Brand positioning can be tricky to get just right. And it can get even more complicated if you have multiple audiences you may want to target. This exact question came up during a recent positioning lesson in my brand management essentials course. A few students asked about the possibility of…

Creative reviews are known to be one of the most fun, yet also most stressful meetings. Junior brand leaders often want to be included in these meetings. After all, many would-be brand managers dream of working on new ad campaigns. But once you’ve attended a few of these reviews, you…

Most marketers know that you should define your target audience using some kind of profile, template or framework. But, assuming you already have (or Googled) a template to use, how do you know the target that you chose is the right one? This exact question came up in a recent…

Strategic plans are a must-have to uncover not only your brand’s goals but also future opportunities and challenges. In this guide you’ll learn the best strategic plan format and structure, questions to ask when creating your long-term strategy, and how to write the outline. Be sure to subscribe to receive…

So many great marketing ideas never see the light of day. It’s an unfortunate side effect of working in large organizations. The pro of a large company is that you have stability, but the con is that it often takes too many people agreeing on something to actually get it…

As brand leaders, we often hear that we need to “be strategic,” but we often don’t get much guidance on what that actually means. Some brand managers are natural strategic thinkers, while others can spend an entire career figuring it out. So below I’m going to lay out a method…

If you’ve worked in brand management for any decent amount of time (or even just business in general), you’ve probably heard the advice that you need to “manage up” or “manage your boss”. While I believe this to be true, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone explain what it…

The first time you get a direct report, it can be both exciting and scary. It’s a sign you’ve been trusted with management responsibility. But what if you’re assigned an under-performer? Most new managers are tempted to “play nice”. They want to be liked by their direct reports, especially if…

Many brands are planning out their campaigns for 2023, which means many brand leaders will soon begin writing creative briefs for their agencies and creative teams. At this stage hopes are high, and leading new creative campaigns is supposed to be one of the fun parts of the job. But…