A values-driven AI use policy

A values-driven AI use policy

Organizations and brands are navigating through complex terrain, such as AI usage, guided by their Essential Stories
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Client Story: United Country Western Dance Council<sup>®</sup>

Client Story: United Country Western Dance Council®

Redefining and Realigning to Empower Global Growth
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Design thinking + communications thinking = better results

Design thinking + communications thinking = better results

Communications thinking can influence design decisions, inform or complement the design of brands, products, services, and systems
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Verbal identity: a leadership team’s unifying force

Verbal identity: a leadership team’s unifying force

Introducing a leadership team to the identity of their organization, often through a brand-new lens.
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How a subtle positioning shift can unlock new opportunities

How a subtle positioning shift can unlock new opportunities

The right shift in perspective, discovered through the Essential Story Process, can completely transform a business, organization, or brand.
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Client Story: Mission Control Space Services

Client Story: Mission Control Space Services

Empowering Leadership on Earth, Moon, Mars, and Beyond
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Self-actualization: the Essential Story Process

Self-actualization: the Essential Story Process

The origin story of the Essential Story and Corporate Phrasebook™
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Standing out from the crowd

Standing out from the crowd

Differentiation is not just the thing your business does best; it’s the value you deliver better than anyone else.
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Balancing act

Balancing act

Where Vision and Mission statements go wrong and what they should be.
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Keep it real

Keep it real

How to avoid "virtue signalling" and take a real stand.
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A dying breed

A dying breed

How mentoring can mend the new digital divide in marcoms
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Client Story: Guertin Poirier

Client Story: Guertin Poirier

Law Firm Rebrands for a New Generation
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Make it real: how organizations live their essential stories

Make it real: how organizations live their essential stories

Real-world examples of how organizations leverage their Essential Stories to live their brands.
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Words first: the long path to the short cut

Words first: the long path to the short cut

Don't give the short-shrift the story that needs to be told.
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Beyond words

Beyond words

This is one client's story of moving beyond phrases and key messages to real business transformation.
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Client Story: Writers Collective of Canada

Client Story: Writers Collective of Canada

Rebranding, Realigning for Rapid National Growth
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The consistency quotient: taking control of your greatest brand asset

The consistency quotient: taking control of your greatest brand asset

A brand’s ability to be flexible depends on its consistency.
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Do we need a new brand? (Maybe not)

Do we need a new brand? (Maybe not)

The answer to “what should be done?” is not always a new brand.
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Positioned or pigeon-holed? Be leading-edge AND understood

Positioned or pigeon-holed? Be leading-edge AND understood

Demystifying the concept of “positioning” for tech and other leading-edge enterprises
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Re-thinking your pitch: pitch the story, not the FAQ

Re-thinking your pitch: pitch the story, not the FAQ

You're drinking your own Kool-Aid, but your audience isn't (yet).
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Are you talking to me? Choosing the right audience

Are you talking to me? Choosing the right audience

The right messages, crafted well but directed to the wrong people, won’t open doors.
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Launch-and-forget: the cost of (brand) neglect

Launch-and-forget: the cost of (brand) neglect

In branding, neglect is the enemy of progress.
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Guest blog: when a vision fails

Guest blog: when a vision fails

Volvo's Vision 2020 inspired an industry then failed -- just not the way you think.
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Client Story: iSpark

Client Story: iSpark

New Confidence and Clarity Empower Entrepreneur to Up-Level Her Business
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Your brand as real-estate ad

Your brand as real-estate ad

The importance of passionate objectivity in branding.
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Quality Time With Your Brand: Video Series

Quality Time With Your Brand: Video Series

Five short exercises to get to know your brand more deeply.
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Unsticking a brand

Unsticking a brand

Where to start when re-branding or re-positioning is in order.
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Client Story: Third Law

Client Story: Third Law

Automotive Marketing Firm Clarifies Value, Crystallizes Differentiation to Pursue New Business
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10 topics to build a thought-leadership brand

10 topics to build a thought-leadership brand

Inspiration for aspiring or established thought-leaders.
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The rule of simplicity

The rule of simplicity

The why and how of paring down to essentials to boost brand power.
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Understanding (your) brand

Understanding (your) brand

How to take a new look at your brand.
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Client Story: AIM Women’s Wellness Center

Client Story: AIM Women’s Wellness Center

New Brand Attracts More Clients, Staff Who “Really Fit”
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Is your brand adapting or breaking?

Is your brand adapting or breaking?

Learn the warning signs and take charge.
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Your business has a personality

Your business has a personality

The user manual for your brand and how it ticks.
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You aren’t your business: divide to conquer

You aren’t your business: divide to conquer

Freedom is disentangling from your business's brand.
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Pre-marketing: the groundwork for success

Pre-marketing: the groundwork for success

Laying the groundwork for successful long-term marketing.
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When it’s too complicated to explain

When it’s too complicated to explain

You can't cross the chasm with complicated messages.
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When your brand is a best-kept secret

When your brand is a best-kept secret

Kick “best-kept-secret” syndrome with a powerful brand voice.
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If marketing feels bad

If marketing feels bad

Start saying NO to marketing activities that don’t work and do your pre-marketing instead.
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Your proposals suck

Your proposals suck

Here’s what I think about proposals: they should feel exciting to create.
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Client Story: Mindful Change

Client Story: Mindful Change

A New Direction for an Established Mindset Coach
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When the marcom team gets it wrong

When the marcom team gets it wrong

How to help others communicate in the voice of your brand.
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Your competition is lying

Your competition is lying

Company leaders often explain to me how their competitors are making untrue claims.
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Client Story: Modern Niagara

Client Story: Modern Niagara

Aligned Brand Supports Major National Growth
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Client Story: KDM Analytics

Client Story: KDM Analytics

Essential Story Supports New Brand, Pivot from Engineering Services to Product-Based Offering
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