Mona Amodeo - Beyond Sizzle

Table of Contents

Beyond Sizzle: The Next Evolution of Branding.

Copyright 2018 by Mona Amodeo

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact .

While this publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered, it is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. From the Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

Maven House Press

4 Snead Ct., Palmyra, VA 22963

Find us on the web at www.mavenhousepress.com

Cover Design by Kristoffer Poore Layout Designed by Somi Choi

idgroup, a brand transformation firm. Pensacola, FL

www.idgroupbranding.com

Library of Congress Control Number: 9781938548154

E-book ISBN: 978-1-938548-17-8

If you are an entrepreneurial thinker ready to embrace the opportunity to prosper economically by having a positive impact on people, communities, and the world; a game changer courageous enough to challenge the status quo by designing and leading organizations as brands that matter; or a leader who wants to make choices that leave the world better than you found it, keep reading.

EDUCATING THE MIND WITHOUT EDUCATING THE HEART IS NO EDUCATION AT ALL.

ARISTOTLE

DEDICATION

RAY C. ANDERSON (19312011)

& MARY JO HATCH , PH.D.

TEACHERS. MENTORS. FRIENDS.

In gratitude for helping me connect

my mind to my heart and for igniting

a passion within me to do the same for others.

CONTENTS

Dear Reader,

Thank you for joining me on this journey to the Next Evolution of Branding. This book is about branding, but not branding as you most likely think of it. As you read the following pages, some of the ideas may feel familiar to you. However, this book offers a bold perspective that branding reimagined, has the power to build more productive, more innovative, and more purposeful organizations that not only thrive economically, but also have a positive impact on customers, employees, and the world.

My idgroup colleagues and I evolved this approach to branding over the past 15 years as weve worked with organizations of all shapes and sizes, from start-ups to global corporations, as well as not-for-profits and public entities. We coined this methodology, Branding from the Core. Why that name? Because this is about shaping meaning that emanates from the core of an organization: who it is, what it believes and what it wants to share with the world. Reaching beyond the spin often associated with advertising and marketing-focused initiatives, this fresh new view of branding aims to engage the voices of the organization in shaping, sharing, and living its unique and authentic story. The result is two-fold: an engaged team of employees who are moving together toward a shared vision, and the creation of a brand people trust. We describe it as branding that reaches beyond sizzle to substance.

This view builds the ethical business case for transforming organizations into brands that matter, and integrates corporate responsibility with best practices from the fields of organization development, change management, communications, and marketing. This book repositions branding not as a departmental initiative or a campaign, but as an approach to managing the whole organization, specifically the interactions within and between the organization and its environment.

Branding from the Core was developed with one foot in the world of research and the other in the real world of business. I approached the writing of this book in the same manner. Solutions offered on the following pages are anchored in the rigors of researchmy own and that of some really smart people that I have had the opportunity to work with and learn from over the years. The knowledge gained from this researchcombined with my own experiences working with clientsproduced the perspectives shared in this book.

I hope youll find the information presented here to be thought-provoking, inspirational, and most importantly, practical. I open the book with My Inspiration, which provides the backstory of my branding philosophy. This experience rekindled my belief in the power of leaders and organizations to be a positive force in the world and redirected my career path to helping others embrace their power to move business-as-is to business as-it-can-be.

In the words of Peter Drucker, father of modern management, If you want to predict the future, create it. I hope this book inspires you to do just that. As a corollary, I find the cautionary words of Thomas Edison equally important: Vision without execution is just hallucination. While I believe the words on these pages will encourage you to think big, I also hope that the practical playbook outlined in second part of the book will engage your stakeholders, ignite purpose, unify their voices, and as a result, elevate and amplify the influence of your organization as a brand that mattersto customers, employees, and the world.

Trust the process. Enjoy the journey.

Mona,

Gulf Breeze, Florida

June 1, 2018

IF YOU WANT TO PREDICT THE FUTURE, CREATE IT.

PETER DRUCKER

I dont think any CEO expects to stand before his maker someday talking about shareholder value that he created. A corporation makes a profit to exist. Its not the other way around. Its not existing to make a profit. In my view, it ought to exist for some higher purpose than just shareholder value. And that higher purpose extends to responsibility for all creation.

Ray C. Anderson (19342011)

Founder, Interface, Inc.

In the words of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, No man ever steps in the same river twice, for its not the same river and hes not the same man. The people we meet and the experiences we have along lifes path change us. Some more than others. The opportunity to conduct a research project with global carpet manufacturer and sustainability pioneer Interface, Inc., awakened me to whats possible when people are fully engaged in working for something they believe in and feel connected to.

During the course of this research, I experienced firsthand the capacity of purpose to ignite the passions of people. An excerpt from one of the many interviews I conducted with the companys employees demonstrates this point:

When I am lying on my deathbed and someone asks what I did with my life, who cares if I say I, we, produced thousands of rolls of really great carpet, but if I can say that I was a part of something that changed the business models so we are working with the environment and not against itcreating a better world for our children and their childrennow thats saying something.

Billy,Interface engineer, 2004