strategy

Rewrite your resume fifty times and it starts talking about keywords instead of you. Your job search is a branding exercise. From the cover letter to the handshake, stay on-brand.

Every Wednesday at summer camp, kids complained about biscuits and gravy right up until the song started. Then they ate it all. What a breakfast chant teaches about selling a new product.

Few people recognize Procter & Gamble, but almost everyone knows Charmin and Pepto Bismol. If your products carry their own names, you have a master brand too — and your distributors experience it even if you don’t.

Your brand’s mistakes matter as much as its successes. Hillary Clinton’s Bosnia story, Nike’s sweatshops and Bridgestone-Firestone’s tire recall show the difference between hiding from an error and owning it.

A friend questioned a partnership between Mercy Corps and Wal-Mart, whose missions seem fundamentally misaligned. Partnerships work when goals line up, not principles — and for this project, Wal-Mart looks like an almost ideal partner.

Left alone, a brand grows by accident — and can turn from an asset into a liability. A clearly defined, managed brand streamlines decisions, keeps customers loyal and leaves competitors chasing your lead.

As markets mature, features become ubiquitous and most brands are forced to compete on price alone. The other fate is a luxury market, where jewelers and coffee shops brand the shopping experience instead of the product.