Thought Leadership
Thought Leadership
Five Reasons To Re-Evaluate Your Branding
Strategic branding is a key driver in any industry if you want to grow your business. It is the most important element in regard to positioning your brand to your strategic target. Like people, brands age and evolve over time. In order for a brand to stay relevant, it too needs to evolve with its consumer. Thoughtful brand strategy should always take into consideration foundational brand building blocks such as an equity pyramid including the brand character, the brand promise or brand essence, and the strategic target. These foundational building blocks give your brand focus that inspires the visual identity system.
Strategic Brand Licensing for the CEO
Read our Letter to the CEO to understand how we think about how we assess Strategic Brand Licensing for your brand portfolio.
End Gaming The Future of Food & Beverage – Channel Blur
There is one thing in common with this market disruption – Channel Blur. Channel Blurring is here now and will shake out winners and losers across food & beverage channels including grocery chains, manufacturers, emerging food delivery companies, internet retailers and restaurant chains. While the significance of these changes being defined as truly “disruption” is uncertain, it is certain that the market will reward those who have evolved their business model.
5 Reasons Why You Might be Stuck When Developing an Innovation Strategy
We identified 5 reasons why leaders and their teams get stuck when developing an innovation strategy; and these issues can further hinder each and every innovation team project, if not addressed.
So You Want Bolder Innovation? Define the Types of Innovation First
Determining the portfolio of innovation projects is part of innovation strategy. The prerequisite to responsibly developing organizational or departmental innovation is the understanding what kinds of innovation you want teams to develop. Otherwise, you are personally holding portfolio management yourself as the leader and every decision will have to cross your desk limiting agility and value.
Gus Valen’s Agile Way
A perspective to apply Agile methodology in strategy, innovation, and market research
Process Improvement is Not Enough To Significantly Change Innovation Results
Increasing the probability of success in innovation is a key challenge that even the most experienced market leaders face. The probability of success is an even
How CPG Leaders Can Make Better Decisions
The truth is that too many smart consumer products leaders try to “tough-it-out,” thinking it is normal to make “hard” decisions. Most of the time the tough decision is only tough because those tasked with collecting or presenting the facts haven’t gathered or presented the right information.
Grey Area Consumers: Are You Listening to the Right Consumers?
Have you ever been talking on your cell phone and realized after a few minutes (or more) that no one is on the other end of the line? Well, if you have just invested money in research with consumers and you realize you have been talking to the wrong ones, it is very likely the same feeling.
Don’t Simulate Good Decision-Making
Don’t risk making a decision in simulation mode where the results look good at first glance but the information presented is not sufficient to make a good decision. Here are four points leaders should consider to make better decisions:
Future of the Restaurant: A Memo to the Restaurant CEO
Imagine walking but all you can do is look at your toes – it’s only a matter of time until you bump into something and have to look up. Well, look up because as the top executive of a restaurant concept, it is time to think about the future of the restaurant. How far out are you willing to let yourself think?
Understanding different cultures is critical to the development of Global Strategy
The Valen Group has consulted with major global 1000 innovation and brand focused companies and has significant global strategy consulting experience.
