Back in 1980, Al Ries and Jack Trout warned marketers that if they didn’t position their brands in consumers’ minds, their competitors would do it for them. That’s still true, but there’s another notable reason for brand positioning: “Whether or not a brand actively tries to spark a feeling, people are going to feel something about them,” says Kai Wright, global consulting partner at Ogilvy, author of Follow the Feeling: Brand Building in a Noisy World, and a stand-room-only speaker at ANA Masters of Marketing. “So, it’s dangerous when brands don’t actively have a strategy that unifies all of their marketing and communications and policies and practices towards one positive thing that everyone is striving towards.”
MGM Resorts’ Tomovich Goes Vegas-Style Big on Experience
Whether you love it or hate it, the one thing you have to admit about Vegas is that it’s exactly as over-the-top as it promises to be. So, if you have a presence in Las Vegas and you’re going to make a brand promise, you had better deliver on it.
Lilian Tomovich, chief marketing and experience officer for MGM Resorts International, is one person who’s gone all in to ensure that the entertainment behemoth delivers on its promise of wowing its customers not only in Vegas, but also across its portfolio globally.
How Standard Hotels CCO Landis Smithers Keeps the Hotelier at the Forefront of Culture
Imagine you’re hired as the chief creative officer of an organization with an unmistakable brand voice in an industry you haven’t worked in. Your remit is change; to shake things up.
That’s the challenge that Landis Smithers faced when he joined Standard International, parent company of The Standard and Bunkhouse hotels, at the beginning of this year. Not having a background in hospitality may have seemed like an obstacle, but it wasn’t an issue at all. In fact, the company’s goal was for Landis to bring the moxie – and success – he had previously brought to Grindr, Pepsi, and Playboy Enterprises.
Ginger Conlon 