Today's Thoughts

Good day! Today I thought that I would post a few things.

First, our field trip to the Entertainment and Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon on Friday couldn't have been better. The students from Ms Giron's Communications class and Mr. Crider's Entrepreneurship class were well behaved and found alot of good information for their FR Project Think. Students toured the facilities, played games and video taped examples of their aptitudes; Design, Story, Play, Symphony, Empathy, Meaning. For a better understanding of this view either the project wiki or take a look at the book, A Whole New Mind by Dan Pink. You can also check out the ETC Website here. If you want to see a true 21st century educational experience check their program out.

For Business and marketing students check out this interesting post by Seth Godin last week.
Finding your brand essence
I got an email from someone who had hired a consulting firm to help his company find their true brand selves. They failed. He failed. He asked me if I could recommend a better one.My answer:The problem isn't the consultant, it's the fact that if you have to search for a brand essence, you're unlikely to find one.

Standing for something means giving up a lot of other things, and opening yourself to criticism. Most people in the financial services industry (or any industry, actually) aren't willing to do that, which is why there are so few Charles Schwabs in the word.

First, decide it's okay to fail and to make a ruckus while failing. THEN go searching for the way to capture that energy and share it with the world.
Clothes don't make the man, the man makes the man. Clothes (and the brand) just amplify that.

Does this make sense? What would you do? How would you decide on the brand essence of another company? Do you even know what branding is? If you are going into business you should.

Have a great week!