One must contemplate the distinction between branding and rebranding. Rebranding is often miscast as an exercise in repairing one’s reputation. Some rebranding efforts focus on mitigating a negative image (such as Philip Morris’s name change to Altria or AIG’s move of their advisory business to Sagepoint). Yet rebranding may also represent subtle changes in positioning, or the recasting of visual identify, such as Starbucks recent move to a more contemporary look.

If you’re thinking about rebranding your company, bear in the mind the following considerations:

Seek out simplification-Today’s rebranding efforts are often a function of providing clarity to the marketplace and removing brand confusion. Citi’s recent rebranding removed a single word (if the word bank is in your name, it may not be a bad idea to remove it). Our cluttered market values simplicity.

Leverage Social Media from the ground up- Within our firm, we recently rebuilt our website, refreshed our brand, and printed new business cards (including a QR code). All of our marketing includes embedded social media components, with the intent of driving traffic to our website where prospects can experience various multimedia tools that are featured online.

Use emotional triggers-Google famous Parisian Love ad (when an American finds love in Paris) is a classic example of using emotional messaging to capture the imagination of your audience. All marketing should utilize emotional triggers.

Enter new markets- Pabst Blue Ribbon, perceived as an also-ran in the U.S. rebranded in China as an ultra-premium American lager (PBR) and is selling for upwards of $44 a bottle (the Chinese may not have everything figured out).

Reshape perceptions about quality-Rebranding should not appear cosmetic or contrived. Harley Davidson’s slide in perceived quality in the 80’s was magnified by stiff competition from Japanese competitors.  The company’s drastic repositioning included a return to its core products and the formation of the Harley Owners Group (HOG’s),  which reestablished Harley a bad boy brand.

Identify unmet needs- Your offer may need to change as the utility of your product or the benefits that differentiate it may shift over time.  Marketers will often use a tag line when they wish to preserve their brand equity, and point out new features or benefits.

Use professionals- Rebranding can back fire when companies draw attention to their marketing.  Many smaller companies try to utilize self service template web sites and similar home grown tools that come off as……home grown. Marketing requires constant investment. Hire people who can assist you with both messaging and technology.

Understand the hard and soft costs- Change can be expensive, given the need to reprint, re-sign, change email addresses, etc. Consider all your hard and soft costs (including management team band) with as you refresh your brand.

Organizations often under appreciate the importance of branding. In this world of hyper-competition, the way you communicate the nuances of your brand are more important than ever.

I have been accused of being the eternal optimist. Guilty as charged. Our economy seems to have turned a corner; employment is gaining steam and the stock market is surging. Yet housing seems to be stuck in quicksand.

I am not here to dispense any investment advice, but instead want to pass on some observations on the plight of the U.S. housing market. While much is being made of the insolvency of European banks, we should be equally troubled by the assets held by the largest U.S. banks.

Consider the prospects of Bank of America. The bellwether financial institution required a government bail out, and an infusion by Warren Buffet after its prepackaged acquisition of Countrywide’s toxic assets. The bank holds a staggering $400 Billion+ in U.S. mortgage debt, a third of it in home equity lines of credit – the true villain in the U.S. real estate collapse.

According to B of A, 5% of its mortgage portfolio assets are “non-performing” or are in default.  Some have accused the bank of uneven accounting on its balance sheet.[i] Some estimates forecast as much as 39% of its portfolio having a combined loan to value rate below 100% (upside-down). It is expected that about a third of those mortgages could default, and that the banks losses for the average loan are far higher than 50%. Unlike past swings in the market, foreclosed homes have little retained value for the lender, and are boarded up or even torn down. JP Morgan, Citibank and Wells Fargo do not fair much better in terms of performing assets[ii].

Perhaps even more perplexing is weakness in the underlying real estate market.  Economist Paul Dales of Capital Economics suggests there is an excess inventory of more than 1 Million residential properties. Housing supply is somewhat stagnant. In Los Angeles for example inventory has gone down 1.65% through September but prices showed 0% change for the year[iii]. As a result, housing starts are projected at a tepid 620,000 for 2012 (according to Federal estimates)[iv]

Even though money is very cheap, many borrowers can’t qualify for a mortgage under the exacting standards being employed by banks. Under tight scrutiny by regulators, we are seeing the familiar rubber band effect as lenders have gone from one extreme to the other – lending to everybody with a pulse to rejecting buyers with cash and good credit scores.

Consumer behavior has also shifted. While lower than 2010, a whopping 17% of defaults are “strategic defaults” where borrowers can afford their monthly payment, but simply walk away.[v]

What is hurtful is not only the affect that the real estate market has on realtors, title companies and mortgage lenders; but the shadow economy it supports. Construction and subprime manufacturers of everything from lighting fixtures to lumber are suffering at the hands of weak U.S. housing demand.  The reality is that much of our economy’s GDP growth over the last two decades is a reflection of a false premise, that Americans can just pull money out of their homes on demand.

So as the housing market goes, so goes our economy. Forecasts of 2 and 3% growth rates are a direct result of consumer affluence being minimized by zero wage growth and declining property values.

While economists are cautiously optimistic about America’s future (as am I), we need to be cognizant that a further depression of the housing market could lead to the failure or bail out of U.S. banks which undoubtedly would reverse recent market gains and economic momentum.

One of the bi-products of our caffeine crazed, media blitzed economy is that we have virtually no attention span. It is as if we have a collective form of ADD. Over time, customers get bored with their vendors, alliance partners and trade associations. Client relationships have a natural tail.

The ability to continuously delight customers is a skill mastered by few. Clients need some type of stimuli that reinforces the value we provide them and it needs to come in different forms at different times. Variety is not just the spice of life; it is the remedy for overcoming the dreaded- inevitable customer fatigue.

Entertainers understand the element of surprise all too well. We all have a lot to learn from that ingenious management mind; Jerry Garcia. In the 60’s, the Grateful Dead had a Board of Directors and a call center. Whenever “the Dead” where touring, “Deadheads” who had gladly forked over their phone numbers would receive outreach about upcoming performances. The Deadheads would do something extraordinary; they would follow the band from city to city. As every show was an ad lib (jam), no two were alike, and no one knew what the Dead were going to play. Most businesses would kill to have the raving fans of the Dead.

The problem of customer fatigue is exacerbated by the fact that challengers are incented to barrage prospects with new offers and discounts in a way that an incumbent is not. In relative terms, the incumbent can easily become complacent and offer clients much of the same. As the old adage goes, “if it isn’t broke…”.

I heard of a guy who gave a business review presentation to a client on an iPad. At the end of the presentation, he said to his client “thank you so much for your business” and handed him the iPad. Giving such generous gifts may not be as accepted as it once was, but imagine the shock value of the meeting. It is one the client will never forget! We need to find ways to maintain our clients’ attention span.

Customer fatigue only magnifies themes we have often shared in this space. The number one rule of customer relationship management is to take better care of the customers you already have than new ones you might attract. Offering our best discounts to new customers flies in the face of this principle. Organizations often position their best people as hunters, and then delegate customer service to others (who may not be empowered to make customer retention decisions). An organization can easily lose sight of its most precious possession, its most profitable customers.

Customers should be treated differently based on their lifetime value, and perhaps even receive different benefits based on their tenure.  One of my clients recently calculated their average client retention cycle (and at what time they lose the average client) and is now taking steps to change their approach over the span of the customer relationship.

Find a way to shake things up and keep customers coming back for more.

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell asserts that one needs to invest 10,000 hours in an activity in order to become an expert. I take solace in knowing that I am evidently both an expert in Strategic Planning, and overcoming the drama induced by teenage daughters.

The rapid escalation of global competition has brought about a new round of hyper-specialization.  The concept of specialization is nothing new; the division of labor has been a key tenant of economics since the birth of capitalism. Yet sites such as Guru or eLance, have propelled specialization to a new art form, where one can access dozens of specialists from around the world in any conceivable competency in a matter of minutes.

Specialties that do not require any special education (other than what is readily available on the internet) such as graphic arts have quickly commoditized. You can hire a graphic artist online for $15 an hour.  In cases where greater technical aptitude is required, specialists still out-earn generalists. The median Internist in the U.S. earns $176K per year, while Cardiologists earn a median of $403K (some make $800K or more). [i] If you had a heart attack, which would you see?

Perhaps the most common strategic blunder I observe within entrepreneurial companies is a penchant for addressing overly broad targets. Marketers, seeking the largest audience cast too wide a net. In their need to satisfy the largest number of prospects, they become de facto generalists. That is, instead of addressing a niche market with specific solutions, they try to satisfy a larger audience with a multitude of products and services. At some point, the value they can provide suffers from diminishing returns.

The more crowded a space, the more difficult it is to differentiate, and the greater the need for expertise. Before its bankruptcy filing, GM attempted to sell within every segment, from sub-compact to Hummer. GM experienced what is often referred to as the peanut butter effect; the wider you spread something, the thinner it gets. GM’s branding was diluted and ability to control quality constrained.

Many small businesses may employ generalists because of their lack of talent depth. To have one IT professional manage a network, build the company website, select an ERP package and fix all the desktops is an archaic paradigm worthy of recalculation.

The reason that specialists are worth more than generalists is that they have a deeper subject matter expertise that drives:[ii]

Quality-Processes replicated over time promote less deviation, less defects and fewer errors.  The specialist thinks deeply about an area of expertise in which they have experience and are less likely to make mistakes.

Speed- Specialists do not need to reinvent things. Cycle times on proposals and product delivery is faster. If a company offers 50 stock products instead of 500, they can manage less inventory and ship items quicker. For every new project outside the boundaries of a company’s expertise there is resource draining learning curve that costs time and money.

Relationships-As the specialist is highly respected, their opinions are sought after by the media and people who want to know them, hire them and refer them to others.

The realities of outsourcing and off-shoring are driven by these phenomena. It is inherently inefficient to participate in activities that are not within a firm’s core competency and do not directly contribute to the bottom line. Thus, the migration of labor (outsourcing) will rise at a fervent rate.

In fact, the entire concept of the corporation, with its multiple functional departments (such as accounting, sales and marketing, design, operations, engineering, manufacturing, etc.) is under some attack. Social norms around what constitutes a working environment are shifting quickly and enabling greater specialization. Collaboration tools make the world of work far more virtual, which will continue to feed the frenzy.

Think about how to specialize as to optimize your revenue, margin and profit.

One of the bi-products of our caffeine crazed, media blitzed economy is that we have virtually no attention span. It is as if we have a collective form of ADD.

Over time, customers get bored with their vendors, alliance partners and trade associations. Client relationships have a natural tail.

The ability to continuously delight customers is a skill mastered by few. Clients need some type of stimuli that reinforces the value we provide them and it needs to come in different forms at different times. Variety is not just the spice of life; it is the remedy to overcoming the dreaded inevitable customer fatigue.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that challengers are incented to barrage prospects with new offers and discounts. In relative terms, the incumbent can easily become complacent and offer clients much of the same. As the old adage goes, “if it isn’t broke…”.

Customer fatigue only magnifies themes we have often shared in this space. The number one rule of customer relationship management is to take better care of the customers you already have than new ones you might attract. Offering special discounts to new customers flies in the face of this principle.  Organizations often position their best people as hunters, and lowly customer service agents as the face of the company with current clients. An organization can easily lose sight of its most precious possession, its most profitable customers.

Vendors should track the average length of their relationships and take actions to prolong them. The element of surprise is understood by entertainers and magicians. Similar tactics can be applied from our business gifts, customer reviews, plant tours and the like. Customers should be treated differently based on their lifetime value, and perhaps even receive different benefits based on their tenure. Find a way to shake things up and keep customers coming back for more.

A federal judge’s recent ruling that elements of the health care bill are unconstitutional has heightened the health care debate.  Republicans, feeling their oats and perceiving a mandate are threatening to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

It was only after my friend and colleague Dr. Bala Chandrasekhar explained most of the information in this post to me that I first came to understand the fundamental problem.  Our medical community suffers from perverse incentives. The system does not reward results; it rewards the extension of care.

In the world’s best hospitals, such as the Mayo Clinic, physicians collaborate, in a finite space, where information is shared and decisions are made. In the overwhelming majority of cases, patients are shuttled around, from general practitioners, to specialist, and from one laboratory to the next.  Information about the patient’s medical history is rarely shared, an approach that does not support the best medical outcome for patients.

The advent of electronic medical records and new rules governing payments is the impetus to consolidation in a business so unsophisticated, that many medical files and prescriptions are managed with a piece of paper, pen and fax machine.  The institution of medicine needs to undergo radical change, and the prospects of larger organizations managing our care means that the stakes are getting higher.

Unlike professionally managed businesses, there are massive variations in best practices in medical groups.  Physicians hate oversight, and we pay the price in an estimated 100,000 people a year dying in U.S. hospitals from pure negligence (errors).

It is intuitive to all of us that raising medical care costs are unsustainable, yet the numbers are daunting.  The convergence of an aging populace and exponential health care inflation will double Medicare costs within a decade.  By 2020, Medicare and Medicaid are projected to increase from 21% to over 30% of federal spending (non-interest payments), and that doesn’t include massive spending by state and local governments. Proponents argue that we have the best medical care in the world; but at what cost? A knee replacement that costs upward of $40,000 in the U.S., costs $5,000 in Germany. We all want the best health care, but at some point common sense must prevail.

According to the bipartisan congressional report -Restoring America’s Future, “slowing the growth of health spending is realistic. Other advanced countries have substantially lower health spending as a share of GDP, while still achieving measures of access and quality that often exceed those in the United States. Although a uniquely American approach is required, these comparisons show what is achievable.” Health care reform focuses on capping costs for doctors and reforming various forms of insurance coverage (including universal coverage). It does little to reform the underlying behavioral issues that are driving up health care costs.  The fee for service model is dated and irrelevant.

If these costs are not constrained, our fiscal mess will get much worse, and our businesses and personal wealth will be drained by massive tax increases.  Small business owners, who bear the brunt of a bloated health care bureaucracy in the form of inflated health insurance premiums must advocate for more meaningful reforms.  Our economic future depends on it.