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Brad VanAuken

Articles by Brad VanAuken

brad vanauken has written 493 articles for AdTalk

Brad VanAuken

The Lincoln Project Advertising

by Brad VanAuken

I have been a student of brand advertising for more than 35 years. I was involved with Hallmark’s award-winning Hallmark Hall of Fame commercials. And, as a consultant, I have advised more than 100 brands on their advertising. Throughout my career, I have seen more bad advertising than good advertising. And, for decades, I have […]

Potential Long-Term Impacts of COVID-19

by Brad VanAuken

It is interesting to think about the potential long-term impacts of COVID-19, including the opportunities and threats for businesses. Here is what comes to my mind in no particular order:More people will continue to work at home rather than in the office. This means less commuting, which may continue downward pressure on gasoline prices. This […]

Values Survey

by Brad VanAuken

We have created a survey to explore the personal values of people who reside in the USA and its territories. It is a simple 5-minute survey and all responses are anonymous. We hope you will take this survey and then share its link with your friends, family members and business associates so that they can […]

Societal, Technology and COVID-19 Trends

by Brad VanAuken

As marketers, we need to stay abreast of societal and technology trends. Here are some trends that will have large impacts on our lives:Societal trends:While globalization continues, nationalism and “buy local” trends increaseRise of the global middle class while the US middle class stagnatesIncreased tribalism in the USGlobal climate change and its consequences – increased […]

Brands, Ethics and Authenticity

by Brad VanAuken

I have written a lot about how brands can tap into deep attitudes, values, hopes, fears and other emotions to sell their products and services. Compared to selling attributes, features and functional benefits, it works extraordinarily well. Having said that, far too many brands have built their foundations on these deep emotional promises, promises that […]

Discover Your Truth, Live Your Truth

by Brad VanAuken

Brad VanAuken is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.Topic: Discover Your Truth, Live Your Truth WebinarTime: May 14, 2020 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us04web.zoom.us/j/75364836162?pwd=aHg3ZmgrOEhOVTNUMjQ3Nnk5aGM4dz09Meeting ID: 753 6483 6162Password: 7wf27z

Virtual Brand Positioning Workshop

by Brad VanAuken

You may know that BrandForward has conducted more than 150 successful brand positioning workshops for some of the top brands in the world. These workshops were designed to achieve leadership team consensus around emotionally compelling unique value propositions for those brands. Today, in the COVID-19 environment, it is more important than ever to craft a […]

Brand Building During COVID-19

by Brad VanAuken

What can brands do when people are stuck in their houses and not able to eat out, shop at local shopping centers, go to concerts or do anything else that is not connected to “sheltering in place” and home delivery? And what can brands do when people are laid off, have lost some or all […]

Marketing’s Revolving Door

by Brad VanAuken

You may have experienced marketing’s revolving door as a marketer, as an HR professional or as a business manager. The median tenure of a chief marketing officer is 27.5 months but some organizations are replacing marketing people at all levels as frequently as annually. Obviously, this is not ideal.One could surmise that one or more […]

Need-Based Marketing

by Brad VanAuken

When you stop to think about it, isn’t all marketing need-based marketing, especially if you include desires under the umbrella of needs? After all, desires are psychological needs, whether what a person desires is ultimately good for him or her or not. So what do people need?More timeMore moneyMore respectMore self-respectMore attentionMore social statusMore intellectual […]

Cost-Effective Marketing

by Brad VanAuken

Marketing departments are seldom given enough money to accomplish what they feel they should accomplish on behalf of their brands. And marketing budgets are some of the first to be cut when organizational belt-tightening is required. So what is a marketing professional to do?Here are some of the approaches I recommend to market brands on […]

The Most Popular Posts by Year

by Brad VanAuken

These are the 77 most popular Branding Strategy Source blog posts by year:2014Basic Human Needs and BrandingBranding and MemoryThe Poison Parasite Defense2015Brand Manager Competencies and ResponsibilitiesComprehensive Brand Management TrainingVolvo Brand StrategyBranding and Product DesignBrand Equity Measurement 101Brand NamingMost Important Brand Management TasksBrands and Memory StructuresThe Brand Management Process: An OverviewDid You Know?Purpose Driven BrandsAutomobile Purchases […]

Luxury Brands Quiz

by Brad VanAuken

Just for fun, I have created a luxury brands quiz to test your knowledge of luxury brands.1. Which of these is not a superyacht builder?LürssenVardOpusCantiere della Marche2. Which of these is not a tailored clothing brand?Gieves & HawkesHuntsmanRichard JamesPhineas Auden3. Which of these is not a jet brand?Dassault Falcon 7xBriggs & Stratton M550Embraer EMB190 BJ […]

Retain Customers by Building Community

by Brad VanAuken

 While some may think that an annual customer retention rate of 80% is good, that means you loose one out of every five customers each year. Theoretically, this translates to 100% turnover every five years. And, as most business owners know, it is much more cost effective to retain a current customer than to acquire […]

Core Human Needs and Marketing

by Brad VanAuken

Psychologists have long hypothesized, studied and tested what they believe to be the core human needs. While most psychologists highlight six basic needs, many also include a seventh need. Here are the seven needs:Certainty/Safety/Comfort/Control/SecurityLove/Affection/Physical and Emotional ConnectionSignificance/Respect/Uniqueness/Feeling SpecialCompetence/MasteryContribution/Making a DifferenceVariety/Experience/Stimulation/Novelty/Satisfying CuriosityIndependence/Freedom/AutonomyMost people experience deficiencies in meeting one or more of these needs on a regular […]

The Eight Skills of a Marketing Rock Star

by Brad VanAuken

To be a “can do it all” marketer, one who is extremely valuable to an organization as an individual contributor but who can also rise through the ranks quickly to become a marketing “rock star,” the person should possess these eight skills:Graphic design skills with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign fluencies and a strong sense of […]

Marketing Training & Marketer Competency

by Brad VanAuken

I had the good fortune to learn about most aspects of marketing through a fifteen year stint at Hallmark Cards. While there, I learned product development, new product development, advertising, promotion, marketing research, brand management, brand licensing, trade marketing, merchandising, category management, pricing strategy, distribution strategy, corporate communications, crisis management and global marketing. This hands-on […]

Business Strategy Workshops

by Brad VanAuken

Over the years, my brand positioning workshops have evolved to something much broader. First, I added brand mission, vision and values workshops to the mix based on client requests. After that, I added pricing strategy workshops to the mix, again based on client requests. Eventually, these workshops evolved into full-blown business strategy workshops tailored for […]

Thinking Like A Customer

by Brad VanAuken

In assessing marketing talent, there is one thing that sets hyper-successful marketers apart from everyone else – they can put themselves in their consumers’ shoes and they do so all of the time. Designing a website? Who will use it? What are their needs? What will they be looking for? What will they notice first? What […]

Why Brands Can Seem More Scattered and Conflicted Than Humans

by Brad VanAuken

Humans can at times seem quite scattered or conflicted. Some can exhibit substantial mood swings. While others might seem to have multiple personalities. However, most of us are quite predictable day-to-day and over our lifetimes. While brands should strive for a similar level of consistency and predictability so as to seem trustworthy, often brands will have […]

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