new kind of head and body ache—it urged me to move toward something simpler, to do less, covet less, acquire less, view less. This year, my hangover is from too much store overstimulation—it’s from thing-itus. It’s from that problem of too many.

The quiet, peaceful, elegantly simple winter of Whitefish, Montana

To inspire us for the New Year and winter season, Siegel+Gale C0-President and CEO, David Srere, shares a few photos from his recent trip to Montana.