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Within the last couple of years, you are now starting to see actual companies sharing their revenue numbers and many other things (likeemployee’s salaries). Often times, these sorts of posts are the most read. It attracts readers of all kinds, not necessari,ly just potential customers.
Some of the companies doing this are venture backed, and some are bootstrapped. It’s what makes them fun to read. You see a diversity of tactics and strategies being implemented based on what stage they are in.Here is a list of companies providing regular revenue reports that are worth the read, along with a quote from their founders about why they do it....
CEOs and executives have understood for a long time that a company’s brand is important and goes way beyond just a logo and tagline. But questions about the actual value of the brand have often relegated this vital asset to a fuzzy, feel-good, slightly nebulous item that rarely gets the executive attention it deserves.
It turns out that companies can determine how much a brand is worth. We’ve seen this most recently in the bidding war breaking out for Steinway, which is a brand that transcends time and technology. It has legendary cache, in a way that fabled brands like Kodak or Polaroid did not. We know that strong brands with good reputations have 31% better total return to shareholders than the MSCI World average....
The Top 100 corporate brands experienced a general decline in 2012 favorability scores, according to CoreBrand, a brand consultancy and creator of the Corporate Branding Index. The company, which provides benchmarking data, insights and corporate brand valuation for more than 1,000 companies across 54 industries, on Wednesday released its Sixth Annual Top 100 BrandPower Rankings Report, which ranks 100 corporate brands in terms of market reputation and awareness. Favorability scores measure overall reputation, perception of management and investment potential. The decline indicates that in the current economic climate, consumers are evaluating corporate brands more harshly, and these brand criticisms are being amplified with the proliferation of social media and the 24-hour news cycles, says James R. Gregory, founder and CEO of CoreBrand. “Now more than ever, it is important that companies improve the quality of their messages to the marketplace and focus on rebuilding trust, according to the company,” he says....
The culture of risk-taking started early on for company, and is reflected in the personality of the billionaire behind Red Bull. In one death-defying, record-shattering jump by Felix Baumgartner, Red Bull showed the world that corporate marketing can go well beyond normal, conservative advertising buys—in fact it can go to the stratosphere and beyond. But that culture of risk-taking started early on for company, and is reflected in the personality of the billionaire behind Red Bull. You won’t be surprised to learn that Red Bull was founded by a former marketing executive. Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz graduated with a marketing degree from the University of Commerce in Vienna at age 28. Subsequently, he worked for Unilever and Germany’s Jacobs Coffeee, before becoming the international marketing director for Blendax, a German company (later bought by Procter & Gamble) that sold toothpaste, skin creams, and shampoo. Mateschitz, who traveled around the world for his job, told Forbes’ Kerry Dolan in 2005 that it was on one of those trips to Thailand that he discovered a jet lag-cure in a type of syrupy tonic drink that was already successful across Asia. In 1984, Mateschitz quit his job and teamed up with Chaleo Yoovidhya, who owned a drink company in Thailand. Each invested $500,000 into the new business and took a 49% stake (plus 2% for Yoovidhya’s son Chalerm).... [Interesting marketing profile in Forbes. ~ Jeff ]
Mondelez International is the new name of Kraft’s global snack company, and it has its share of critics. What do you think of the rebranding effort? What’s the reaction? Business Insider called it “an act of madness.” A Twitter user referred to the new name as “beyond awful.” Pat Kiernan, the NY1 news anchor, called it the “WTF of the Day.” Others on Twitter said it reminds them of Vandelay Industries, the fictional company where George Costanza on “Seinfeld” claimed to work....
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Everyone has a CSR plan but not everyone does it in a way that is meaningful to consumers or is good at telling people about it.
What’s the difference between a brand with purpose and a purpose-driven brand? Sounds like a subtle nuance, but according to new research, the distinction is proving ever more important, especially in an era where consumers remain skeptical and business leaders expect corporate values to translate into tangible returns.
As Edelman’s recent brandshare and Trust Barometer studies reveal, when it comes to purpose, there is a widening gap between what people expect and what many brands and organizations deliver. While 92% of consumers want to do business with companies that share their values, only 14% have faith in business or believe that brands engage them well. Additionally, 40% of consumers don’t think brands are doing enough to demonstrate their beliefs in helping the world.
40% OF CONSUMERS DON’T THINK BRANDS ARE DOING ENOUGH TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR BELIEFS IN HELPING THE WORLD.
The Reputation Institute reveals similar findings. The institute’s 2013 survey shows that while 73% percent of consumers are willing to recommend companies that stand for something meaningful, only 5% believe that companies actually deliver on their promises....
Integrate your online profiles from social platforms into a single summary page using About Me.We’ve all got accounts on heaps of different social sites – here’s one that pulls together your wide range of accounts into a single page that is all “About Me“. Which is coincidently the name of the service. Tony Conrad – Founder of About Me Its service is a single page summary of your desired public profile, plus links to other places online where people can connect to you. Using a simple templated layout with strong graphics and use of imagery and customisable background colours, its easy to set up and create an unique, professional-looking page....
Felix Baumgartner-and the Red Bull logo--in training. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife) Ask an ad guy: In this cynical, media-soaked age it's tough to get anyone's attention anymore. What it takes to really break through: authenticity. ...In the apex of the age of consumerism, we’re just drowning in pitches to buy. Then comes today, with Red Bull. Yeah, as one friend just said to me, “I thought it was just some stunt,” — and it was. But what a stunt. Jumping from a balloon in near-space to fall more than 23 miles while breaking the sound barrier, risking his life, setting records, Heroic Stuff! The Right Stuff! And all brought to you by Red Bull. In this new age of attempted authenticity (just act natural! CEOs Tweeting! People Like my new product!) they just absolutely killed it by being absolutely, totally, truly, over-the-top authentic. They backed a guy in an insanely risky, old-school kind of venture that was elegantly simple in its principles (go higher than anyone else, jump, live) yet so hair-raisingly sophisticated in its execution (pressure suit, capsule, hours of countdown, etc.) that it grabbed the world’s attention and kept a good part of it on pins and needles for a week, and talking about their brand. Why’d we watch, why’d we care? ‘Cause it was, in the words of Van Morrisson circa 1971, really, really, really, real (Lord have mercy). You can’t tell immediately how many views this live stream of the jump on their site pulled in, but over on the YouTube live stream, at the peak of coverage, there were 8 million concurrent viewers from around the world watching. The walkup videos in the months ahead of today pulled in more than 5 million views, and got shared, of course, like crazy. Red Bull hasn’t said what all this cost, and it couldn’t have been cheap, but it certainly would be in line with a couple minute spots on the Super Bowl.... [Good insight into Red Bull's marketing grand slam ~ Jeff]
A new Corporate Executive Board survey of 7,000 consumers showed that less than one in five have a relationship with a brand. According to CEB researchers, consumers reserve the word relationship for friends, family and colleagues (and, in my case, dogs). One typical response opined, “It's just a brand, not a member of my family.” Yes but, truth be told, I have a better relationship with BMW than with some members of my extended family. To make matters worse, brands are exacerbating the dating and mating game by totally overwhelming us with their nonsensical messaging (aka advertising). CEB spokespeople say the survey's overarching message is this: stop bombarding consumers who DON'T want relationships “…through endless emails or complex loyalty programs.” Amen, brothers and sisters....
Everyone my age has an opinion about Lana Del Ray and maybe you should too. Insights from Capstrat Intern Elizabeth Monnett. ...The issue here doesn’t seem to be her music, nor the fact that she seems remarkably blasé about the whole experience. Critics and hipsters alike seem to think that Del Rey is perpetuating what is, essentially, fraud. Is that how she has always dressed? Does she really write her songs? Most people who dislike her seem to view her as a Barbie that has been dressed up and put on stage to perform and generate record sales. Take Lady Gaga – her sartorial insanity is acceptable because people believe that she herself is at the center of these choices.
What does this have to do with marketing?
This debate makes it easy to see a key trait that many Millennials are searching for in their brand of choice: authenticity....
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Transparency is a hotly contested topic in the tech world. Here, nine CEOs explain why they've chosen to go transparent Extreme or just the new "normal" in the future?