BRAND LEADERSHIP
How to Become A ‘Rock Star’ Brand Leader
In the Opening Ceremonies Keynote interview, brand expert Denise Lee Yohn (US) shared her insights on how to cultivate brand-building approaches and how brand professionals can be valuable business leaders. Muireann Bolger reports.
“Brand leaders change our lives; they change the way we work and live. By being a brand leader, you are not just competing with or following the trends, you are leading the way and making the world better.”
Denise Lee Yohn (US), brand leadership expert and author, delivered this inspirational message during her Keynote at the Opening Ceremonies, yesterday when she was interviewed by INTA President Tiki Dare, vice president and associate general counsel at Oracle Corporation (US).
Ms. Yohn honed her expertise in brand-building approaches through several high-level positions, including as lead strategist at advertising agencies for Burger King (US) and Land Rover (UK) and as the marketing leader and analyst for Jack in the Box (US) restaurants and Spiegel catalogs (US).
She also wrote the bestselling book What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles that Separate the Best from the Rest.
When questioned by Ms. Dare about how brand teams can be leaders in their organizations, she outlined how successful leaders have adopted a particular mindset—of unleashing the brand’s potential.
“What brand builders are concerned with is leveraging and maximizing the power of the brand. Their mindset is on the value creation side,” she said.
In addition, she noted, innovative brand leaders should be prepared to deliver change when needed.
“The change starts with you and the way you think about your role. If you are a brand steward, it suggests that you are looking out for the best interests of the brand, not only growing or leveraging it.”
“When someone believes strongly in their mission and purpose, that can sustain them through a lot of ups and downs.”
Denise Lee Yohn (US)
In Ms. Yohn’s view, brand leaders must be prepared to offer an expert opinion and bring in a broader perspective to successfully develop a business in today’s environment.
The same is true for lawyers, she said. “I have worked with many corporate attorneys and the ones that were most valuable were the ones who adopted the overarching brand goals as the ones they wanted to support.”
Conviction, she insisted, is a key trait that defines many successful leaders. “When someone believes strongly in their mission and purpose, that can sustain them through a lot of ups and downs,” she said.
Embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), she explained, is vitally important for brand leaders.
“DE&I is important to your business, because it is important to your primary stakeholders: your customers and employees,” she said.
“Your customers have the ability to pull the curtain back on your business, and they are looking at how you are treating everybody and whether you are running a business that aligns with their values.”
Further, Ms. Yohn warned, “More customers are expecting brands to embrace DE&I, and they are very savvy these days; they will know if you are promoting DE&I only because it meets some other objective.”
She noted that brand leaders are more likely to be successful in their strategic objectives if they welcome greater diversity. “We get better when we embrace diversity of opinions,” she said. “The more open we can be, the smarter and more sensitive we become, and the business will grow because we can create products that reflect that understanding.”
“Entrepreneurs must be completely clear about their overarching purpose and core values.”
Denise Lee Yohn (US)
Have Clear Goals
Continuing to discuss effective strategies, Ms. Yohn suggested that all entrepreneurs must be completely clear about their “overarching purpose and core values. Sometimes we jump into businesses without properly thinking about why we are doing this and what impact we want to make in the world. Having that strong foundation is very important.”
She advised budding entrepreneurs to be market-oriented and always willing to understand customers’ evolving needs, even when they diverge from the principles that were originally identified during the brand conception process.
“Be willing to challenge your assumptions,” she declared. “As entrepreneurs, we identify a need that we feel, and we create a business addressing that specific need. Your instincts may be right, but as we learn what customers are looking for, their needs might be different from what you originally conceived, and you need to be willing to incorporate that input,” she said.
Being supported by the right employees and partnerships is vitally important. “They must share your belief in the purpose and value of your organization. They must share your passion for your customers and filing that need,” she said.
Given that, Ms. Yohn concluded, “Be very careful about the talent you bring in. Ensure that they are going to support you in what you are trying to do and that they are absolutely aligned with the impact you want to make on the world.”
Video courtesy of Envato Elements / Eleven52
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
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