Brand Values
May|17|2010 Mark Gallagher and Laura Savard
The days of advertising-led brands are dead. A shift from monologue to dialogue has occurred. No longer can a company say one thing and do another. People want brands they can trust. Violate that trust and they won’t just flee, they’ll rebel.
People’s buying decisions are largely driven by brands which embody values that reflect their own. In other words, consumers aren’t buying the products that they like. They’re seeking out the brands that are like them. They’re choosing brands whose meaning reflects their own sense of identity, making a statement about who they are, and what they stand for. By choosing one brand over another, consumers are creating their own personal narrative, “This is who I am.” It is, in essence, a shared reality between company and consumer.
Read more & join the conversation »
Problem Shaping
Apr|5|2010 Laura Savard and Mark Gallagher
How you define a problem is perhaps the most important step in finding a solution. After all, every subsequent act is based on how the problem is shaped. Problem solving begins with problem shaping, and that’s where most people go wrong. They immediately define the problem within their own skill set.
Let’s take a common problem often found on standardized tests. This focuses on a predetermined solution. However, there is more than one way to solve the problem.
Read more & join the conversation »





Clarity is Everything
Pattern Recognition
Crowdsourcing