Brands are all about emotions.  Yes – emotions first, logic second.  The loyal supporters – fans, consumers or followers – are emotionally engaged with the brand story and will willingly give of their preference and pockets to their cherished brands.

But what happens when the brand does something the consumers don’t like – as has been the case of the All Black Jersey and their Corporate Supporter – Adidas. 

All Blacks are part of the Kiwi cultural DNA and therefore our core identity. And fans have been hugely upset by the fact that the All Blacks rugby jersey cost almost twice as much in NZ when much cheaper jerseys can be purchased off shore.  And then to add salt to the wound, NZ got removed from some of the sites so Kiwi fans couldn’t even do this! 

When fans start to feel taken for granted, “ripped off”, forgotten or disadvantaged in some way, then brand integrity is at stake big time and brand reputation comes under challenge. (more…)

Blindspots are those aspects of us such as our behaviour, attitude, values and beliefs that we are not even aware that we are operating or “acting out” of.  Blindspots are what others can often so clearly see in us and yet we remain oblivious to.  And blindspots can also be what gets us in trouble including career derailment. As Sir John Whitmore, author of the best selling “Coaching for Performance” and the mulitiple title holder of the British and European Motor Racing Champion puts it,  “we have a measure of choice and control over what we are aware of, but what we are unaware of controls us.” 
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Can you recall a time recently when clearly you had been “done wrong” by someone – a colleague, team member, manager, friend or even a loved one?  In some way they had “failed to deliver” what was either normal, expected, within the bounds of that relationship. Worse they had “done a dirty” either knowingly or unknowingly?  How did you feel?

And when you talked   to them about it, how did they react?  Were there excuses, explanations, denial or blame or did they acknowledge what had happened, took responsibility and proceeded to put it right?  (more…)

Values and behavior are a core part of fulfilling our purpose and manifesting our vision.   The clearer we are about living our values, the more engaged we are with our life including work.  And when our values are mirrored in the organizations or business that we are part of, there is even greater energy, engagement and flow. (more…)

I was reminded yet again the power of our conditioning and the conditioned mind.  This is a good thing if our conditioning and framework is a positive one.   But this isn’t always the case.  I had dealings with two wonderful human beings with great minds and compassion – yet both felt terribly felt frozen.  Despite having thought long and hard and being acutely aware that not taking action was costing them time, energy, money and focus – they still felt stuck. According to one – it is “paralysis through analysis.”   But there was more to it. (more…)