Converse’s Post

Dont underestimate the POWER of a bracelet 🤯 A bracelet could serve as a symbol of unity, collaboration, and mutual support among your team members. It can serve as a reminder that each team member plays a vital role in your team's success. It can also be given as a token of recognition for achievements, which is what I did this past week... At our recent Culture Champion Luncheons I wanted to test how well our recent efforts (Awareness, Education, Activation) had landed with our line level team members by asking them if they knew what our Brand Pillars were. If someone was able to successfully share one of our pillars I would then recognize and gift them one of these cool #Wurzak bead bracelets. To my pleasant surprise at ALL the hotels I did this at they were on average able to tell me 7 of 8 brand pillars. One even got ALL 8!🎉 Moral of the story is, dont do what everyone else is doing, and dont under estimate the power of a small gesture of recognition that has the potential to drive shared purpose across your organization! PS - Remember to celebrate your #wins, this simple excersize was a strong indicator that our efforts are paying off and making a positive impact. YAY!🙌🏻 #WeAreWurzak #WinwithWurzak #WurzakHotelGroup #WurzakHotels #EmployerofChoice #WearableRecognition #unity #motivation #recognition #brand #pillars #team #purposedriven #youagainstyou

I took my moustache out for a jog with adidas Runners London earlier. 😥 6 miles of group activity 📢 Some excellent coaching from professionals ☕️ FREE coffee when done 👟 Ability to trial new trainers 📸 Paparazi taking action shots of us throughout the session 💪 They are amazing at connecting consumers to their brand, in a nice relaxing way. Yes we chanted “adidas” for group photos too. The 3 stripes were evident everywhere but not compulsory /// As a supplier to adidas, it’s imperative my team and I connect well with their brand. It helps us understand their culture, find the best matched people, design the perfect training courses, and maintain our position as an extension to their management team. I can spend days getting to know a brand properly once they have made an enquiry with us. Some of the other ways I like to connect: ✈️ Visits to their HQ and tours of their offices. 🛍️ We always buy our customers’ products and test them out (which my wife and kids love)! 🍻 Beers or a bite to eat in any public spaces - soak up that atmosphere. 🚶♂️ Walk the site at all times of day and night until you know it inside out. 🧩 Connect with other people in the organisation at all levels - even if they’re not directly security related. 🎵 Spotify playlists for any festival I am reviewing plans for. 🎄 Always get to their Christmas party if you can do! How do you connect with your customers’ brands and culture. #culture #brandidentity #londonbusiness

At Gymshark, we believe that to go further, we go together. That's why our values were built on community and togetherness. It's not our goals that unite us but the things we do to achieve them.   So let's take an opportunity to celebrate someone else... @ someone you're proud of below and tell them why👇   We'll be watching the comment section closely 👀   #Gymshark #Progress #WednesdayWisdom 

Let’s talk culture for a second. One of the most important aspects in cultural engagement is understanding the lay of the land and the unspoken rules that act as guardrails against degrees of disrespect that can unravel whatever good will that’s built. As a brand, you have to understand that while “meme culture” and “internet culture” are phrases that get thrown around casually, they stem from real world experiences that are connected to cultures and ways of engagement that are far deeper in meaning and come with rules that carry a different weight when violated. In the Adidas commercial reading “receipts” from notable figures questioning Anthony Edwards, there was a moment where a comment from Hip Hop legend and Co-Host of “It Is What It Is” Podcast Cam’ron was responded to with a “F*ck Buddy”. The internet thought it was funny. I’m sure whoever approved it in the spot thought it was funny too. Cam’ron clearly did not. You see, Cam’ron, while finding success in new arenas, isn’t just an Internet personality. Cam’ron is one of the biggest names in Hip Hop and is one of the most respected. Cam’ron comes from a culture where disparaging words come with heavy consequences because your name and reputation are held as precious as life itself. Cam’ron also comes from an era in Hip Hop where taking strong stances against corporate entities were more common and asserting your value as an individual in the face of those corporations was something to aspire toward, not back down from. So here’s Cam’s response: - A viral freestyle over one of New York’s most iconic hip hop beats calling out CNN and Adidas - Exposing a common theme with players being injured while wearing Adidas products across a multitude of sports. - Highlighting previous conversations where Adidas reached out and asked him to not bring light to player injuries in their sneakers. - Announcing the making of a project that tells the stories of the athletes that faced career altering injuries while wearing Adidas products. For all the jokes and funny memes to come from the commercial we all praised the spot as an industry… Was it worth it now that it’s come to this? Hear the freestyle here 👇🏾 https://lnkd.in/dGj2NtfP #marketing #advertising #commercial #hiphop #culture #strategy

I had a blast at #NYFW last week. I got to see some cool shows, reconnect and recharge. Fashion Week has always been one of my favorite times of year, going back to when I was in college. It meant running through SoHo for Fashion Night Out, seeing the the in-stores or going to Lincoln Center and Bryant Park to see the big shows. It has been great to be along for the ride as the event continues to evolve. The energy was great this year, programing started little bit later than in previous years. Beginning the second week of September meant no overlap with Afropunk or the US Open. While making my rounds I noticed a couple of things during this year's Fashion Week. For starters I saw more hybrid shows/parties. This may seem simple enough, but it actually manifested quite interestingly. I attended several events that had expeienced runway models (most of whom walked earlier in the week) working the event as support staff. Sometimes bartending, or bussing tables, or helping with skates all while dressed in the brand throwing the event. This approach created an omnipresence of the fashion, while capitalizing on the long existing relationship between the fashion world and the service industry. Next, I saw more collaborations between fashion brands and non-traditional fashion brands. Brand alignment and synergies in the partnership fueled these collabs. Lastly, I saw the VMAs take a more prominent role in the week, as brands and shows chose not to compete, or chose to activate supplemental experiences like watch parties. Since moving to New York, the awards have attracted even more commerce, tourism, and big names in a week already stuffed to the gills. I think this looks year lacked a marquee show, as Tommy Hilfiger, Yeezy, or Alexander Wang, has been previously. There was still some great shows, just on a smaller scale. I arrived on Monday, days after the week kicked off, so I missed the earlier programing, but I saw more Basketball events happening right before and after NYFW, 2K releasing their new game in a star studed event and Nike bringing the World basketball festival to the city right after. Could be a sign of things to come given the amount of NBA players regularly involved with NYFW. Just some thoughts. All in all I give NYFW 23 a 8/10. Hope you enjoyed the read. #nyfw #fashionweek #vmas #fashion #experiential #festival #conferences

Starting in 2016 VF Corporation, the company that owns iconic brands like Vans, a VF Company and The North Face, a VF Company, began to centralize decision making. Brands had to co-locate and follow the mandates of HQ units like "demand generation," "brand experience," and "retail excellence." The result: bureaucratic bloat and loss in vitality. VF provides a cautionary tale. If you're at HQ, the natural tendency will be to overstate your value added, and the temptation will be to move decisions closer. So next time you hear the siren song of "centers of excellence," or "consolidation," ask yourself: what are the costs in terms of foregone initiative, speed, and accountability? An ever better question: how do we capture collective value added -- creating linkages between different parts of the organization in a way that maximizes scale and scope advantages -- without erecting byzantine administrative structures at the center? For instance, how do you encourage best practices and learning to flow horizontally, not vertically? Happily for VF, new CEO Bracken Darrell is devolving decision rights back to the brands. Reversing the ratchet of central control isn't easy, especially with activist investors playing close watch. I wish him all the best. Un-paywalled link: https://lnkd.in/dBTu6mKi

We did a lot of driving last weekend. Which gave my wife, daughter and I ample time to devise new ways to aggravate each other. Which we duly managed. But in between those moments we played a little game. A quick-fire brand one. I was interested to see how polarised my wife and daughter’s associations may be. The rules were simple. I named a brand. The girls then had to write the first 3 words that sprung to mind in association with said brand. Here’s a few of my favourites: Asda Wife:  Green - family - value  Daughter:  Cheap - family - weekly adidas Wife:  3 stripes  - Classic - Bernard Tapie Daughter:  Unique name  - Unstylish  -  Uncool River Island Wife: Sassy - High st - Fashion Daughter:  Sassy - Classy - Over the top Manchester United Wife: Heritage - Strength - Quality  Daughter:  Desperate - Unsuccessful - Red Few immediate things really stood out for me. 👏 The Asda Marketing team would be pretty content with how well their messaging is getting through. 🤔 When the hell did River Island shift so dramatically from what I always attributed as a middle aged high st brand? ✏️ My daughter obvs needs some educating on the merits of Adidas. 🧁 But the real nugget, the icing on all the cakes, has to come down to my daughters response to Man Utd. To hear “desperate” and “unsuccessful” uttered with such conviction from the new gen made any road trip more than bearable for this Spurs fan! Oh how the mighty have fallen…..😂 #brandidentity #family #brandassociation #brandawareness

🤔 Can senior living learn from the Stanley cup trend? 🔥If you have followed social media lately, you will recognize the now infamous 40 oz Stanley tumbler. At two different Targets near me, people were lined up at the door waiting to get in to buy the latest collaboration cup between Target and Starbucks. 🥤If you didn’t know, you’d think this was a new brand gone viral, when in reality, the company is over 100 years old. They simply shifted their marketing approach to women and added some pastel colors to the lineup of an already established product. Sales were expected to reach $750 million this past year. 🏠 What if we took our existing senior living product and changed how we promote it? What if we changed our target audience? Could we have people lined up waiting to pick their apartment and move in? Our competitor isn’t the other senior living down the street. Our competitor is the perception of people who think they are being put away in a home to die. No wonder occupancy across the country is struggling. Who wants to make that move?? 💡I’ve seen lots of ideas on changing the focus of benefits of moving in from care to something else. But we still continue to talk basic services and amenities on our websites and on tours. I challenge you to have the conversation with your team. I certainly am going to!

The Authentic Brand Group are on track for a very interesting summer. When counting consumer additions, independents, and undrafted consumers, ABG many new brands in the fold and all of them will be seeking improvement - whether it's through word of mouth or social media. One of those new faces is New Yorker Jerry Isaac, who shockingly fell out of the draft. Many experts had him pegged as a Round 1 selection, or early Day 2 pick. But instead, he landed in Reebok's laps without requiring any draft capital. Isaac had a very solid career as a international community changemaker in the Dominican Republic, but lack of industry network are the catalyst behind his fall. Regardless, he has plenty of other tools that can help him booster ABG consumer awareness. Overall, Isaac’s  has the juice to make an impact as a cooperate/social impact rusher who can also play on the marketing team. Reebok have their top - 2 pass rushers in Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson, in the fold. But, Jerry Isaac can play different positions along the defensive front and Todd Krinsky is going to use him like that. Sure, the majority of Reebok's snaps will come on the outside, but there will be an open spot for another rusher after he's moved around. Regardless, this creates the perfect dynamic for Isaac to improve the international cooperate/social impact and be an obvious passing down-type rusher while he continues to develop. #reebok #reebokkids #bokkids #sports #culture #communities #growth #business #socialimpact #footwear #shaquilleoneal #toddkrinsky

Kanye West, known for his controversial yet genius marketing strategies, stunned the world once again, with a Superbowl Commercial announcing a drastic price cut on his Yeezy website, selling all items for $20 regardless of their original price. This move not only made his high-demand fashion line more accessible but also significantly boosted the visibility of his latest album, "Vultures." The strategy, teased in 2022, resulted in a reported $19 million in sales on the first day, showcasing the power of brand sentiment and desirability. Kanye's ability to pivot and innovate, despite controversy, demonstrates a masterful use of personal brand and product synergy. This move revitalized public interest in his creative output and set a new standard for engaging with audiences, disrupting the market, and creating hype across multiple channels. Kanye's approach serves as a lesson in brand building and attracting attention. Remastered YEEZY VULTURES merch today. Whole lineup designed by me. Let me know if Kanye West gonna like it. #yeezy #KanyeWest #VULTURES1