Happy Friday!
The sun is shining in Grand Rapids and we’re looking forward to a mild weekend. Plus, today is Michigan’s 181st anniversary of statehood, which is pretty neat. Add to that the fact that we’ve found five interesting, insightful, and refreshing articles to share with you in this week’s roundup, and you could say this Friday has us feeling GREAT.
This week, Our Favorite Headlines are all over the board: from branding and storytelling, to wellness and positivity. Check them out below!
Before Building Brand Awareness, You Need to Assess Brand Value. Here’s How to Do Both.
The Takeaway: Branding is one of the toughest challenges marketers face. It relies on buy-in from key stakeholders in leadership, employees at all levels of your organization, and, of course, your customers. That’s why it is critical that your brand is built on a strong foundation – a foundation made up of the vision leadership has for your organization, the actual value you provide, and the perceived “personality” of your brand. Without understanding these three things, you’ll struggle to deliver your brand promise and find that your brand misses the mark.
Why Creativity And Strategy Need Opposite Types of Motivation
The Takeaway: This is a quick and interesting read, with great insight for managers or team leaders in all areas of business, and even those who manage themselves (we’re looking at you, freelancers). Understanding what type of motivation you / your team needs for different tasks can help you keep employees invested in projects where they may not be able to see the end result.
What Marketers Can Learn about Brand Storytelling from Detroit’s First Chief Storyteller
The Takeaway: We’ve shared myriad articles about the need to integrate storytelling into your brand. Well, here’s a great example of cities that are doing just that. And if you’re not sure about the relevance to your business, we’ll let the author use her own words:
“Marketers at B2B and B2C companies should heed their example. In the absence of a storytelling strategy, you risk others telling your story for you, sometimes erroneously. Worse yet, you may find that if you’re not telling your story, it means no one is talking about you at all.”
Keep Things Simple For A Healthy, Long Life
The Takeaway: We must admit that we’re guilty of sharing (and following) some of the latest health trends, but there is something oddly refreshing about getting back to the basics of health and wellness. You don’t need to invest in the latest detox tea or drink a raw egg every morning (seriously, yuck.) Instead focus on making small adjustments to your lifestyle to fit in those tried and true wellness principles: start with shrinking your portion sizes, cutting out refined sugars, and making an effort to go for a walk every day. There’s a reason sleep, healthy eating, and exercise make it on every wellness list – because they work!
The 21 Most Important Questions Of Your Life
The Takeaway: This blog post may be a little too deep for a Friday afternoon, so if you’re not feeling particularly reflective bookmark this one and come back to it when you have time to really think things through. Some of these questions are easier to answer than others, but the answers you give could have implications for your life and career. Call it a heavy-duty gut check.
Do you have articles to share that are particularly interesting or relevant? Let us know in the comments, or on Facebook or Twitter.
